Spotted a whale while on board Encore

[siestatom]

About 30-40 minutes after departing Tortola yesterday.  Saw something that looked a bit like a whale spout but figured it was just a breaking wave fooling me. But followed the spot and saw another, a bit more distinct. Wife locked onto the spot with binoculars and when it was about one ship length behind us, it did a full breach with a huge splash!  Amazing, and makes you wonder how much of this is just missed. 
 

Somewhat related, I’m always surprised at how most cruisers are oblivious to the surroundings. Departing Tortola is some of the best scenery on the entire voyage, yet most people in the Observation Lounge weren’t observing at all. Not to mention everyone else on the ship’s spaces with no chance of a view.   But, to each their own and I hope they enjoy whatever floats their boat.  Who needs virtual reality rooms when you have this kind of real reality!

 

 

[puppycanducruise]

What kind of whale?

Lucky you to see it.

[Newfun4me]

That's so cool!!!  We saw dolphins along the side during our cruise to Alaska and our balcony neighbor saw a whale.  My husband was so bummed that we were in our room playing cards when he saw it.  We did spend a TON of time out on our balcony during the Alaska cruise and very much enjoyed it.  

 

Edited March 6, 2020 by Newfun4me

[siestatom]

I have no idea what kind of whale, other than it was big. Bigger than an Orca. 
and just now, saw another breach!!!

two days in a row!

 

only reason I saw it today is some guy nearby said he thought he saw a spout. We watch the spot and about 45 seconds later, a full jump and gigantic splash. 

[Waquoit]

I got dragged on a whale watch once and was surprised by how happy I became when we actually saw whales, including a mom and calf. Very cool, tom.

[drcarp4]

We went on a whale watching excursion on our Alaska cruise. Saw lots of whales but I enjoyed seeing them off of our balcony in the morning while I was drinking coffee. We also spotted a black bear on the shore and actually had a brown bear swim across behind the ship while we were cruising in to see the glaciers.

[ColeThornton]

"Is anyone here a marine biologist?"

 

Only diehard Seinfeld fans will get that line.   🙂
 

[puppycanducruise]

24 minutes ago, siestatom said:

I have no idea what kind of whale, other than it was big. Bigger than an Orca. 
and just now, saw another breach!!!

two days in a row!

 

only reason I saw it today is some guy nearby said he thought he saw a spout. We watch the spot and about 45 seconds later, a full jump and gigantic splash. 

Cool!

[kelib]

1 hour ago, puppycanducruise said:

What kind of whale?

Lucky you to see it.

Humpback whales are known to be in the waters in that area.My friends who have a sailboat in the Virgins say they see them in winter when they sail north of Tortola 

[Ptroxx]

This is why I like a balcony cabin.  On our last alaska cruise seen a few whales close to the ship.   
did a whale watching trip too and seen a ton. Was awesome.   
 

[MagnoliaBlossom]

We have done six AK cruises, so we’ve seen our share of whales and orcas there, but the most we’ve seen in a single day was in Hawaii. We were unable to dock in Hilo due to tidal issues, so the captain did a figure 8 through the aquatic national park and we saw whales all day. I booked us in March for that reason but never expected to see that many.


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