Sealife near your ship?

[lenquixote66]

2 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

Well, if we are talking about sea otters - the best place to see them is on Captiva Island - from the pier at the Green Flash before going in for the best dinner on the barrier islands.

I never heard of Captiva Island.

[navybankerteacher]

24 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

I never heard of Captiva Island.

If you are ever in Fort Myers, FL you should take the bridge over to Sanibel Island - a peaceful place (half nature preserve) with limited development — none of the high rise buildings which increasingly blight Florida’s shores — and then go north up to Captiva Island :  even more remote from the trashy over-development of Florida’s coasts.

 

There are no traffic lights on either island - some traffic delays now and then, but if you know the back roads you can avoid them.

Edited July 30, 2022 by navybankerteacher

[lenquixote66]

12 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

If you are ever in Fort Myers, FL you should take the bridge over to Sanibel Island - a peaceful place (half nature preserve) with limited development — none of the high rise buildings which increasingly blight Florida’s shores — and then go north up to Captiva Island :  even more remote from the trashy over-development of Florida’s coasts.

 

There are no traffic lights on either island - some traffic delays now and then, but if you know the back roads you can avoid them.

Thanks for the info.Have a nice day.

[jocap]

On 7/29/2022 at 10:54 AM, chengkp75 said:

It's actually 12 miles from shore, and its done nearly every night, late at night.  The ship will generate around 2-3 tons of food waste a day.

 

It's a ship, not a boat.

 

Sharks are only near the surface in the shallows, so you won't see them.  Sea turtles are almost completely underwater, so you won't see them either.  For whales, you have to be in the right location at the right time of the year.  On the East Coast, the whales migrate north in spring to feed off Maine and the Canadian Maritimes, and south to the southern Caribbean to breed in the fall.  Porpoises will play in the bow wave, and you can even see them in some harbors.

Yes, on my first cruise, out of Fort Lauderdale, we sat and watched a harbour porpoise in the port all afternoon. Also amazed to see bald headed eagles circling over the cruise ships.

 

[shipgeeks]

For whatever reason, flying fish are my favorites. We have both spent many hours at the rail on promenade deck, watching for them.  One time we were having lunch at the center front table in WJ, and DH noticed a lot of them right at the bow. One of the servers, a young Chinese man, asked what we were looking at.  He became quite excited to see them, and called over all his fellow crew members to watch. Lots of gasps, giggles, and Oohs.

While docked in Barbados, we were in the Lido, deck 14 I believe, when DH spotted a huge manta ray in the harbor right below us, as clear as could be.  He mentioned it to a little boy nearby.  The boy was ecstatic!  After feasting his eyes for a while, he ran over to where his family was sitting, saying "Mom, Dad, you should see the big manta ray right below us!". Mom scoffed "Stop telling lies, Tommy".  "It's there, the man showed it to me!"  "There's no manta ray, stop saying that; now you have to leave.  No more made-up stories."

[MBP&O2/O]

On one ship, when fully laden, we had a small freeboard and we used to get loads  of flying fish on deck. The Indian cook used to go out at dawn and collect them all .... my unofficial breakfast was tandoori fish in a freshly baked chapatti.... gorgeous!

[Joebucks]

Saw whales this past January while pulling into Cabo. Dolphins are also quite common if you're looking.

[matamanoa]

A few years ago, when cruising in the Baltics, I looked over the rail of my balcony and there was a mother whale and her calf right below me.  It was an incredible sight!

[hallux]

Had some dolphin riding the bow wake of the Joy when cruising near Mexico this Spring.  Saw some humpback whales off the coast of California in the Spring of 2019 and on that cruise I also saw a sea otter swimming near the ship in Victoria.

[matamanoa]

Another sighting we had was when we were leaving the port of Gibraltor and there were many dolphins playing in the wake of the ship.  They were flipping and doing all kinds of acrobatics and had the passengers in stitches.  

 

Barb