Aquatic Adventures

Whale Tales Season 31:W12

Day one and our expectations are already blown, quite literally, out of the water! A mother and calf with escort stayed with us for hours in the afternoon, allowing both groups of guests to spend many minutes with them at a time. She laid on the surface with a fairly young calf while the escort trailed behind and just below her. At first the escort seemed wary of us and sent us a few warning signs, fin slapping and trumpet blowing, but once he calmed and the people were in the water, he seemed to relax, allowing us to get a closer look.

Aquatic Adventures

Whale Tales Season 31:W9

The N. Atlantic humpback whale mating and calving season on the Silver Bank is three quarters of the way through and with that we see many changes of whale behaviors. Where there was once many small newly born calves, there are larger more adventurous ones. Where there were once many pairs of females and their escorts, there are rowdy groups vying over what females remain. This makes for a very exciting time on the Silver Bank where surface activity is electrifying and the in-water encounters exhilarating. 

Aquatic Adventures

Whale Tales Season 31:W7

Every day this week we were able to witness some incredible behaviors due to our experienced tender drivers and cetacean specialists. Challenger was able to keep up to a rowdy group with eight individual whales, the largest we have seen this season. The rowdy group travelled quickly and performed aggressive maneuvers in pursuit of gaining the closest position to the female.

Aquatic Adventures

Whale Tales Season 31:W6

The moment we arrived at the mooring site, a mother and calf approached with multiple whales following her…a rowdy group, circling the Turks & Caicos Explorer II. We hadn’t even tied to the mooring yet and we were witnessing a rowdy group and breaching just by the vessel; two bingo boxes filled and a check on the Big 5 list.