Where to see a blue whale - RFI (1 Viewer)

[Perry Grin]

Hi All,

For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to see a blue whale (all Mr Attenbourough's fault of course). At long last, I may be in a position to afford a trip to see one.

I would appreciate it if ann one could give a pointer in the direction of the best guide/trip etc... to do this.

Thanks in advance

Perry

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Hi Perry. Sri Lanka and Monterey Bay are places they can be seen. I saw one from a helicopter off the Southern tip of Victoria (Aus). I remember it for an amazing experience of seeing a Blue Whale and me, my old man, and my brother trying to get under the weight limit for the helicopter:-O.

The pilot even ditched the fire extinguisher figuring if we crashed we'd be over water and wouldn't need it (only in Aus!), and went out with the minimum amount of fuel:eek!:

A brilliant day and one I will always remember.

Good luck. You won't regret it.

Rich

 

[tyson]

Ive just see a good number of Blues over 5days off San Diego.

Is it correct that the ones off Sri Lanka are Pygmy Blue Whales? So still huge but not quite full sized blues.

The Azores is good for them as well at the right time of year

Chris

 

[dantheman]

A couple years back couple off the N coast of Iceland around May time at least - possible from shore and whalewatching trips. May be worth checking out further.

 

[StuartReeves]

Ive just see a good number of Blues over 5days off San Diego.

Seeing Blue Whale was also a longstanding ambition of mine. San Diego was where I finally achieved that ambition, having dipped on them in various other places including Western Australia and Iceland.

There was some phenomenal footage of Blues in Monterey Bay on the BBC's Big Blue Live earlier this evening.

 

[Allen S. Moore]

Seeing Blue Whale was also a longstanding ambition of mine. San Diego was where I finally achieved that ambition, having dipped on them in various other places including Western Australia and Iceland.

There was some phenomenal footage of Blues in Monterey Bay on the BBC's Big Blue Live earlier this evening.

Blue whales are often seen on trips from Dunsborough in SW Australia in about November. One way of increasing your chances of seeing them on one of those trips in not to have me on the boat! I have done 6 trips with them at that time of the year (well, October and November), but never saw a blue whale on any of them. On one visit they had seen blue whales on almost every trip in the previous week or two before I stepped aboard.

The Azores one spring will probably be my next attempt.

 

[etudiant]

Monterey Bay worked for me, local birding excursion boat, saw several, was mid August. Peak time for blues is June-August, but seen April-October.

The main visual impact imho is from the length of these blues, they body just keeps on coming, as more and more whale spools over the surface, then at last you get flukes.

 

[njlarsen]

I have no idea of how frequent, but two blue together off Isabella island in the Galapagos mid August was a nice addition to other great sightings on that trip (Bryde's and Humpbacks were other whales we saw). Obviously, not all boats do the west side of Isabella where most whale sightings are.

Niels

 

[sidwemn]

Can't comment on other places, but I would say Blues are far easier from Mirissa in Sri Lanka that from Monterey.

I did two trips out of Monterey in August a few years ago, seeing one Blue. Saw 23 in three trips out of Mirissa.

As Tyson said, the Blues in Sri Lanka are Pygmy's, they're tiny. Grow up to 80 foot long instead of 90 foot |;|, the one we saw in Monterey was abut 60ft long anyway.

There are advantages/disadvantages of both trips. It depends on what else you want to see/do.

July/August is the peak for Monterey, so flights are more expensive. You will however see Humpbacks, and a good few other species of Dolphin such as Long Beaked Common, Pacific White Sided, Northern Right Whale Dolphin, Dalls Porpoise, and possible Risso's and maybe an Orca.

Peak in Sri Lanka is Nov to April so cheaper flights. Less variety of cetacians, we saw Brydes, possible Sei and loads of Spinner Dolphin. You could combine this with trips to Yala and/or Wilpattu for Leopard, Elephant and Sloth Bear. You could also try Kalpitiya for Sperm Whale.

Cheers
Martyn

 

[kitefarrago]

How much time do you want to dedicate to such a trip, and what are your secondary objectives?

My experience with blue whales comes from the `usual' boat-based trip along Baja California to see Grey Whale calves in Laguna San Ignacio. This is offerened by the usual nature travel companies, but it might also be possible to book directly with the boat operators based in San Diego.

This is a highly recommended trip for those who enjoy whale watching, sea birds, and exploring bits of deserted coast line. On the negative side, living on a small boat isn't everybody's thing. You can find a full trip report I wrote here.

Specifically regarding Blue Whales we had prolongued and amazing sightings on a number of occasions, with us being the only boat present. I include a few pictures, all of blue whales, to whet your appetite.

Andrea

1. That's where the name comes from.
2. We also had calves on a couple of occasions.
3. There she blows.
4. Coming to the surface.
5. Travelling into the sunset (note the remora).

 

[Jos Stratford]

Can't comment on other places, but I would say Blues are far easier from Mirissa in Sri Lanka that from Monterey.

My experience quite the opposite with Monterey Bay - seen with ease on all three trips I have done there in July and August ...best being a pod of 12 lunge-feeding at the surface on 3 July one year, which truly was unbelievable!

(abridged version from notebook)
For about half an hour, we just sat there, massive gaping mouths assaulting surface shoals of krill. And just for good measure, two Humpback Whales too, plus oodles of seabirds snapping up food around the whales. Sooty Shearwater a ’plenty, but also a few most welcome guests joining the party – 12 Cassin’s Auklets in the immediate vicinity, one Rhinoceros Auklet flying past and, a totally unexpected addition, two Scripp’s Murrelets, the latter a new species for me.

 

[kitefarrago]

And a few more because I couldn't resist.

Andrea

1, 2. It's really hard to give a true impression of the size fo these leviathans.
3. Just surfacing, the blow hole still tightly shut.
4, 5. They do fluke, just not very often.

 

[Allen S. Moore]

(abridged version from notebook)
For about half an hour, we just sat there, massive gaping mouths assaulting surface shoals of krill. And just for good measure, two Humpback Whales too, plus oodles of seabirds snapping up food around the whales. Sooty Shearwater a ’plenty, but also a few most welcome guests joining the party – 12 Cassin’s Auklets in the immediate vicinity, one Rhinoceros Auklet flying past and, a totally unexpected addition, two Scripp’s Murrelets, the latter a new species for me.

Seeing that, I think that it would be my mouth gaping, too!

 

[TWM]

I saw Blue Whales off the Azores this year (May) and between Iceland and Svalbard a couple of years ago (June).
I reckon the Azores are your cheapest option by far.

 

[Perry Grin]

Cheers to all - great information to get me started and plenty to think about, thanks.

Andrea, main objective is to see the whales, but also interested in birding wherever I go so would hope to take some good birding sites too.

As I'm restricted to travelling in the school hols - the US sites are looking favourite at the moment - would also make for interesting sight seeing. Cost does become an issue though - will need to convince the family they would hate to come along or start saving big time.

Thanks again

Perry