What I did on my summer vacation, part 1
My biggest news of late was our trip to the South Pacific in August and September. It resulted in some of the most unique and incredible experiences of my life.
We took off from SFO one Tuesday afternoon, transferred planes at LAX, and headed southwest, over the equator and across the International Dateline. Thursday morning, after a 12-13 hour flight, we arrived in Nuku'alofa, the capitol city of the Kingdom of Tonga, on the island of Tongatapu. Although Nuku'alofa was not our final destination, we stayed there for about 24 hours which gave us a chance to see a little bit of the area.
The following morning our real adventure started as we boarded the 120-foot sailboat Nai'a for an overnight voyage north to the Ha'apai island group in central Tonga, where we would be swimming with humpback whales. This particular population winters in Tonga, where they mate and calve, then returns to Antarctica's Southern Ocean* to feed during the summer. My journal from our first full day on the water reads in part:
"Lunch was cut short when we saw whales off the stern. Spent the next three hours on the pangas. There were at least three separate groups of whales with 2-4 in each group. Got in the water with them a couple of times. Saw as many as three whales together underwater. Heard some whale song!"
Most of the following nine days were like that--wake up with the sun, eat breakfast, see whale activity all around us, and swim with the whales. I've lost track of the number of breaches I've seen (some individuals would breach 12 or 20 times in a row!), and even the number of whales I've swum with! It's hard to say how many humpbacks there were in that area, there may have been 20 or there may have been 100, it was impossible to tell.
Day Four was our most spectacular day, starting with a sighting of a mother and newborn calf. Although we jumped in the water with them, moms are very protective and she and her baby quickly moved away. We saw another mom and calf with two escorts, but did not get in the water with them. Then we came across two adults who did not leave when our small skiff approached. We slipped in the water and proceeded to spend almost two hours with them! Time went so quickly as we watched them "dance" with one another--slow, fluid movements of the body, fins, and tail. I never would have thought a 40-45 foot behemoth could be so extremely graceful. Together, the whales were like two ballet dancers twisting around one another and moving their pectoral fins about as if they were arms. And incredibly, each whale was always aware of where all parts of their body were, and never accidentally bumped against the another. The Nai'a crew said in all their years of coming to Tonga, this was the most incredible whale encounter they had seen.
Words cannot describe the experience I had with the humpbacks during this ten-day trip. Magical, phenomenal, spectacular, and other superlatives begin to cover it, but how do I relay the feeling I got when a 40 ton animal swam by me, turned on her side, and looked me in the eye?
I've been whale watching before and have seen greys and humpbacks as they come to the surface and breathe. But now that I've been a guest in their underwater world and I've seen just how much goes on below the surface, I fear I've been forever spoiled and will no longer be satisfied merely seeing the whales from the boat!
More photos: The Kingdom of the Whales on Flickr.
*It is sad and depressing to have to mention this, but Japan still conducts annual whaling trips to the Southern Ocean under the guise of "research." They kill approximately 1000 whales each year, in violation of the terms set by the International Whaling Commission. Most of the whales they kill are minkes, however, they do take some endangered humpbacks illegally. It is very possible the very whales we have swum with may end up for sale in the markets of Japan. Please speak out against whaling, and against Japan's questionable whaling practices in general. Supporting the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is another way to directly prevent the killing of whales.
We took off from SFO one Tuesday afternoon, transferred planes at LAX, and headed southwest, over the equator and across the International Dateline. Thursday morning, after a 12-13 hour flight, we arrived in Nuku'alofa, the capitol city of the Kingdom of Tonga, on the island of Tongatapu. Although Nuku'alofa was not our final destination, we stayed there for about 24 hours which gave us a chance to see a little bit of the area.
The following morning our real adventure started as we boarded the 120-foot sailboat Nai'a for an overnight voyage north to the Ha'apai island group in central Tonga, where we would be swimming with humpback whales. This particular population winters in Tonga, where they mate and calve, then returns to Antarctica's Southern Ocean* to feed during the summer. My journal from our first full day on the water reads in part:
"Lunch was cut short when we saw whales off the stern. Spent the next three hours on the pangas. There were at least three separate groups of whales with 2-4 in each group. Got in the water with them a couple of times. Saw as many as three whales together underwater. Heard some whale song!"
Most of the following nine days were like that--wake up with the sun, eat breakfast, see whale activity all around us, and swim with the whales. I've lost track of the number of breaches I've seen (some individuals would breach 12 or 20 times in a row!), and even the number of whales I've swum with! It's hard to say how many humpbacks there were in that area, there may have been 20 or there may have been 100, it was impossible to tell.
Day Four was our most spectacular day, starting with a sighting of a mother and newborn calf. Although we jumped in the water with them, moms are very protective and she and her baby quickly moved away. We saw another mom and calf with two escorts, but did not get in the water with them. Then we came across two adults who did not leave when our small skiff approached. We slipped in the water and proceeded to spend almost two hours with them! Time went so quickly as we watched them "dance" with one another--slow, fluid movements of the body, fins, and tail. I never would have thought a 40-45 foot behemoth could be so extremely graceful. Together, the whales were like two ballet dancers twisting around one another and moving their pectoral fins about as if they were arms. And incredibly, each whale was always aware of where all parts of their body were, and never accidentally bumped against the another. The Nai'a crew said in all their years of coming to Tonga, this was the most incredible whale encounter they had seen.
Words cannot describe the experience I had with the humpbacks during this ten-day trip. Magical, phenomenal, spectacular, and other superlatives begin to cover it, but how do I relay the feeling I got when a 40 ton animal swam by me, turned on her side, and looked me in the eye?
I've been whale watching before and have seen greys and humpbacks as they come to the surface and breathe. But now that I've been a guest in their underwater world and I've seen just how much goes on below the surface, I fear I've been forever spoiled and will no longer be satisfied merely seeing the whales from the boat!
More photos: The Kingdom of the Whales on Flickr.
*It is sad and depressing to have to mention this, but Japan still conducts annual whaling trips to the Southern Ocean under the guise of "research." They kill approximately 1000 whales each year, in violation of the terms set by the International Whaling Commission. Most of the whales they kill are minkes, however, they do take some endangered humpbacks illegally. It is very possible the very whales we have swum with may end up for sale in the markets of Japan. Please speak out against whaling, and against Japan's questionable whaling practices in general. Supporting the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is another way to directly prevent the killing of whales.