Whale Watching around the world

My experiences with Whale Watching

I have to admit that I just LOVE Whale Watching. Well, waiting in the cold wind on a shaky boat isn´t something that´s particularly comfortable, I agree. But when you spot a whale, the effort was definitely worth it. To me, whales are amazing. When these huge animals break through the water surface to breath I am mesmerized. They are so beautiful and seem to be so calm. This often reminds me of how small we actually are and how powerful nature can be.

Maine, USA

This was my first time ever that I saw a whale in his natural habitat. My parents took me to America in 2014. When I arrived in Bar Habour, I was a bit disappointed of the city (as it is quite small). On the contrary, the nature is beautiful; so of course we went hiking in the Acadia National Park.

The highlight was our whale watching tour. I can´t remember the name of the company, but our tour took about 3 hours. We saw so many different types of whales, but the most amazing one (for me) was the humpback whale. Unfortunately, I don´t have any pics (I took about 800!) because my camera was stolen at the end of the trip in Springfield, Massachusetts…

Québec, Canada

In 2016 I spent some weeks in Canada; we started in Toronto and travelled via Quebec and Montreal to New York. Somebody told us about a great whale watching tour, starting near the city Québec, which we immediately booked. The boat took us along the St. Lawrenz River towards the open sea, but unfortunately we also stayed on the River (otherwise it would have been too far). Despite the foggy weather we saw a few whales (see the pictures). My highlight was the small group of bright, white beluga whales!

I should mention that the landscape was magnificent and the trip was totally worth it!

Beluga Whales, Canada

Whale, Canada

Beluga Whale, Canada

Whale, Canada

St. Lawrence River

St. Lawrence River

Sydney & Melbourne, Australia

My most recent tour took place in on of my favorite places, Australia. During my stay in Sydney I found out that they offer whale watching tours there. The whale migration season just started but there had already been a lot of whale sightings along the coast. It was a VERY windy day and the sea was incredibly bumpy but we still managed to spot a humpback whale. We followed him (keeping the adequate distance) for some time before heading back to Sydney. Just enjoy the pictures and videos (see below)!

Humpback Whale, Sydney

Humpback Whale, Sydney

Melbourne

I didn´t plan to see whales here, but during a bus trip to the Twelve Apostles we were lucky and spotted several whales, amongst others a mum with her calf, accompanied by dolphins!

Whales, Melbourne

Whales, Melbourne

Setúbal, Portugal (Dolphins)

Setúbal´s beautiful bay inhabits a large family of dolphins that stay there throughout the whole year. These animals are very playful and curious, sometimes they come very close! My favorite: a newborn calf!

Dolphins, Setúbal Bay

Dolphins, Setúbal Bay

More locations

These are certainly not the only locations for whale watching. I have heard of great tours in South Africa, as well as Vancouver and Vancouver Island. I definitely plan to visit these places! Do you have more tips?

 

Gononconform