Swimming with whales in the Caribbean
Posted: Tuesday, March 25, 2008 10:22 AM
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On Assignment
By Kerry Sanders, NBC News Correspondent
SILVER BANK, Dominican Republic – I'm an adrenaline junkie.
Sky-diving? Done it.
Zero-Gravity? Over Cape Canaveral, I floated weightless in the so-called "vomit-comet."
Pulled 6 Gs? My blood pumped as I flew 400 miles per hour in a fighter only eight feet off the ground at the Reno jet races.
So it came as a bit of a surprise that floating motionless, on the surface of the Caribbean Sea, I could feel that same type of adrenaline rush.
But just feet away from my dead-mans-float, one of nature’s biggest creatures was looking me eye-to-eye.
A humpback whale, seemingly as curious as I was in her, stared back at me. I'm not one to humanize animals, but it certainly appeared she was looking at me with the curiosity of a child.
And why wouldn't she? The two-ton humpback was likely no more than three weeks old.
Every year, North Atlantic Humpback Whales migrate south to this particular spot from their summer feeding grounds in areas like Maine and Newfoundland. Experts estimate as many as 7,000 make their way to this place called Silver Bank, 80-miles off the north coast of the Dominican Republic.
Safe haven
This section of the Caribbean, due to the incredible number of coral heads sprinkled throughout it, receives no through boat traffic. A couple of wrecked boats dotting the area demonstrate why any boat captain would give the Silver Banks a wide berth.
The absence of boat traffic, and waters too shallow for killer whales, creates an ideal spot for mating and calving humpback whales.
When they are full-grown, the humpback whales grow to be 50 foot long and can weigh as much as 90,000 pounds. They migrate here once a year to mate and give birth.
And every year, for the past 18 years, Tom Conlin has made his own journey here from January until mid April.
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| Kerry Sanders / NBC News |
| Newborn humpback whale breaches surface. |
‘Soft in-water encounters’
Conlin, often called "the whale man," has developed a method he calls "soft in-water encounters." With a mask, fins and snorkel, he teaches you to slip into the waters here and see whales play, sleep, and nurse their newborn calves.
It’s incredible, given the fact that at one time humpback whales were hunted to the edge of extinction. In 1963, they were classified "endangered species" and even though they're still hunted today, they've made a remarkable comeback.
NOAA researchers estimate that the humpback population now exceeds 30,000 worldwide. At any one time, there may be as many as 60 people, but no more, on the Silver Bank encountering whales. Conlin originated these tours and is one of three operators with the permits that allow these up-close and personal experiences.
The snorkeling is at once physical and intimate. Given the fact that they were so close to extinction, it’s incredible to see them in their natural habitat. "Sometimes I look at these whales and I think they know what we've done to them," said Conlin, "and I realize how forgiving they are."
It's estimated less than 20,000 people have seen whales like this worldwide. Make that 20,001. I'm now among those who've discovered the thrill.
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| Courtesy Dr. Grady Jeter |
| Humpback whale in Silver Banks. |
Laura Lyell is an old hand, but she's still giddy at the sight of a whale. A resident of Maine, the 49-year-old has been here 14 times. She perches on the bow of a small 26 foot boat and spots the whales as they surface. She knows all the whale-watching lingo: Lob Tailing. Fin Slapping. Rowdy Groups. Singers.
When the whales are not on the move, Lyell and others slip into the water, and watch one of mother nature’s most spectacular shows.
"I'm never bored," she said. "Every time I see something different. Something fascinating."
But there is one thing someone has yet to see: a birth.
Conlin and Lyell guess it may be simply because the humpback gives birth at night. But no one knows for sure.
Face to face
Only now are researchers even beginning to understand the migration patterns. This year, NOAA attached five satellite tags to humpbacks here. Those tags have started to transmit data showing the whales travel hundreds of miles, well beyond the Silver Bank, to areas like Navidad and the Mona Passage.
If the tags hold, they may even track the route the whales take home.
It's a 11-hour voyage from shore. Five days at moor on the Silver Bank. A trip that at first sounded slow and boring.
It turns out, jet racing, skydiving and zero-g have nothing on a face-to-face encounter with a humpback whale.
Just don't forget, in these 77 degree waters, the North Atlantic humpback whales are sort of on vacation here too.
