Sperm Whales as far as the Eye can see!

So far this season, one Sperm Whale sighting on a single boat trip was not unusual, but what we experienced today on the 1:00 PM boat trip was pretty close to being a record. We observed a Sperm Whale and after watching a big group of Pilot Whales during their lively social interactions we suddenly spotted a familiar angular spout. We headed towards it to observe the mighty animal before it dived again and eluded us completely. After this sighting, when we already to move on, we discovered another Sperm Whale blow about half a mile away from us. When we got about 200 metres away from the animal it had already dived. Meanwhile, approximately 600 meters west from this point, another Sperm Whale appeared on the surface. Unfortunately the whale had already begun its descent, so we barely caught a glimpse of its fluke. There was hardly any time to celebrate these sightings because the next giant had already appeared on the surface. We were approaching the animal at a leisurely pace and were about 200 metres away when another whale watching boat that had been following us spotted it and sped up trying to get there before us, scaring it needlessly. Thereupon the whale changed its swimming direction and passed our boat at a distance of about 20 metres. We didn't want to stress the animal any further and as we already had seen several Sperm Whales and wanted to avoid another situation with this second boat, we drove away. At this moment we spotted yet another spouting. Only a few hundred metres westward the next Sperm Whale was waiting for us. Upon reaching a respectable observing distance, we realized that on the left side of our boat, at nearly the same distance away, there was a second one. Finally, after both animals sounded (dived) we made our way back to Tarifa - fully aware that we had just experienced an incredible boat trip.

(photos: Carine Zimmermann)

-casi-