The Whales of Dominica

[malaise]

http://www.guardian.co.tt/life/hidden-giants-of-the-caribbean-sea-6.2.874854.b7eafdf7cc

Some of the loud­est and largest preda­tors in the world are liv­ing just 525 kilo­me­tres (bird's fly) off the coast of T&T and most cit­i­zens have nev­er ven­tured to see them al­though the op­por­tu­ni­ty ex­ists.

The preda­tors are sperm whales which grow up to 70 feet long and weigh about 60 tonnes. They live just three miles off the coast of Do­mini­ca, one of the most un­touched is­lands of the Caribbean.

While male whales (bull) mi­grate from the area, main­ly ju­ve­niles and fe­males have be­come res­i­dent whales of Do­mini­ca. Their mag­nif­i­cent pres­ence makes the moun­tain­ous is­land the on­ly coun­try in the world where the whales can be sight­ed year round.

The ocean floor in this re­gion drops steeply to sev­er­al thou­sand feet very close to shore and this pro­vides a calm and shel­tered area for the whales to feed, mate, and so­cialise. Hav­ing been stud­ied ex­ten­sive­ly for over 12 years, the whale pod is very friend­ly and some dar­ing divers (not us) have been giv­en the op­por­tu­ni­ty to swim with them. Dur­ing so­cial­is­ing ses­sions when the whales rub on each oth­er, the divers get the unique ex­pe­ri­ence of get­ting up close and per­son­al with the sea mam­mals which have the biggest brains in the world.