Storytellers – Whale Tales

Greys and Orcas – 14/4/25

in Bigg’s (Transient), Dolphins, Grey Whale, Janine, Killer Whale, Storytellers, Whales

I found our first whale today which turned out to be T065A5 “Indy”. He looks a little rougher than he did last year…he often travels by himself, he has caught up to his family a few times.. Our second stop was at SE Hat Island where we encountered 6 gray whales (maybe more), at least…

Humpback Mugging

in Humpback, Jersey Shore Whale Watching, Storytellers, Whales

I have so many, it was tough to pick, just one. But there was an encounter with a pair of humpback whales a few years ago. So in addition to being the director of research for Gotham Whale, I also work as a naturalist on • Jersey Shore Whale Watch. And one day we had a random trip in the middle of the week. And it was a high school, it was only a two hour, which is a shorter trip. And you know, high school kids, they’re just happy to be out of school, right? But little did they know, they would probably have this life changing experience with these two humpback whales. We came across them and they approached us, which does not happen all the time. It does happen, but it’s not often that they are watching you versus you watching them. And they decided to interact with the boat for about two hours. These two whales, they essentially rubbed their rostrums on the hull of the boat and were rolling upside down looking at these students that were looking over the side and could not believe what they were seeing. Basically were giving us all of these behaviors that we hadn’t seen for the entire year. And I know these things happen more often elsewhere, right. But for us, it was amazing to see them spy hopping next to the boat, looking at us. To see them lifting their flipper, practically touching these students. And to see them move away and then purposely turn around and come back while we were sitting there in complete neutral and watching these whales. It really was just one of the most incredible experiences. Them spouting on us and, you know, and me being able to actually show them parts of their anatomy up close, which was so cool. And then trying to explain to these students that this does not happen all the time. This is not normal. This is a very unique, very special experience. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that. -Danielle This post was adapted from a voice recording in episode 80 of the Whale Tales Podcast, listen here.

The Sun – 11/23

in Dolphins, Humpback, Killer Whale, Krisztina, Norwegian, Storytellers, Whales

We have almost two weeks before the Polar Night will settle on the Norwegian Arctic. One can always enjoy watching orcas in direct sunlight, even in freezing cold weather. Today, the temperature was -7 degrees. There must be a volume of herring nearby Skjervøy as we encountered animals in the morning, just minutes after leaving…

Humpback Calf Baleen – 19/11/24

in Humpback, Storytellers, Whale Watch Western Australia, Whales

Humpback calf baleen was on show this afternoon while two mature bachelor males cruised towards the departure lounge of the sighting grounds in the morning. Calm and peaceful moments this morning as we spent the start of our day with a bachelor pod of two males. While with the boys we observed four other pods…

Orca’s On the Hunt – 20/3/25

in Australian, Dolphins, Killer Whale, Naturaliste Charters, Storytellers

***Warning graphic content*** We set out across smooth seas this morning, with no idea what the Southern Ocean had in store for us. Our journey began with a trio of bottlenose dolphins passing us by as we rounded the corner of the harbour and headed south toward the shelf edge. With no signs of the…