Bright sunshine and a fresh breeze this morning found us cruising through the western Caribbean to the diver’s and snorkeler’s paradise of Roatan, largest of Honduras’ Bay Islands. Keeping watch over the deep blue swells and snowy whitecaps, two of our guests suddenly yelled: “dolphin! No! Look how big it is! It’s a whale!!!”
The Captain immediately slowed and turned the ship to bring us back around closer to the animal and an announcement on the PA brought all the rest of us rushing to the rail: “Where? Over there, off the port beam! Oh, I see it! It’s HUGE!!!”
Moments later, while we all watched the shining bulk rising and falling in the waves, one of the naturalists come onto the PA to let us know that we had encountered a sperm whale, the largest of all toothed whales and quite a rare sighting. The Captain continued to bring us closer and closer so that soon we didn’t even need binoculars to see the strange blunt-headed shape and angled blow that distinguish this remarkable animal.
Sperm whales are the deepest diving of all mammals, occasionally reaching depths of 9,000 or 10,000 feet, nearly two miles straight down into the darkness and crushing pressure of the abyss, where they feed primarily on squid. Such dives can last up to an hour, which often makes these whales difficult to observe since even if they are in the area your ship might cruise right by during the long intervals when they are hidden beneath the waves. Conversely, they must also spend fairly long periods at the surface, recharging the oxygen in their blood and muscles to prepare for the next dive, so if you are lucky you may be able to see them quite well.
Our timing was perfect. Again and again we saw the whale blow, resting quietly so that much of its glistening gray-brown body was visible to us between the wave crests. Finally, it rolled forward, arched its back and, right beside us, lifted its enormous flukes into the air and dove, back down to the lightless depths far below. Knowing it would be down for many minutes, we continued on our way to Roatan and another fantastic day of diving, snorkeling and relaxing on the beach. For some of us this was our first whale! For some, our first sperm whale, and for everyone aboard a very special, unexpected encounter with one of the ocean’s rare and mysterious giants.
