Blue Whales in Blue Water
A fortunate few enjoy the unique opportunity to come face to face with the world's largest animal. We offer 2 unique opportunities to swim and snorkel with blue whales either at Costa Rica Dome, or at Timor Leste in Indonesia.
The Dome is about 300 miles off the western coast of Costa Rica. Approximately 70% occurs on the high seas, and the remaining 30% straddles the Exclusive Economic Zones of Central American countries. One of the world’s highest concentrations of phytoplankton and primary productivity rates occurs in the Dome, making the area a preferred habitat for endangered, emblematic species like the blue whale and leatherback turtle. In addition to acting as a significant carbon sink, the Dome serves a breeding ground, feeding place and migratory corridor for sharks, multiple cetaceans, sea turtles, large pelagic fish, marine predators, and seabirds. To summarize this adventure — you do not know exactly what you are going to get. For sure you will spend your time exploring the wonderful Costa Rican rain forest and swimming with super pods of spinner dolphins. While you are engaged in your activities, a team of observers will be watching NOAA updates for the right changes in water temperature and slowing wind speeds. As soon as they see the right weather patterns emerging, they’ll give the green light, and all jump on the boat and cruise out full speed to the dome where you expect to encounter blue, sei, and fin whales feeding and migrating.
The expedition adventure to Timor Leste is focused on a particular spot — the Strait of Ombai, which is located in East Timor between Dili (the capital) and the island of Atauro. The Strait is some 17mi (30km) wide and right in the path of the famous Indonesian throughflow current as it streams between the main islands of Alor and Wetar, carrying a rich cargo of nutrients from the deep basins of the Banda Sea to the north. This is essentially an ocean superhighway were 170 million cubic feet (5 million cubic meters ) of sea water per second pass between the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean. With so much water, current and nutrients moving through this area, it is a magnet to many pelagic and cetacean animal species. The waters between Dili and Atauro are clear year round due to the absence of large rivers on the island — which means no sediment runoff into the ocean during the rainy season that runs from December to April. The deep channel between the mainland and Atauro is also home to one of the largest seasonal migrations of whales anywhere on Earth. The diversity of these whales is similar to the reefs, with large populations of blue whales, beaked whales, melon headed whales, short finned pilot whales, and multiple dolphin species migrating between the Indian and Pacific Oceans each year between October and December.
The Big Animals Team are the expedition leaders for the groups, spending as much time on the water to maximize encounter opportunities. During the season, super pods of sperm whales, dolphins and many other types of marine animals are sometimes found in the same waters, creating yet another chance for incredible adventure. Be one of the lucky few: swim with blue whales, sperm whales, dolphins and many other types of marine mammals, and for Costa Rica Dome - explore the rain forest as well.
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