Humpback whales in the Bay of Samana

Best humpback whale watching in the Bay of Samana

It was end of February – the best time to observe humpback whales. Around now they have migrated from the north to warmer water for either coupling up or giving birth to their little ones. It is believed that several thousand of humpback whales visit the Bay of Samana every year.

Samana

I travelled on a Caribe Tours bus from Santo Domingo to Samana. By the way, it is a very comfortable way of travelling in the Dominican Republic.

After a bit over 2 hours I got to Samana and most importantly to the beautiful Bay of Samana. 

Bay of Samana in the Dominican Republic

Setting off for my humpback whale spotting

Early next morning, I walked a couple of minutes to the little port. Several boats were awaiting us.

In Samana, it is pretty much guaranteed that I will be seeing whales. So much so that tour operators offer a free ride in case the sighting was unsuccessful. Well, it took less than half an hour into the trip before we spotted the first humpback whale.

Departing from Samana we came close by this little island in the bay.

Facts about Humpback Whales

Adults are generally somewhat around 14-15 meters (46-49 ft) long with females over one metre longer. Their body mass reaches up to 40 metric tons (44 short tons).

The males can produce songs lasting between 4 to 33 minutes during the winter breeding season to attract females.

Male and female Humpback whales are promiscuous.

They can reach upto 50 years of age.

Humpback whales feeding

Humpback whales feed mainly on krill and small schooling fish. They hunt their pray by creating bubble nets under the water. The light green spot seen in the photo is one of them. This entrapps the fish. By increasing their mouth gape they can gather up 200 fish at one time.

The adult humpback whales can remain under water between 20 to 40 minutes. Their offsprings need to breathe every few minutes. This makes it more visible to all the humpback whale spotters around.

Humpback whale offspring

At birth, it measures between 3.50 and 5 meters, and weighs somewhere around one ton. As it needs to constitute a protective greasy layer and acquire enough forces to follow the mother on the return trip, it will consume about 200 litres of breast milk daily. It is going to gain some 45 kilos a day. At the age of six months the humpback whale offspring will start feeding on fish.

According to our captain expert, the humpback whale offspring in the picture is about one week old.

Little humpback whale family

In this photo, the offspring is seen next to its mother, followed by daddy in the back.

Humpback whales swim close to the surface

They are the most observed as they tend to swim close to the surface and are not afraid of boats. On the contrary. I had the impression that they came close by to check us out.

Optional tour to Cayo Levantado

I had decided to include a visit to Cayo Levantado Island in my package. It is actually really close by. My mistake was to get there on a national holiday. Hence, it was pretty overcrowded. However, after the majority of visitors had left the beach I got a glance on the beauty of it.

Concluding

Going back, I would probably opt for a small boat with just few tourists on board. I really had to struggle to get a good view on the humpback whales because there was always a person in my photo frame. 

If not interested in Cayo Levantado, a very good option is to book your tour with Kim Bedall. She has lived in Samana for many years and is a marine biologist.  Hence, an expert with tons of information on Humpback whales.

Leaving Samana

A last look at the beautiful Samana Bay at sunset.

I also visited Saona Island off the coast of the Dominican Republic. Check it out.

While in the Dominican Republic, I also visited Saona Island and wrote a post on it. Check it out.