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Have You Seen the Whales Show?

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After the first amazing experience seeing penguins and elephant seals with Categoría Patagonia  tours, I went on a second full-day tour of Peninsula Valdez.  We saw a lot of great stuff, but I’m going to go straight to the highlight of the tour.

Southern Right Whales

The Southern Right Whales are here June through December.  I kept asking how likely it really is to see whales.

I mean, they are “in the wild.”

Can there really be a guarantee?

Usually, tour companies will not guarantee seeing any specific wildlife.  But Martin promised me.

The Boat Ride

Our whale watching boat ride across Golfo Nuevo was organized through Southern Spirit Cruises.

As we boarded the boat, I just kept wondering if this would be the only boat that doesn’t get to see the whales.  Apparently, I am still thinking negatively despite my best efforts to improve upon that.

We drove for about 20 minutes.

And then our boat captain spotted them.

The Show Begins

Not only did I get a glimpse of a whale, they hung out near our boat for a LONG time.

Photo of whales

Photo of seagull on whale

Everyone got excited.  The whale tempted us with glimpses of its tale.

The woman next to me kept saying, “Mira!  Mira!  La cola!”

I felt like I was watching a paid, rehearsed performance.

Photo of the tail

We were out there for over an hour, yet it only felt like 10 minutes.

The boat turned to head back.

And then off in the distance, I saw the grand finale.

Photo of whale jumping out of water

Check out more photos from Peninsula Valdes, including elegant guanacos, a curious armadillo, MORE adorable penguins, MORE elephant seals, and MORE whales.

 

This was the must surreal wildlife experience I have ever had.  What is yours?

Comments

  10. I’m officially jealous of you now :) Those pictures are brilliant and show just how close the whales actually came to you.

    You can never get this close to the whales here in Australia. They have this law which says that it’s illegal to get closer than 100 metres to a whale. They the lawmakers and the people who lobbied to make the law happen claim that you’re harassing the whales.

    But when whales naturally come close to you like I think happened here it’s just their natural curiosity.

    By the way we have Southern Right Whales off the coast of Australia too. They mainly off the east coast but nowhere near Melbourne because Melbourne sits on a bay which is very shallow; only 16 metres deep at it’s deepest and the bay’s mouth is very narrow so it would be exceedingly difficult and dangerous for whales to enter.

  12. Steph,
    I would echo the “extra” photo page. I look at all of them. These were amazing. Probably an experience that you won’t forget! Thanks for sharing.

  17. It is incredible! I missed the shot of the whale breaching – it was too far away and my camera does not have a great zoom. Your picture is awesome!

    Crazy Sexy Fun Traveller: I don’t know if the Southern Right Whales will be there but February is the prime time to see orcas beaching themselves on Punta Norte in search of baby seals!!! You should definitely look for that :-)
    Runaway Brit recently posted..Open Wide! – Visiting the Dentist in Colombia

  23. I can’t believe your amazing photos. Whale-watching is something that I swear changed my life. It was the most awe-inspiring thing I have ever seen. I had a few photos, but they were lost in my robbery. If only I’d had a blog then!
    Abby recently posted..Colors of Costa Rica

  24. Oh wow!! I can’t believe these photos. They were so close! They said we could see these Southern Right Whales when I was in Brazil but we never did make it on a tour. I’ve only seen whales from a further distance off of California and that was just incredible… Now I am even more jealous of your trip to Puerto Madryn.
    Laura recently posted..Travel for Love’s Best of 2011

  31. Wow, these are some of the best whale-watching photos I’ve ever seen! You were SO CLOSE. We saw about a dozen gray whales when we went whale-watching off the coast of San Francisco last spring, and while they were pretty near, they were nothing like this.
    Camels & Chocolate recently posted..In 2011…

  35. WOW!!! I was there on a really windy day, and my guide kept hoping the whales would want to play with the waves and jump for us – but nope, lol. They showed us a bit of skin and I did see a tale, though I was with my less good camera – I was afraid to take the good one out to see – but it was amazing nonetheless! A day later, I saw tons of toninas (smallest or almost smallest dolphins in the world) and they were jumping all around us and following the boat – that was AMAZING! :) :)
    All Colores recently posted..End of the World Photos for the End of the Year

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