Whale Activities
"There
are a few great dolphin and whale
activities.."
Watching Wild Dolphins and Whales
Whale watching is a very popular activity in countries where whales can be seen. In some places, it is possible to see the whales from the shore. In other places, it is better to go out to the sea to see them. It is popular to join guided whale watching tours that take you out to the sea on their boats. Dolphin watch is usually less seasonal because they don't migrate as much as do the large baleen whales. So during the season when whales don't migrate, whale watching companies often put on dolphin-watching tours.
Whales are found in all oceans. There are, however, some places in the world that are particularly popular with whale watching tours. Such places in eastern North America are Canada's Quebec and Newfoundland, the US's New England Region (particularly Maine: Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Bar Harbor, Boston, Provincetown, Newport and Cape Ann). In western North America there are popular whale watching places in Alaska (Juneau), British Columbia (Vancouver, Vancouver Island), Washington (Seattle, Bellingham, Anacortes, San Juan Islands, Puget Sound), Oregon and California (San Francisco, Dana Point, Santa Barbara, Monterey, and San Diego in southern California).
In Hawaii, there is some good whale watching on Kauai and Maui Islands; in Caribbean there's Dominica; and Puerto Vallarta and Baja California are popular in Mexico. In Europe, there is some good whale watching in Iceland, Norway, Scotland, Ireland and Azores. In South Africa, some of the better places are around Plettenberg Bay on the Garden Route, as well as lookout points in some coastal towns like for example Hermanus. In New Zealand, Kaikoura is the most popular place, and in Australia, popular places include Hervey Bay, Gold Coast, Byron Bay, Sydney, Victoria (Warrnambool), and many places along the coasts of South and Western Australia.
Watching Dolphin Shows
Another popular one of whale activities is dolphin shows. Because they are smaller than whales but equally intelligent, they can put on interesting shows. And because they don't migrate, they can survive in captivity. Bottlenose dolphins are particularly popular show performers, but there are others, including killer whales. Many aquariums in the world put on dolphin shows, but the most popular is probably the Sea World in Orlando, Florida. There are also places where to see wild dolphin feedings. Some Australian examples are Monkey Mia in Western Australia (Shark Bay), and Tangalooma in Queensland (Moreton Island outside Brisbane).
Swimming with Dolphins
In some places, whale activities tour operators will take you out to the sea where you can swim with wild dolphins. It is so much fun because they are friendly and curious animals and will come very close and get interactive with humans. There are many places in the world where you can do this (my personal experience comes from Kaikoura in New Zealand).
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New Bedford Whaling Museum
Alaska Whale Watching Cruise
Orca Whale Watching
Swimming with Dolphins in Hawaii
Swimming with Dolphins in Florida
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