More Whales on Moorea! – September 10

After spending several days in the calm waters of Cooks Bay on Moorea, we headed back to Marina Papeete to do some boat projects and pick up our friend Jessie Fleming who flew in to spend a couple of weeks cruising with me and Danielle.

Jessie made it from the airport to our slip in the marina.  We spent the day getting her set up in our small guest cabin and doing some final provisioning in the big city before heading back out to Moorea.  It was Jessie’s dream to go swimming with humpback whales like Danielle did a couple of weeks ago, so it was back to Cooks Bay for some whale encounters!

During our first couple of days back in Cooks Bay we were experiencing the typical easterly trade winds that blow here.  Cooks Bay is very well protected from these winds by its tall mountains.  But the whales are not in the bay, they are out the pass and in the open ocean, where the wind would still be blowing. The mornings tend to have a bit lighter wind so we got an early start on Day One, hopping into the dinghy around 8 am. Danielle and Catalina joined us for the ride.  We headed north out the bay, which was calm, and into the pass that led to the open ocean.  As we got out the pass we saw white caps and a good size swell, not ideal for our small dinghy, but we really wanted to see these whales!  We decided to slowly drift/motor west, with the wind and let it carry us to the next pass that was about 3 miles away.  I have seen whales in this area before, so it was worth a try. 

There were not other boats out looking for whales, which is normally a sign that there are no whales around.  The 4+ foot waves made it difficult to see around us as we dropped into the troughs all we could see was water, until we rose back up on the top of a swell, we could briefly see all around us.  But those brief moments at the top did not give us much time to spot a whale spot in the distance. After 1.5 hours of drifting and scanning the horizon for whales we gave up and heading back into the pass of Opunohu bay and got protection from the swell by the barrier reef.

Opunohu Bay has a nice public beach with a surrounding coral reef, so Jessie went for a snorkel while Danielle and I took Catalina ashore to go for a good run on the sand. We then motored the dinghy back to Cooks Bay, getting a bit pounded by the wind waves that were picking up as the breeze increased in the afternoon.  Soon we were back on the boat in the calm of Cooks Bay.

Day 2 - The weather was predicted to be about the same for the next couple of days, but I was determined to get Jessie a whale experience, so the next morning Jessie and I jumped back into the dinghy and followed the same path down the coast of Moorea that we took the previous day.  The swells were getting a bit larger so we had some nice surfs down a couple of them.  Again, we saw no whales or whale watching boats so we headed back into another pass further west of Opunotu Bay where the famous Sting Ray City was. This gave Jessie a chance to swim among the friendly sting rays and reef sharks.  There were plenty of tourist boat around feeding the rays so Jessie had a great experience checking out all the rays, sharks and fish.

The dinghy ride back to Cooks Bay was even more sporty than the day before, The wind REALLY picked up, into the high 20s.  Even though we could stay inside the reef, protected from the ocean swells, the wind kicked up some good size waves that we had to beat against.  It was a wet and pounding 45 minute ride back to Cooks Bay.  We felt pretty beat up by the time we got back, so it was nice to get a rest in the calm of the bay.

Day 3 - I had breakfast and looked north out of Cooks Bay towards the pass and ocean and I could make out some small boats cruising along just outside the reef.  I told Jessie I thought these boats were tracking a whale and that we should go.  Whale watching boats here are not the large boats we have back home.  They are maybe 20 feet long and hold about 6 passengers.  Since you can swim with the whales they make it easy for people to get in and out of them.’ So with the boats being smaller, its harder to spot them.

We quickly jumped in the dinghy and headed out of the bay once again.  Once through the pass we were greeted with the largest swells so far, at least 5 to 8 feet.  Definitely on the big side for our little 10 foot dinghy! I am sure everyone who saw us out there thought we were nuts.  And we were..

The two whale watching boats had moved about 1.5 miles offshore at this point, so we headed towards them, riding up and down the swells while trying to dodge breaking white caps. Once we got close to the boats we could see the whales hanging out about 100 yards in front of them.  The other boats had people in the water so I told Jessie to get in.  She jumped in and started swimming towards the group in the water. She was swimming like mad, but barely getting any where in the big waves, so I was yelling “swim Jessie swim!!” But after 10 minutes or so she made it maybe 20 yards, and the other swimmers were headed back to their boats.  Jessie climbed aboard the dingy, and we started looking for the whales again.  The other two whale watching boats turned and headed back in, so it was just us.

As we waited, suddenly a whale came up 30 yards in front of us for a breath!  Jessie hopped in the water and put her mask face down  She then started swimming towards the boat with her head down.  I started yelling for her to move because I did not want to hit her with the dinghy, but she never looked up.  I could tell she must be watching a whale.  Sure enough a few minutes later she popped up and yelled “That was AMAZING!  The whale swam right under me!”  The whale must have gone right under me too in the dinghy, but I could not see it with all the wind on the water, and my focus was on Jessie and trying to avoid running over her (yes, the outboard was turned off the entire time),

Jessie climbed back into the dinghy and was ecstatic.  Her encounter was brief, but she finally got to be in the water with a humpback!  I can tell you seeing an animal that large, swimming so gracefully below the water is awe inspiring, and a bit scary at the same time.  I was so happy we achieved our goal and got Jessie in the water with a whale!

We started to head back to the pass, this time heading down wind and with the large swells.  The dinghy would accelerate quickly as it surfed town the large waves.  I had to really pay attention to the amount of throttle I was giving it so that we would not go too fast and crash at the bottom of the wave.  We knew what we were doing was nuts, but we were stoked, we found a whale!

Just outside the pass we suddenly saw another humpback breach 100 yards in front of our dinghy!  It then breached again even closer.  It was my turn to get in the water, so I hopped in and started looking for the whale.  She had been clearly swimming up wind in the opposite direction of us.  My heart was pounding looking for the whale and hoping it would not breach on me!  But I never saw it, it just swam past us and kept going.  So I got back in the dinghy and motored though the pass and into the bay and back to calm waters.  We were soon back at the boat where Danielle and Catalina were waiting.  We all celebrated together that Jessie finally got to swim with a whale.

Day 4.  The wind was forecasted to calm down a lot this day.  I woke up and had a good feeling that we could experience an even better whale swim.  I asked Daneille and Jessie if they were up for going again and they said “YES!” So we hopped into the dinghy with Catalina and made the now familiar trek out the bay, through the pass and into the open ocean. 

The waves were a lot more settled than the day 3, and the winds were light with bright sunshine.  The perfect whale swimming day!  We turned east towards the area where we saw the whales the day before.  Afte 20 minutes of seeing nothing, we decided to head west, with the small swell, and towards the pass at Opunoho Bay.  Cruising just outside of the reef, with Moorea’s majestic peaks piercing the sky behind the breaking waves, is a beautiful sight that never gets old.  Truly one of the most beautiful places on the planet.

All 3 of us scanned the ocean looking for the tell-tale spouts, or other whale watching boats.  It was a LOT easier without the large swells of the prior days blocking our view.  But we saw nothing and pointed the dinghy towards the green and red buoys marking the entrance to the pass.  Just as we were getting into the channel,, Danielle said “Dad, there are two boats right there!”.  About 200 yards off our side, and just outside the reef, were two whale watching boats just drifting.  This was a definite sign they had seen a whale.  So we slowly motored towards them, not wanting to disturb any whales in the area.

We drifted for 15 minutes, seeing nothing.  This is typical because the whales will dive for anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes.  Then, 200 yards off our starboard side we saw the spout!  In unison all 3 boats started slowing moving towards the whale.  We were required to stay at least 100 yards out, so we did not move in too close.  The other boats had swimmers jump in the water.  And now it was my TURN! So Jessie and I jumped in and started swimming in the direction of the whale.  We swam for 10 minutes or so, and stopped.  Other swimmers were around, all of us putting our heads down looking for the whale under the water.  Nothing.  We waited another 10 minutes, hoping the whale would surface again, but it seemed to have moved on.  Jessie and I started swimming back to the dinghy.  Right as we approached the boat, Danielle yelled “whale!”  It had spouted about 100 yards out.  We turned around and started swimming again.  One of the whale watching boats had about 8 people in the water, and the captain kept pointing towards where the whale had been. The group of swimmers suddenly stopped moving.  They were about 20 yards ahead of us, so Jessie and I keep moving, all the while looking under water for the whale.  As we approached the group, suddenly we saw the faint image of a whale, floating vertically in the water about 75 feet below,  Then we saw a second whale, just behind it.  They were just hanging there, motionless like two HUGE pillars floating weightless in the depth of the blue.

We all stopped, and just looked down and stared at what lay below us.  It was crazy how these huge animals could just hang there, nearly motionless, in the water.  But I knew at some point, they had to come up for air at the surface.  This time I had the GoPro ready, so we could finally get these beauties on film! 

We all waited, peering into the deep blue waters, seeing the white bellies of the whales glimmer in the sun beams piercing through the water.  Then suddenly there was motion, an almost imperceptible movement of their fins, and slowly they started to rise to the surface.  It was nearly effortless.  How can a creature so MASSIVE move so easily and gracefully.  I was in AWE!

Of course I had slowly moved my self closer to the whales as they had been hanging beneath the waves, so I had the front row seat.  Soon it was 50 feet in front of me, gently piercing the surface of the ocean, exhaling it massive spout of water and taking a big breath in, WHOOSH!  RIGHT.  IN. FRONT. OF. ME!!! Both whales spouted together, swam for a minute at the surface, then dove again, assuming that same pillar position, hanging vertically and motionless in the depths below us.  At times we could barely make them out.

Jessie and I, along with the pack of swimmers continued to just look down, watching the whales, and waiting for them to come to the surface again.  After another 10 minutes or so, they repeated the process, slowly, rising, taking a couple of breaths, then diving back down. It was majestic!

It had been about 45 minutes since we got in the water, and Danielle and Catalina were drifting and waiting in the dinghy, so we started to head back, leaving a pack of new swimmers watching the whales below.

We got back to the dinghy, so excited to have seen the whales up close.  I asked Daneile if she wanted to go, and she said no, that she was concerned about Catalina having to wait in the dinghy.  Then she said “but I really want to go” and said “let’s do it, Catalina will be fine!” So the two of us jumped in and starting swimming toward the pack of swimmers that Jessie and I had just left behind.

We kept getting closer to the swimmers but could not see anything, then slowly in the deep blue water, like a ghost slowly appearing, the outline of the whales in the pillar position began to come into focus. As Danielle and I looked down and waited, the pack of swimmers headed off, leaving us behind with just two other ladies that were also from a cruising boat.  We chatted about out good luck to have these whales right below us, and all to ourselves!

Then they started slowing moving towards the surface again, and the real show was about to start!  As they swam up, one came directly under me and did a slow barrel roll, exposing her entire belly, just 15 feet below me. 

Danielle then said “Dad, can I dive down?” I said “yes go for it!” and down she went!  The first whale coming up veered slowly away from Danielle then broke the surface for a breath.  Danielle came up and took a breath herself and headed back down for the second whale. This whale was interested in checking Danielle out and swam right for her, keeping watch with it massive eye!  I had the camera on and could not believe how close Danielle got to the massive 40 foot beauty!  Here is the photo I got. SO. CRAZY!

As the second whale surfaced, they both began to flap their tales in the water, creating a wall of bubbles between us and them,  They then turned and swam right by us again.  I could feel the power of the water pressing me back from the wash of their tale fins.  The water was swirling around me like I was white water rafting!  One of the whales then popped her head up out of the water right in front of Danielle!  Here is the photo I caught of it. 

This behavior is called Spy Hopping. They swam and swirled about, and then suddenly they dove and were gone.

WOW!  We were blown away!  I still keep watching the videos that you see here and can barely believe that this all happened.  These whales were as interested in us as we were in them, and they wanted to give us the show of a lifetime.

I am just in awe of these magical, majestic creatures.  We have an awesome God who gifted us with this amazing creation!

We then went inside the pass and headed back to the boat filled with great joy at the experience and our good luck!  Had Danielle not seen the two whale watching boats as we started to enter the pass, we would have missed it all!

As a bonus, while editing my videos, I noticed the GoPro microphone picked up the sound of the whales singing! We could not hear it with our own ears, but the camera got it. Turn up the volume and listen closely!