□ Personalised service 
□ Full service PAD! dive 
center on hotel premises 
□ 41 foot custom diveboat 
.••y X ' ' ' .. / ' 
□ Whale watching trips 
□ Photos by Fitzroy Armour 
□ Air conditioned rooms 
□ Full restaurant and bar 
□ Fresh water pool 
□ Squash court 
Whale watching is unmistakably the most 
fascinating and exhilarating sea venture! 
The day’s small group consisted of avid 
and first time whale watchers. We cast off 
from the jetty of the Anchorage Hotel for an 
“afternoon till sunset” on the protected west 
coast of Dominica. We were not far from 
shore when our first whale was sighted. 
Unmistakable against the seemingly mo¬ 
tionless ocean, the spout rose quickly only to 
atomize into a miniature rainbow towered by 
the backdrop of Waitikubli’s cloud capped 
mountains. 
The Carib Indians named this island 
“ Waitikubuli ”, 
translated to “tall 
is her body ” which 
aptly reflects her 
regal stature. Her 
majestic moun¬ 
tains extend thou¬ 
sands of feet be¬ 
low the ocean sur¬ 
face at the meet¬ 
ing of the Carib¬ 
bean and Atlantic 
plates. 
Again the 
spout rose at its 
distinct forty-five degree angle to the surface. 
The angle and periodic repetition confirmed 
it to be a Sperm whale. On slowly approach¬ 
ing, we realised that there were also two 
small spouts-a cow and two calves. The 
calves were anxiously nuzzling her until she 
responded by tilting on her side to begin 
nursing them. 
This deep and sheltered coast is enjoyed 
by many Cetacean, including the singing 
Humpback (Megaptera novaengliae) and the 
Sie (Balaenoptera borealis), both Baleen 
whales, which migrate from the North Atlan¬ 
tic to mate and calve. There are also many- 
toothed whales sighted throughout the year 
mating, nursing, calving, playing and diving 
to the great abyss to feed on squid and other 
deep water creatures. 
Sightings of resident toothed whales in¬ 
cludes the Sperm whale (Physeter catodon) 
the largest toothed animal to exist, Pygmy 
Sperm whale (Kogia breviceps), the Orca 
(Orcinus orca), the False Killer whale 
(Pseudorca crassidens), the Pygmy Killer 
whale (Feresa attenuata), the Pilot whale 
(Globicephala melaena), the Spotted Dol¬ 
phin (Stenella attenuata), the Bottlenose Dol¬ 
phin (Turiops trunatus) and others. 
Due to the unique conditions, gentle sea 
and extremely 
deep waters, 
Dominica has 
ideal and com¬ 
fortable whale 
watching condi¬ 
tions. I have 
been able to wit¬ 
ness rarely seen 
behaviour at sea 
and even from 
the shore, such 
as, the gentle 
and curious na¬ 
ture of cetaceans 
toward humans; Humpback whales mating 
at a distant less than 100 yards from shore; 
a Sperm whale cow nursing three calves 
while the other pod members dive to feed; 
and five Orcas harassing ten Sperm whales 
are some of the more startling observations. 
I have been able to notice highly social 
behaviour within pods, such as one cow/ 
nursemaid tending to as many as three calves 
while the other members of the pod go off on 
their dives for as long as one hour and as 
deep as 6,000 feet. 
Nursing now over, the cow prepared to 
join the adults. Swimming slowly she bobs 
her head twice before finally arching her 
back, the increased weight of her tail leaving 
the water initiates her deep dive. 
WHALE WATCHING 
Story & photo: Fitzroy Armour 
19 
