Sight the Giants of the Mighty Blue Ocean

It was an exciting period for us, as the SoulTrek team prepped up to head on to an adventure to sight the gentle ocean giants on a Whale & Dolphin watching expedition. While the Mirissa harbor is the most popular Sri Lankan destination for Whale & Dolphin watching from November to April, the East takes over during the months of April to October.“Trincomalee”, being yet another tropical paradise in Sri Lanka has become very popular for Whale watching over the years and is the safe haven of a resident colony of Blue Whales (one of the only non-migratory whale colonies of the world!).

 

We set out on our adventure at break of dawn, to set sail before the sunrise. “Sail Lanka” being one of the luxury charter cruise service was delightfully awaiting to tour us around the ocean to capture breathtaking moments of these magnificent creatures. SoulTrek team Living up to its motto is always mindful about the partners we work with, was the very reason to choose Sail Lanka one of the top notch services currently available for cruises, a 100% local company under Board of Investments in Sri Lanka and the boats are manufactured in our very own country giving priority to be eco-friendly as much as possible by using the sail and Solar powered electricity on board.

These waters are home to several other species of whales and during the tour, one can even spot dolphins, turtles, manta rays, flying fish, whale sharks, Blue Whales, Sperm Whales and more. Even though choppy waters and sea sickness were deterrents, we were certain that the experience we were about to begin was priceless.Gushing through the water the boat sailed away from the harbour around 6.30 am there were also a number of fellow tourist’s accompanying us on this cruise. Wearing life jackets thrilled us more to not miss this chance of a life time of sighting these enormous sea mammals.

Yes, a good pair of binoculars is an essential kit to zoom in and see these magnificent creatures glide effortlessly on the seas. The first sight of a whale activity was a white fountain of water reaching high up the sky. Our friendly guide explained us that it was a whale spurting from its blow-hole in order to take a breath as it reaches the surface. It was a stunning moment indeed and my colleague manage to capture few stunning moments of it. We were also able to sight some Dolphins and turtles so binos can definitely come in handy 😉 The flowing movements of these gentle giants truly mesmerized us and we just couldn’t afford to take our eyes off them.Being one of the luckiest on board we were able to spot the performance of a classic “fluke up” of a magnificent whale heading back to the depths of the sea with a dramatic flourish! Sighting few baby dolphins spinning around and having fun not so far from our boat was a jovial moment. Spending almost two to three hours observing the whales, listening to the guide’s tales about them our team captured the best snapshot of the legendary tail fin of these mythical creatures.

 

“Travel done right” been our motto we were keen on watching them carefully without making any disturbance as it wasn’t just another ordinary fun activity. As all good things come to an end it was about time to wind up our trip. Reaching the Trinco harbour we got off the boat delightfully thanking everyone for making this trip an amazing unforgettable journey. Ticking up one of the bucket list activities is a wonderful feeling after-all.We hope to share this experience with you during the upcoming Whale Watching season in Mirissa during November to April!!