The Whales are here! The whales are here!
Every spring humpback whales migrate through our waters as they return back up North for the summer. Normally when we spot them, it’s a mom and calf since the males tend to stay under longer. The mothers are teaching the youngsters how to feed, navigate, and overall survive so they actually come in quite close to land here.
Fun Fact #1. Humpbacks can dive to around 800 feet for 20 minutes and can hold their breath as long as 45 minutes.
Fun Fact #2 Humpback whale milk is 50% fat and pink in color.
Just two weeks ago I was on a sailboat off of South side Saint Thomas and we spotted a mom and calf putting on quite a show! I got a few pics and a friend got a great slow motion video you can view here: Humpback whales USVI
Fun Fact #3 Whales are thought to be typically very friendly and often interact and “play” with bottlenose dolphins and other whale species
Fun Fact #4 It’s commonly known that whales “sing,” What isn’t commonly known is that only the males sing leading scientists to believe that songs are created to help with reproduction
And finally, Captain Joe took this photos a few years back on another sailboat RIGHT off of Jost Van Dyke. Taken with his iPhone, no less!
So Incredible! We haven’t seen them on CatZilla yet, but fingers are crossed it will be soon!