Whales in the Mediterranean

[Halcyon Yachts]

Hi All,

I am just back from a delivery to Monaco from the Southampton Boat show. As it was a powerboat delivery, the details and a video have been posted over on the Motor Boat Forum.

I was really pleased on this trip to see Fin, Pilot and Sperm Whales. Despite having logged tens of thousands of miles in The Med I have never seen a Whale there... One of the crew is a keen whale watcher (running trips in both Mexico and Greece), and he insisted that we would; we just needed to look in the right place! Even he was extremely excited though to witness a pod of Sperm Whales, and kept saying how lucky we were. Have any of you seen whales in the Med?

I put together a short film of just the whales and dolphins (don't worry, no sailing yachts were harmed in the making of this film!).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0IpS03qDFU&feature=youtu.be

Pete

 

[Sybarite]

Hi All,

I am just back from a delivery to Monaco from the Southampton Boat show. As it was a powerboat delivery, the details and a video have been posted over on the Motor Boat Forum.

I was really pleased on this trip to see Fin, Pilot and Sperm Whales. Despite having logged tens of thousands of miles in The Med I have never seen a Whale there... One of the crew is a keen whale watcher (running trips in both Mexico and Greece), and he insisted that we would; we just needed to look in the right place! Even he was extremely excited though to witness a pod of Sperm Whales, and kept saying how lucky we were. Have any of you seen whales in the Med?

I put together a short film of just the whales and dolphins (don't worry, no sailing yachts were harmed in the making of this film!).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0IpS03qDFU&feature=youtu.be

Pete

Many times.

The first one I heard spouting beside me but didn't see it in the night sail out of Calvi. Another one a sperm whale surfaced in front of me on a night passage with bright moonlight. I didn't even have time to disconnect the a/p and it swam alongside the boat going in the opposite direction. I have seen other whales further off and a pod of pilot whales close up. Also Risso's dolphin.

The Med is very deep and so there is a greater variety of possibilities.

I have only once seen a large whale in S.Brittany near the Glénan Islands and also a pod of pilot whales in the same place.

Nice film and thanks.

 

[Contest1]

Thanks, nice video.
Another great reason to cast off for the Med.

Centaur

 

[Summer Sailor]

Nice! Here is another video all about whales in the med:

http://www.whaletrackers.com/whales-mediterranean-sea/

 

[garvellachs]

Sperm Whales in Med

A wonderful sight - majestic creatures - thanks for posting

 

[CowesSailor]

Saw one of the Farne Islands once - they are amazing.........

 

[Baggywrinkle]

Wales isn't in the Mediterranean, it's just past Telford.

Sorry, couldn't resist .....

 

[DownWest]

I was off Corsica in 69 and we had a pod of whales around us for a while at dawn. Not sure of type, but around 30ft long and nearly close enough to touch! Might have been 20 or so of them. Exilarating, if a bit alarming.

 

[Daydream believer]

Wales isn't in the Mediterranean, it's just past Telford


Perhaps we would all be better off if it was in the med!!!!!

 

[telford_mike]

Wales isn't in the Mediterranean, it's just past Telford


Perhaps we would all be better off if it was in the med!!!!!

I certainly wish Telford was in (on?) the Med

 

[Goldie]

Straits of Gibraltar always seemed to be a hot spot for whales and dolphins, we certainly saw plenty of pilot whales there and heard reports of far larger varieties too.

 

[LouisBrowne]

My wife and I saw a whale about 15 miles off the coast of Corsica at the end of May this year. I had never seen one before.
One or two people I have spoken to found it hard to believe that we could have seen a whale in the Med so I feel vindicated by this excellent video!

 

[Sybarite]

My wife and I saw a whale about 15 miles off the coast of Corsica at the end of May this year. I had never seen one before.
One or two people I have spoken to found it hard to believe that we could have seen a whale in the Med so I feel vindicated by this excellent video!

There are lots of whales in the Med and it is known that sperm whales are often seen near Corsica. I don't know if it was a coincidence or not but I saw more when slightly off the beaten track, ie coming back directly from S.Corsica.

 

[Mrs Springy]

Baby Dolphin

We've seen lots of dolphins in the Balearics this summer and also several pods of pilot whales.

Dolphins are always a magical sight and it makes my day if we see them.

Today was extra, extra special though - we were about 2/3 of the way across the Canal de Mallorca on our way to Ibiza when four dolphins came to play off the bow - and with them was a baby dolphin Cute or what?

 

[Magnum]

We've had the pleasure of the company of dolphins on every 90+mile passage in the med since we arrived last year. Plenty en-route on the Atlantic coast too.

We also saw a pod of pilot whales whilst sailing to Morocco last month which was truly wonderful.

 

[Halcyon Yachts]

Straits of Gibraltar always seemed to be a hot spot for whales and dolphins, we certainly saw plenty of pilot whales there and heard reports of far larger varieties too.

Yes - Very true... I saw a couple of Orcas just west of Tarifa last year. It was an amazing sight!

Pete

 

[Monique]

We saw ... and photographed ... a sperm whale in the Baie de St Tropez with youngest daughter/husband and two young grand kids.

The kids were over the moon

 

[DickB]

Great video thanks