BABYSITTING A BABY BLUE WHALE
Last month, during one of our evening sunset tours, we had a really special encounter.
Seeing a baby blue whale is one of the rarest things we can see here in the bay, and maybe one of the rarest whale-watching encounters in general. Last year we didn't see any at all, and so far this year this is the only one we have seen.
At first you don't even realize it is a baby until you see the mother next to it! The baby was already huge, maybe even the size of a medium humpback whale.
We first saw the baby swimming alongside its mother. They surfaced together a couple of times and then suddenly we only saw the baby, while the mother was much farther away. We joked that she left us her baby for babysitting while she went off to feed.
Then the baby started circling around our boat, looking curious about us. At the same time we could still hear the strong blow of the mother from far away. All of this happened during our evening tour, with the sky full of yellow and orange colors as the midnight sun was getting lower.
Even for one of the most experienced members of our crew, this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It was the first time seeing a curious baby blue whale behaving like this around a boat.
Curiosity is one of the most fascinating whale behaviors. Whether it is spy- hopping or moments like this, it is amazing when such a giant animal from the wild ocean becomes curious about you and chooses to interact with you.
After spending many minutes with us, a group of dolphins appeared. The baby whale quickly got distracted and left us behind to check them out and play with them.
In the end, babies are babies no matter the species. Human babies, whale babies, dolphin babies... they are all curious, playful and always looking for something new. The only difference is that this baby might become the biggest animal on Earth one day!
