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Most people say they were “never the same” after their whale and dolphin watching excursions. When a curious whale swims up to your boat or flicks his tale to wave at you, it’s hard to feel like they can’t understand you in some way. Dolphins, in particular, are intensely curious about humans and thrive off interaction. “I get up to the perfect surf — and suddenly, I notice a bottle-nose dolphin swimming right up to cut me off and steal my ride,” one veteran San Diego surfer recalls. Whale and dolphin cruises can be taken around the world at different times of the year. Here are some of the gentle giants you might spot on your next trip.

The humpback whale is one of the most common creatures spotted when whale watching. There are about 30,000 to 40,000 humpbacks in the wild today, which makes up about 30 to 35% of the overall population. In the summer, they frequent New England, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Iceland, California, Alaska, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and Antarctica. In the winter, they migrate to warmer climes like the Dominican Republic’s Samana Province, France’s Bay of Biscay, Hawaii, Mexico’s Puerto Vallarta, Australia and New Zealand, Cape Town, Costa Rica and the Tongan Islands. Humpback whales are especially exciting to see during their breeding season, when up to forty males may gather to court one female with tail-lobbing, breaching several feet in the air, tail-slapping, spy-hopping, peduncle throwing and charging.

Blue whales are another group you might encounter on your whale and dolphin watching trip. Measuring up to 100 feet long and weighing in at 200 tons, the blues are the largest creature to have ever lived on Earth. Just the water spout from these magnificent mammals can shoot thirty feet in the air. The average life span of a blue is 80 to 90 years, although aggressive hunting drove them to the brink of extinction and back again. Early whalers never bothered with the blues, however, because they were so powerful and fast compared to other types. Today there are about 8,000 to 14,000 remaining. Blue whale watching is most common in California, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the Gulf of Maine. Blues can also be found along the northern tip of Japan and off the coasts of Greenland, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Iceland, Antarctica, the northern Indian Ocean, Peru, Chile and western Australia.

When given the choice between whale and dolphin watching, many people actually choose the dolphin watch program. While whales generally keep their distance and spend most time below the surface, dolphins are much more naturally inquisitive about the boats passing by. Often, cruises also offer “swimming with the dolphins” as one of their activities. Tourists might see risso’s dolphins, bottle-nosed dolphins, Pacific white-sided dolphins, spinner dolphins or spotted dolphins on their excursion. Popular destinations include Florida, California, Hawaii, the Caribbean Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Thailand.

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