Recently we went out and did something we’d never done before: whale watching!
Most of the tours tend to be on weekends with the company we chose, but once a month they have a tour on a Monday. Perfect, as Crystal’s days off are Monday and Tuesday.
We decided to spend the night at a hotel close to where the boat launch was, just because we didn’t want to have to get up super early and fight Monday morning traffic through Bangkok.
It was a bit of an adventure getting there anyway, but it was really interesting to drive through the coastal plain and see what life is like there. That is one thing we really like about having a car here!
We still had to get up early, and didn’t even eat or get coffee. Fortunately they had breakfast there for us. It was (I believe) congee with pork meatballs. It was delicious! I didn’t eat all the rice, just because I’d need a nap later if I did. Breakfast in Thailand is different from what I was used to in Canada, but it’s okay.
We discovered that one of the nice things about a weekday whale watching trip is that there weren’t many people on the boat. There were three couples and one single person, in addition to the three man crew. Lots of room at the rails to watch the whales! The weekday trip was also discounted, so even more incentive to go then!
Our tour guide, coincidentally nicknamed Tour, said that because the weekends are quite busy with other tour companies out tracking whales down, that it can scare the whales away too. So, going during the week, the whales are more relaxed and not as likely to take off! Perfect!
It was a rainy morning, and it had rained all night, so we had to dodge a lot of large puddles along the way to the launch.
In no time we were on the boat, heading out. I already had my camera out earlier and had taken a few photos. We were getting the safety briefing when I noticed outside the windows all the birds on the pilings lining the river. Oh, I hope this is quick!
Fortunately, it didn’t take too long and the pilings continued out on to the ocean, where it is very shallow. According to Tour, the Gulf of Thailand is a large, shallow mud flat where even when it looked like we were a couple kilometres out, it might only be a couple metres deep. I believed him, and wasn’t really interested in testing it for myself.
Four rivers feed into the Gulf of Thailand, making it a rich feeding ground for all sorts of small sea life, which attracts the whales. We were going out to see Bryde’s whales (pronounced brew-duh). They sort of look like a mini Blue whale.
The rain continued on and off, then finally on for a good while. We saw lightning, heard thunder, and eventually began to spot whales.
We saw a cow calf pair, and a bunch of single whales. Apparently Bryde’s whales tend to be loners, but they gather in the Gulf of Thailand because of the feeding opportunity.
They weren’t doing a lot of exciting stuff, but we saw a couple whales breach off in the distance (jump out of the water and land on their sides). Mostly we saw them surfacing so we could see their head, dorsal fin, and finally their tails. When they stick their tail out of the water it’s called lobtailing. Saw lots of that.
Taking pictures in the rain was interesting, and it didn’t take too long to dial in the photos. It was exciting to see all the whales whether or not they were putting on a show. Didn’t really get a lot of great whale photos
After we had one whale swim right under the boat, Tour said it was too bad it wasn’t sunny out because they’re more easily visible when it is sunny.
We were supplied a tasty lunch, and the whale watching continued into the afternoon. I believe we left at 8 a.m. and arrived back at the dock around 3 p.m.
The seas weren’t too rough, and it didn’t bother me at all. Crystal felt a bit woozy at times looking through the long lens while the boat was rolling, but not too bad.
A little after noon the rain eased up and finally stopped. Overall a fairly pleasant day. It wasn’t cold at all.
On the way back into the dock I was ready for all the birds. There were at least four species of birds we saw, including two types of egrets (the large white birds), cormorants (the black ones), and terns (the ones that look like mini seagulls).
I am fairly happy with some of my bird photos, but it was a challenge with the long lens and boat movement coming in. I’d like to go back and get a small boat tour specifically to take photos of the seabirds!
Overall, we were pretty happy with the trip. Whale watching wasn’t something we expected to do in Thailand, so it was nice that it was so close!
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