RIGHT WHALE DIVING TRIP REPORT 2024

Puerto Piramides, Argentina
September 30 - August 6, 2024

 August 30, 2024 - Day One
We had a weather day today, for the first day of the trip… So instead of going out to sea, we set off in search of land animals.

It’s frustrating to be so close yet so far from the whales, but that’s nature—it’s the name of the game.

Today we learned that there are over 500 new baby whales out there this season, which is incredible, and five of them are white. Right whales are typically dark in color, so finding a white baby and diving with one would be a dream come true. We’re hopeful for the chance to see them.

For now, we’re driving to one of the elephant seal colonies near Punta Norte. There have been orca sightings in the area, so maybe we’ll witness a predation event.

I love the roads out here in Patagonia. The landscape is vast and open, with scrub grass and no trees—just dry, grassy fields stretching for miles. It has a dry, desert feel. It’s cold and rainy, and the drive is long—at least an hour, maybe two. Longer if we stop for wildlife along the way. I’m hoping to spot a mara, an armadillo—or even a puma!

A puma would be a rare find. Sadly, pumas are still heavily hunted in Patagonia. Sheep farmers despise them, and the Argentine government still offers a bounty for every puma, fox, or Geoffroy’s cat that’s killed.

Fingers crossed that will change soon. I’m putting it out into the universe.

We stopped for a mara and her baby we spotted by the road. No great photos, but it was still a cool sight. Next, we came across a pair of burrowing owls and managed to get a few snaps. They were a bit skittish, and one flew off. We waited for the second owl to take flight, fingers on the trigger, ready. After what felt like forever, it finally took off. I struggled for a moment to keep it centered in the frame, snapping away, and managed to capture one good shot.

We finally arrived at the elephant seal colony, scanning the ocean for any sign of orcas. There were rumors they had been spotted in the area.

It was bitterly cold, with strong winds and a constant drizzle, but we pressed on to see the seals.

Thanks to our government permit, we were allowed to get much closer than the general public—such an epic privilege! We were right there, on the gravel / sand, at ground level with the seals. Of course, we were very respectful of the animals, keeping our distance, making sure not to disturb them, and we had a government representative with us to ensure we followed all the rules.

There were about forty adults and possibly over thirty newborn pups. There were still signs of birthing blood in the sand, and while we were there, one of the seals even gave birth.

Seagulls were squabbling over the placenta.

It was truly a privilege to witness this up close. We crawled closer to the seals and set up our cameras. The seals noticed us, stared with a bit of confusion, then closed their eyes and went back to sleep.

There was one giant male, but he slept the entire time. We all hoped for some good shots of him, but he wasn’t interested in us or in posing. He just kept sleeping. Given all the females he had to attend to, I can’t blame him.

One of the best moments of the day was when a juvenile seal, curious about us, waddled closer and closer. She was so fat and adorable—we all fell in love with her. She got as close as she dared, then stopped just short of us, which was perfect because we didn’t want to encourage any behavior that could lead to her getting too close.

We spent a couple of hours with the seals, photographing the largest seals in the world. It was an absolutely incredible day—just wow.

October 1, 2024 - Day Two: We’re Headed Out to Sea

We woke up to beautiful conditions: flat seas, clear skies, and sunshine. It’s cold, but it’s always cold here. The day begins.

A new law is in place—only one person at a time can be in the water with the whales, accompanied by a safety diver. It’s a bit frustrating, but I understand. These whales are massive and love to get close to divers, which can be dangerous. An accident could easily happen.

Today’s conditions were tough. The sea was swelly, and visibility was really poor. We tried a few jumps, but it wasn’t worth the trouble, so we called it a day early.

Tomorrow’s forecast looks much better, so we’re hopeful.

While out on the water I noticed the kelp gulls are still out here just making life hell for the right whales. The kelp gulls land on the backs of the whales when they surcas to breath and rip chunks of skin off the right whales. The dig deep into thier skin creating big holes on their backs. It is horrible.

It turns out the reason this is happening is because in Puerto Madryn, a neighboring town, the fisheries are dumping thier fish carcasses, which led to a kelp gull population explosion. That combined with the extermination of foxes and Geofrey’s cats, left the gulls unchecked and now they are making life hell for the whales. It is really bad, and sadly nothing is currently being done to stop it.

Hoping something will be done to change that… and soon!

We reurtned to port and went to visit Whale Beach, where the whales come during high tide to play and scratch themselves on the pebbles in the shallow waters near the shore.

Last season we encountered a fox on the beach, I was hoping to see one, but sadly nada!

There were only a handful of whales—nothing like last season, when hundreds gathered here. We’re nearing the end of the season, and with plankton blooms in the water, the whales are more focused on feeding. The plankton is clouding up our waters.

Good for the whales, but bad for us.

It wasn’t a great day, but it was still a good day. It felt great to be back, seeing these amazing creatures.

I can’t wait for tomorrow!

October 2, 2024 - Day Three
The weather is beautiful! It didn’t start that way, though. Last night, high winds aggressively pushed against our hotel windows, and I thought our day would be a wash. But by noon, the seas had calmed, and the wind had stopped. Now, it’s amazing.

We headed out at 2 PM. Not a lot of time, but we decided to make the most of it.

We quickly found a playful juvenile whale. Christian got in the water with it, along with our safety diver. However, the whale was too playful, so we had to leave the water and search for whales that were a bit calmer.

We were bummed about leaving that whale, but with the very bad vis and a big whale rolling and slapping the surface, it was just too much.

Thankfully… It turned out to be a really nice day.

The visibility was challenging, but we found a mom and calf that were great to spend time with. The baby was a light grey color, which created a nice contrast—just wish the visibility had been better.

We tried to photograph the pair, but with the tough conditions, we did what we could. Even though it wasn’t ideal for photos or videos, being with these whales is always a special experience.

The mom allowed the baby to come check us out, and we had a great time interacting with them. We spent the entire time focused on that pair.

Overall, it was a nice day at sea and a solid start to our time in the water with the whales.

October 3, 2024 - Day Four… EPIC, EPIC Day!
We woke up to nice conditions, but we didn’t leave port until 11 AM since the morning was still a bit rough.

Once we arrived at the whale grounds, it was beautiful.

It took a while to find a playful whale, but when we did, it was game on. We had an incredible baby whale that was eager to get close, repeatedly investigating its new "tub toys." It was huge, yet absolutely adorable.

We spent the day swimming backward as the whale kept approaching us over and over again.

It was the kind of day you dream of when swimming with right whales.

The visibility, however, wasn’t great. The water was green with plankton—good for the whales, but not for us. Visibility was poor, but we managed to find some patches of clearer water and had some truly special moments with the juvenile whale. I was really happy with a few of my photos from today’s session.

This is exactly what we came here to experience, and we got it.

The baby whale was a solid player, staying with us the entire time. While mom rested, the baby enjoyed exploring its new "pool toys," giving us the perfect subject to photograph.

It was fantastic. Toward the end, the baby had enough fun and went down to feed from mom. The water was too murky to see, but we could tell she was feeding. Once the baby finished, she grew sleepy and wanted to rest.

So we decided to leave them alone.

The winds had also picked up, and visibility dropped further, so we called it a day.

It truly was a wonderful day.

October 4, 2024 - Day Five: Weather Day
Since the weather wasn’t on our side today, we decided to spend the day at Punta Norte.

Punta Norte is world-famous for this incredible predator-prey interaction, as orcas are often seen beaching themselves to catch baby sea lions and elephant seals.

When we arrived in the parking area a PAtagonia armadillo was running around the parking area. Man I had wanted to snap some images of this guy for a while, and there it was. It was so damn cute!

We followed it around for a while then it disappeared behind some bushes and it never came back out.

We left it and went out the viewing area that over looks the seals on the beach.

This time of year is when elephant seals give birth, and the orcas take advantage of these opportunities while the young seals are still learning to swim. The pups are too naive to realize just how dangerous this coastline can be.

We had heard reports that orcas were in the area, so we visited during high tide, hoping to catch a glimpse of them.

Unfortunately, the orcas didn’t make an appearance. But we did witness an elephant seal with a newborn, still wrapped in its placenta, and we were entertained by a massive male desperately trying to mate with any female that would allow him.

He was enormous, easily 3,000 pounds, and compared to the much smaller females, we couldn’t figure out how it was even possible.

After spending some time with the elephant seals, we headed to Estancia San Lorenzo, home to the second-largest breeding colony of Magellanic penguins in Patagonia. With over 200,000 breeding pairs, it’s an absolutely epic spot.

Thanks to our special permits, we were granted access to the area and had the chance to fully document this extraordinary place.

It was a dream come true. I was overwhelmed by how amazing it was—truly a photographer's paradise.

The penguins were all paired up, and some even had eggs in their ground nests. We documented everything.

We captured drone footage, photos, courtship videos, and even mating behavior—it was an insane day, full of opportunities for incredible shots.

We stayed there until sunset, completely mesmerized by the magic of the place.

October 5, 2024 - Day Six: Our Final Day
We woke up to beautiful seas and a bright blue sky—a great way to start our last day. We kicked off the morning with a snorkel session with the sea lions, and it was an absolute blast. While in the water, we noticed a massive sea lion near the shoreline, but to our surprise, it turned out to be an elephant seal! We tried to get closer, but it was too shallow, so we left it alone.

I was so close! I wanted to photograph that beautiful seal underwater—desperately.

Next time… It will be my turn.

We spent about an hour with the sea lions before forcing ourselves to leave. We realized we were cutting into our right whale time, but kept telling ourselves, "Just a few more minutes." The sea lions were so curious and playful that it was hard to pull away.

Afterwards, we spent a couple of hours searching for whales, but no luck finding any "players." It’s been challenging, but we kept trying.

The moms with calves weren’t very friendly today. I began wondering if orcas were in the area, and one of the captains agreed with the theory. Orcas have been pretty active lately, and with all the newborn elephant seal pups, this place will likely be busy with orcas in the coming weeks.

We decided to leave the area with the best visibility (but unfriendly whales) and head to a more distant spot in hopes of finding whales that were more interested in interacting with us.

It took a while, but we finally found a spot full of whales. A few seemed curious, so we tried a few jumps.

But it just wasn’t our day. As our last day at sea, we were all feeling a bit down. The ocean was calm, but the whales weren’t interested in us.

We did have a an interesting moment with a Southern Giant Petrel, these guys have a six foot wingspan. Massive birds. We had one swim up to Nathan to get a good look at his camera. The bird was very curious.

Not a whale but still a great encounter.

We spent hours looking for friendly whales, but nada. We were about to call it a day when, suddenly, everything changed. One whale approached us, then a second, then a third... and then a fourth!

The whales in the area started swimming around our boat, giving us multiple chances to capture some pretty terrible images and videos… but no one cared.

The moment was epic! It seemed the whales had stopped feeding and were now socializing and playing around our boat.

The visibility was poor, so we knew we wouldn’t get great photos, but at that point, nobody cared. The moment was pure magic!

It didn’t matter whether you were in the water or on the boat—every seat was the best seat in the house.

This was the reason we were all here… to experience a moment like this.

It was an epic way to end an amazing week of wildlife in Patagonia. My heart was full, and everyone on the boat had a huge smile on their face. Just wow, wow, wow.

A huge thank you to my friends who shared this week with me, and to the amazing souls in Patagonia who made this trip perfect.

All images shot under Government permits.