Sperm Whale Trip Report 2025 - Trip 2

Dominica Island, Caribbean
January 21 - 27, 2026

January 22, 2026. Day One

It’s been a really good morning.

Rainbows Again!

Five jumps so far, and whales on every single one.

The sun is out, the skies are blue, and the water visibility is excellent. 

The whales have been on the move, surfacing for five to ten minutes before dropping back down to hunt. The best part is that they’re inshore, close to the island. No other boats. 

We’ve had the entire area to ourselves, which makes all the difference.

As I write this, our group is chatting away behind me. I love hearing it, happy, excited divers, getting to know each other, still processing what they’ve just experienced.

Dominica delivered today.

We stayed with the J pod all day, just us and the whales. All morning they were focused on hunting, dropping down for 30–40 minutes, then returning to the surface for 10–15 minutes before heading back down again. This rhythm continued until around 1 p.m., when their behavior shifted.

We could hear it first. The clicks changed, from hunting clicks to social clicks. 

When we jumped in, one of the juvenile whales we’d spent most of the morning with stopped racing above the larger adults hunting thousands of feet below him.

 Instead, he slowed down, began rolling, tail slapping, and swimming calmly near the surface. The mood had completely changed.

We followed him for a bit as he moved slowly, turning upside down and swimming beneath us. I was just about to break off when I saw two whales rising from the depths to join him. They greeted each other and began swimming together, then paused to rest at the surface. I caught up and fired frame after frame.

They were logging, floating on the surface, sleeping, completely relaxed.

After a few minutes, they began moving again, and two more whales joined them. 

Suddenly, five members of the J pod were together, resting, rolling, touching, reinforcing their bonds with one another. It was quiet, intimate, and incredibly special.

It was an amazing first day in the water, and I’m deeply grateful our friends were able to experience this. The rest of the week already feels lighter, the pressure of “needing” something incredible has been lifted. 

Now we can simply go out each day and embrace whatever the ocean chooses to share with us.

The week has begun!

January 23, 2026. Day Two.

We headed out this morning hoping for another good day.

We never really know until we’re out there, and experiencing it.

The day began with a small pod of three sperm whales. One was a male, clearly had mating on his mind, a good sign that the season is happening right now. We attempted a swim, but they dropped quickly.

Still, it was a nice first jump. The whales were close when they dropped down.

After that, things went quiet.

While searching, we spotted a pair of dolphins swimming side by side. From a distance, I wanted to take a look to make sure it wasn’t Pygmy killer whales.

It turned out to be a group of four rough-toothed dolphins.

They’re known for being curious, and I was hoping for some close passes, but they kept their distance. 

I got spoiled after our time in Baja with the rough toothed dolphins. Out there they got in my face. It was awesome.

While we were in the water with the dolphins, we got the call back to the boat, sperm whales were up again. We moved quickly, but they dove before we could get back in.

We found another pod with males, but once again they dropped almost immediately.

By noon, it was clear this day was very different from yesterday.

Yesterday was nonstop action. Today was full of down time… waiting fore the whales to come up. But sadly as soon as they did, they were gone again.

That’s one of the things I love about nature, you never know what the day will give you, no matter what happened the day before.

We continued to see sperm whales, but none of them wanted anything to do with us. The energy was completely different.

Then we got a call about a massive pod of pilot whales.

We headed over, and there they were, sitting almost motionless on the surface of the water.

We found a pod of roughly 40–50 pilot whales and spent an epic afternoon swimming with them. The water was beautiful, the whales were calm and mellow, moving slowly. 

Photographing them was both fun and challenging, and it turned into a perfect way to finish the day.

I was wondering if today was going to be a let down after yesterday’s magic… it definitely wasn’t!

January 24, 2026. Day Three

Heading out this morning to see whatever nature chooses to share with us today. 

After day two, and the magic we experienced with the pilot whales, I’m a little nervous about what the sperm whales might be doing. Are they going to be around? 

Either way, we’ll appreciate whatever we’re gifted with.

After our first two days, everything feels like a bonus.

By mid-morning, we’d been motoring around for a couple of hours with no activity. 

We dropped the hydrophone several times, no clicks, no movement, nothing.

It’s official… whenever the pilot whales are around, they seem to push everything else away.

By early afternoon, still nothing. No clicks. No whales. No dolphins. Just an empty, empty ocean.

We spent some time searching for melon-headed whales after hearing a report from a friend’s boat, but we never found them. 

Eventually, we turned back toward port. It would take about an hour to get home, and as we slowly motored back, there was still that quiet hope that something might surface and change the energy of the day.

It didn’t.

This was the first day since arriving that no sperm whales were seen or even heard.

Tomorrow is our day… tomorrow will be amazing, I can feel it!

January 25, 2026. Day Four

We left port later than usual this morning because the kitchen didn’t have our packed lunches ready.

It gave me a chance to jump in and snorkel around the pier. Massive schools of baitfish hang out under it, good for tarpon in the early mornings when they come in to hunt. 

No tarpon while I was down there, but it was still an awesome scene.

By the time we left port, the first pod of whales had already been found by some friends of ours.

The whales are back, and they were close. About five to six miles straight out.

The first whales popped up for a breath. 

We tried to position ourselves for a first jump, but the two sperm whales kept changing directions, so we left them alone. 

Another boat tried to get in with them, even though the whales clearly showed signs that they wanted to be left alone. 

Even in the water, as the swimmers approached, the whales completely avoided them.

We moved on and slowly motored over to another whale. 

This one was a baby following mom, who was hunting deep below. 

We dropped in, and she passed us so slowly. A really nice encounter, and a great way to start the day.

2:00 p.m. We’re heading back in after what has been one of the greatest and wildest days of sperm whale diving I’ve ever experienced.

We spent a long time today with two very social whales that played with us again and again. It was so good. 

I’m still completely blown away by what we experienced.

One of them was a juvenile male, super friendly, rolling, playing, and clearly trying to interact with us, especially me and Brad.

During one of the many encounters, I was photographing him as he slowly came up toward the surface. 

He didn’t stop. Instead, he kept coming and tried to bump up against me, wanting to roll and play.

I had to gently push him away. He tried to gum me, but I didn’t let him. I kept moving out of his way, but he stayed engaged, curious, playful. 

It was insanity, so good, and honestly, a dream come true.

I’ve always dreamed of a sperm whale wanting to interact and play with me personally. And today, it happened. The magic finally happened.

I won’t pretend it wasn’t intense, because it was. 

But I’ve been around big animals before, and I felt comfortable moving myself around him, staying aware and out of harm’s way.

But wow. wow. wow. It was crazy good.

The day was so epic, so magical. It’s hard to find the right words to describe it.

When I got out of the water, I looked at Brad. This is his second year here. He came last year, decided he wanted to return, and I told him, this is why you keep coming back to places like this.

You never know what you’re going to see or what you’re going to experience.

The smiles and the emotion running through everyone today, this is the stuff I hope for and dream of every single day. You don’t always get it. But when you do, it truly is a gift from the universe.

What a day…What an epic, epic day.

January 26, 2026. Day five.
Final day at sea. The adventure begins and ends sadly. 

But what a great ten days. So much magic. So many new memories to absorb. 

But even if we see nothing… I am so very happy and grateful. I am full.

8:44 a.m.
We’re on our way out. It’s windy this morning, and the swells are strong. Conditions aren’t great.

10:00 a.m.
We found our first whale. Our first group dropped in, and the whale went down.

The ocean is super choppy. Getting on and off the boat is going to be a challenge today, so we’re not sure how long we’ll be able to stay out. 

We’ll hang around for a bit, see how many whales are in the area, and then decide whether to continue or call it early.

11:00 a.m.
We’ve already had a couple of jumps. Big males today. Quick encounters, fly-bys, but still fun.

These males are thick and beefy. I don’t think they’re alphas, but they’re definitely big boys.

The wind is still up. The sea is sloppy. Not an easy day to be out here.

12:30 p.m.
We called it and headed in. The whales kept pushing farther and farther offshore, and it felt right to finish on the high we were already on.

We saw whales today. Everyone is happy. I’m happy.

It’s been an amazing week. A truly special time.

Thank you to the crew, to my friends, and especially to the whales for making this trip so very special.

Until next season.