Dolphins (or else) in the wild - tips

[cmph]

It’s not quite as exciting as a pod of orcas, but a humpback waved to those of us eating breakfast outside of Cabanas on Jun 20th on the Wonder!

 

[mevelandry]

View attachment 335819It’s not quite as exciting as a pod of orcas, but a humpback waved to those of us eating breakfast outside of Cabanas on Jun 20th on the Wonder!

Love this. Thanks for sharing! I love humpback whales.

 

[FSU Girl]

He's a tip: If you can take a clear video of the animal on your phone, you can screenshot as you watch the videos. I obtained great images doing that.

Thanks for the tip! That's a great idea

 

[mevelandry]

Thanks for the tip! That's a great idea

Here's an example. During a "Save a Sea Turtle Experience" excursion in Cozumel, I took a video of the turtles we released. I was able to "screenshot" this one...

 

[phinz]

We like watching the water from our verandah as we are under way. If you watch at the edge where the wake meets the calm water you can spot flying fish on a regular basis. In Sint Maarten we almost inevitably see at least one turtle, if not more, in the harbor.

 

[jetskigrl]

I have had great luck with sightings off the ship on our West Coast cruises.

Leaving Port of LA - pod of dolphins right along side the ship for a long time (actually, I'm pretty sure we have seen dolphins on almost every cruise).
Cabo - large sea turtles and humpback whale as we were leaving
Alaska - Tracy Arm morning, baby humpback breaching multiple times (mother surfaced a couple of times also).
Alaska (different trip) - Endicott Arm Glacier Excursion, pod of 4 or 5 whales right along side the excursion boat. One breached very close by. Also saw a bear on the same excursion.
Alaska (sea day heading back to Vancouver) - pods of Dall's Porpoises. Others reported orca sightings but I did not see those close enough to confirm they were orcas.
San Diego to Vancouver Repo - small humpback breaching multiple times. Also multiple sightings of adult humpbacks, including one very large one breaching along side the ship. Also twice I saw one surface right along side the ship as I was on the balcony. They were so close I could hear the blowhole.

 

[woody64]

Wow that's so beautiful! You must have a great camera. I saw a humpback whale once and my picture came out like a blurry speck in the ocean LOL.

Thank you, I do have a nice camera/lenses and love taking pictures. Alaska was so great, lots of whales as you sail through the inner passage. Years ago in the Med., we saw dolphins playing in the wake and lots of flying fish. I'll leave you with a shot just before we turned to go into Endicott Arm, a nice little wave of the fluke.

 

[cruiser21]

I havent had time to read through the whole thread, but I'm also against dolphin swims and places like Sea world that in prison Orcas. These animals travel thousand of miles in the ocean every year. Seeing them placed in a pool swimming in circles just seems so wrong. I guess we could say the same thing about zoos, except a lot of the zoo animals seem content eating and sleeping. Lions come to mind.

 

[mevelandry]

I havent had time to read through the whole thread, but I'm also against dolphin swims and places like Sea world that in prison Orcas. These animals travel thousand of miles in the ocean every year. Seeing them placed in a pool swimming in circles just seems so wrong. I guess we could say the same thing about zoos, except a lot of the zoo animals seem content eating and sleeping. Lions come to mind.

Some zoos keep animals that can't be sent back to nature for different reasons. I'm not against those.

Other than that, I'm pretty much done with zoos and aquariums.

 

[mevelandry]

I'm bumping this thread... I finally found out the name of the "pointe" (pier) ... It's Jetty Park beach/Pier!!!

So... if you want to see dolphins swim "in nature", hang out on a lower deck (aft, near the water), starboard... and focus on the Jetty Park beach/Pier --where there are rocks-- as you leave port canaveral from the moment you pass near it until... 5 minutes past it.

Dolphins seem to hang out in that area and like to swim after cruise ships.

 

[monarchsfan16]

If you're cruising in the winter out of Florida and it's been a (by FL standards) cold winter, and you've got access to a car pre or post cruise, go to Blue Spring State Park to see the manatees. My mom described the experience as magical, and she's not wrong.

 

[wombat_5606]

If you're cruising in the winter out of Florida and it's been a (by FL standards) cold winter, and you've got access to a car pre or post cruise, go to Blue Spring State Park to see the manatees. My mom described the experience as magical, and she's not wrong.

There is another place to see them that is very close to Kennedy Space Center. Head North on Kennedy Parkway till it intersects with Courtney Parkway N. Follow that road to a posted Manatee Viewing Area. If they are not there, go back to the Parkway and drive south just back over the bridge. Turn Right on a road just past the bridge that leads to a boat ramp. I've seen so many manatee there I couldn't even count them. We usually cruise in the fall and winter. I can't vouch for spring and summer.

 

[WanderingAlice]

I love threads like these! One of my favorite fun parts of cruising is seeing how many different creatures we can spot from the balcony/ports.

 

[Colbyrsmom]

So we've also experienced natural encounters with wildlife during our adventures with DCL.

1 Miami port: viewed dolphins from our verandah while leaving port

2 key west dolphins at port

3 castaway island and snorkeling : hummingbirds, various birds, stingrays, sea turtles, fish, sea cucumbers, lion fish, sea stars, conch, sea biscuits, sand dollars, sea slugs

4 tortola :from our verandah weve seen flying fish

5 st thomas: snorkle trip we've seen fish, urchins, sting ray, sea turtle, eels, and iquanas

6 grand Cayman sub marine excursion: sea turtle, sting rays and fish

7 Costa maya: ruins excursion:birds, butterflies, and monkeys

8 cozumel: tulum excursion:iquanas, birds

9 British isles from ship or land: minke whales, puffins, guillemots, birds,sheep and dolphins

10 Alaska:from ship and land: killer whales, dolphins, harbor seals, ravens, hummingbirds, eagles, mountain goats, black bears, humpback whales, sea otters.

We avoid zoos and dolphin swims. We feel that there are plenty of opportunities to see wildlife in the wild.

 

[dcassetta]

3 castaway island and snorkeling : hummingbirds, various birds, stingrays, sea turtles, fish, sea cucumbers, lion fish, sea stars, conch, sea biscuits, sand dollars, sea slugs

I’ve never seen a lionfish at CC, and I’m really disappointed to hear that you saw one there. I wonder if Disney has a plan to eradicate them. They are such an invasive menace to the Bahamas.

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

I've not read the whole thread, so somebody may have mentioned this already. It seems fairly common to see dolphins when sailing out of Galveston, and we have seen them in Galveston, too!

 

[JenPinks]

I am so happy to see such like minded people against animals in captivity! I cringe when I see people inquiring about the swim with dolphin excursions. In the past when I tried to educate on animals in captivity and to please see them in the wild, I have been attacked. So kudos to all of us spreading the compassion and teaching our children to love all beings!