Whales vs dolphins

We have been privileged to have observed Killer whales, Southern right whales, Bottlenose dolphins, Commerson dolphins and Magellan Penguins in the last couple of days down in Puerto Madryn, on the south-east coast of Argentina.  This place is on the entrance to the Valdes Peninsula and is probably most famous for the intentional stranding of orcas during February to April every year which most of us will at some time have marvelled at on television.  It’s where the most skilled orcas steam into the beach at 50kph, grab an unsuspecting sealion or elephant seal (the latter are easier to catch as they can’t move as fast) and wriggle their way back out into the deeper water, with the unfortunate prey in their mouths to share with the family.  

OK, they look like they are miles away, but they are still orcas!

Before we came here, we wondered whether we might feel conflicted in seeing some poor, cute seal pup munched before our very eyes, but I’m afraid to say that as we stood on the beach and watched some killer whales passing a few hundred metres from the shore, we were willing them to come in for some lunch, sorry. As it happens, they didn’t.

When it comes to whales vs dolphins, I’ve come to the conclusion that whilst they are all beautiful in their own way, the southern right whale has the edge overall.  Let me explain. 

Dolphins are exciting to watch. They are playful, jump out of the water a lot, and move in perfect formations of sometimes four or more.  They can swim rapidly along with the boat or dive over bow waves.  They can get some serious air beneath them when they put their minds to it.  You can be looking at one group - sorry pod - and then one of the boys will urgently call “Daddy, Daddy, over here” to look at some other ones. There seems to be so much going on at once, over here, over there, in front of the boat, behind the boat, it can be quite chaotic, but the very clear water helps to see their activity below the surface, and observe how little effort they seem to be putting in to achieve such great speed.

Commerson's Dolphin......just

With the whales however, everything happens much, much more slowly.  The orcas were amazing, their special colouring making them a favourite with many people, even though to be fair, we only saw them at a distance. 

The southern right whales are incredible when you witness them, even though you know what to expect.  The first whale we saw was a mother, 15 metres long, and she was quite happy to float lazily towards our motionless boat.

They are strange creatures to look at. Its very hard to make out exactly what’s what on their head, as there are no obvious eyes, ears or mouth, it just looks like a large black shape with what looks like curious white limpet-like objects clinging to their head.

Every now and again, a powerful jet of spray shot up, accompanied by a loud exhalation, almost as if someone enormous was blowing through a huge wind instrument at slightly the wrong angle and not quite getting a musical note, but you heard the enhanced sound of the air rushing through. 

Other whales soon joined and the most amazing moment was surely when the mother passed just in front of the boat, directly under the ledge we were lying on that protruded over the front of the boat.  We had never seen anything so vast, it was enormous, quite extraordinary. The water was crystal clear, so you just saw this giant green-blue body passing by - and keep on passing by - until finally the tail, all one tonne of it, slowly swept through.  

Maybe its the sheer size of these giants, that subliminally reminds you of dinosaurs, or just the fact that they are so huge but so gentle and harmless (unless you are a krill), but the boat went completely silent, save for the odd click, whirring and bleeping of cameras. Truly awesome in every sense of the word.

A little later there was another lovely moment when there were two “babies” (Ha - a five metre baby!) lying on top of their mothers next to us. They were all stationery, just floating peacefully in the sunshine. 

She held the tail to give us plenty of time for a photo.

But the clincher for me in choosing between these two water stars comes down to photography.  Dolphins tease you.  They say: “Here I am - ha! - too slow. See ya!”  I have too many shots of just water to count.  In the end I just sat back and enjoyed the dolphins and forgot about the camera, and it was only with a huge amount of cropping that we managed to have anything at all for Louis to put with his “Bottlenose Dolphin” entry on our "Animals we have seen" blog.  And even then I missed the most crucial asset - his nose!

The southern right whale on the other hand, understands.  She takes her time, gives you ample opportunity to change your battery, fiddle with the zoom, make sure the sun isn’t directly in front of you and is still there holding her tail in the air as if to say “Go on, take a couple more, just in case, try and get one with the sun reflecting off my tail in the water too!”

On that basis therefore, the southern right whale gets my vote!