Scuba diving has been a part of my life ever since I was 7 when some friends of my parents strapped a tank on my back and let me loose in their pool.  I was hooked!!  Of course it took another 7 years to convince my mother to let me actually get certified, but during those LONG 7 years I was reading books or watching documentaries about the ocean, marine life and scuba diving.  Thanks Jacques!  It was not until I ran across an individual named Brett Gilliam that I ever even dreamed of getting close to a humpback whale.  Brett is the founder of Technical Diving International (TDI) which later created Scuba Diving International (SDI).  Along the way to starting these two agencies, Brett has done many other things - and on one occasion my wife and I had the pleasure of listening to him give a presentation on – well, on his life.

He spun stories of growing up in Maine and playing with a seal pup that a neighbor had taken in.  The story which is absolutely amazing and funny is yet another story for a different blog - to make this one a little shorter I can just tell you that this was the seal that the movie Andrea was based on.  All of the stories that Brett told that night were amazing and almost unbelievable; however he had photographs to back them up.  Seriously, he had a picture of him holding Andrea!  The most amazing stories were about him interacting with humpback whales.  He delighted us with the ability to get along side a 45 foot long 50 ton mammal and look into its eye.  All of his stories moved us so much that we just HAD to find a way to do this!!

Well, it turns out Humpback whales are protected as an endangered species and as such, you would be fined if you got in the water and approached them.  I have heard stories of chanced encounters in Hawaii underwater, but as far as I know there are only two places in the world that you can actually swim with the whales.  One is in Tonga, on the other side of the world, and the other is in the Silver Bank.

The Silver Bank are located about 70 miles due north of the Dominican Republic.  The area is a non-navigable area due to coral pinnacles that start at about 120 feet and come all the way to the surface.  These pinnacles not only keep boats away, but also break the seas and make things a bit calmer.  We did a lot of research and found that in the Silver Banks there are 3 vessels that travel there between the end of January and mid March.  After contacting several people we finally had a plan.

We flew into Puerta Plata, Dominican Republic and were met at the airport by the crew of the Turks and Caicos Aggressor.  Normally in the Turks and Caicos, the Aggressor boat moves to Puerta Plata for 3 months out of the year to run trips to the Silver Bank.  The accommodations are better than nice.  You are privileged to stay on board a 120 foot yacht and get pampered for a week of incredible experiences.

The first night as you are sleeping the captain will fire up the motors and whisk you away.  When the sun comes up, you wake up at the door to the Silver Banks.  In the morning light the captain can see the coral pinnacles and navigate through them so he does not create the second wreck on the reef!  The first is a 300 foot freighter that is now the only site in the Silver Banks other than miles and miles of water.  Before we even got to the pinnacles however, we were treated to a male and female humpback engaged in a mating ritual called a "valentine", right next to the boat.  The two leviathans were swimming literally just a few feet from us as the male was slapping his pectoral fin and tail lobbing trying to gain the affection of the female.  This 20 minute encounter alone would have made the trip worth every penny, but it was only the beginning!

Once inside the protected marine park of the Silver Bank, the big 120 foot vessel moors and sits still for the duration of the week.  You quickly get into the routine of eating breakfast and heading out in 1 of 2 - 8 foot Zodiacs for 4 hours.  Then a break back on board for lunch before another 4 hours in the afternoon.  On our first morning, we were briefed on the tactics of whale chasing.  Called a soft encounter the Zodiacs would follow a group of whales and if the whales changed direction more than twice they would break off the engagement so as not to harass the whales.  When you were privileged enough to get close to a group of whales that were calm and seemingly approachable you were to "lift yourself over the edge of the Zodiac making as little noise as possible entering the water so you don't scare them away".  One would think “This far out from anywhere, why not just break the rules and chase the whales down?”.  Well, as it turns out there is a game warden who rotates on the 3 different boats each week making sure that the rules of engagement are followed, and that the whales continue to have a sanctuary to breed and spawn.  It’s nice to witness your marine park fees actually doing something to protect marine life!

Finally we get our chance to actually get out and see what we can find!  Our first attempt was a mother and calf that did not change direction and seemed to slow to allow us to slip in.  However as soon as we did and started heading towards them like a bunch of water bugs on the surface of the water, the whales took off allowing only a glimpse of their dark bodies and massive white pectoral fins as they passed.  After heading back for lunch we went out again hoping for the encounter of a life time.  Our hopes and anxiety were not to be disappointed.  Later in the afternoon we came across a mother, calf and escort male.  This looked promising and was everything we were hoping for.  The captain steered the boat behind the whales as they were traveling to follow them only to have them come right along side of the Zodiac and blow, giving us a wonderful smell of a fish market that had been sitting in the sun.  We were close!  Maybe too close, or at least searching for a breath mint to offer them.  As we were going along, the mother decided to change directions.  Drat, we may have to break off the encounter and search for another opportunity.  But just when we thought we were going to have to give up, the captain told us that it looked really good and we should get ready to get in.  Donning our masks and fins and grabbing camera gear, we all got ready.  Finally he told us to quietly slip into the water.  I did my best to lift myself over the edge and keep from having my wetsuit squeak along the rubber side of the Zodiac scaring the whales away.  Once in the water I did my best impersonation of a hole in the water, reached up to grab my camera as the captain told me to turn around, the whale was right behind me.

Expecting to be about 30 feet away from the mother, I was rather surprised when I turned and both mother and baby sat broadside to me only 8 feet away!!  After I started breathing again, and cleaned my wetsuit, I slowly started swimming along side of mother and calf filming as the pair moved effortlessly through the water occasionally hitting the surface for air.  In the beginning of the encounter that ended up lasting over 30 minutes, the mother positioned herself between us and her calf.  However after about 15 minutes she came around her calf and pushed it towards us as if to say, look what I have made.  The delicate ballet of the odd water bugs snorkeling on the surface and the graceful giants below continued as the calf became more curious and approached us.  One of our group, a National Geographic Photographer on vacation, was having to back peddle to keep the little tike’s face in focus despite having a huge wide angle 15mm lens!  Finally after seemingly growing bored of the scattering water bugs, the baby moved on top of her mother right in front of her blow hole as she helped push him along in the water and took off to find their next adventure.

Making it back on board the boat for dinner, we were quite content to sit on the top of the deck and re-tell the encounter in greater and greater detail with our ship mates.  This adventure continued for another 5 days before heading back to Pureta Plata for an evening in the Dominican Republic.  Following this trip, my wife and I spent a week in the Turks and Caicos scuba diving.  Being avid scuba divers, we planned on extending our trip a second week to be able to scuba instead of snorkel.  The thought of traveling all the way to the beautiful Caribbean and not diving was unacceptable.  The naïve thought process was revealed however, when all we could do is wish we were back swimming with the humpbacks for the entire week we spent on Salt Cay, TC!!!!