Spectacular Sperm Whales
In these first few weeks of 2025, we are looking back at the highlights of our 2024
season. What a year it was — This year we saw our first sperm whale breaches!

Sperm whales have been spotted around the Bonavista peninsula since the early 2000s in both Trinity and Bonavista Bays. Watching sperm whales is so different from watching any of the other great whales. Their long dive times mean that there is often a lot of waiting for them to surface, but they are well worth the wait. For every minute they are below the surface, they will take one breath on the surface. This means that the encounters that you have with them typically last longer than any other whale. Sperm whales rest peacefully on the surface until their blood is reoxygenated. They then do a big wind up, sending their tail high into the water as they descend into the deep water to feed.

This year, we had a record number of whales in the deep water trench that runs into Bonavista Bay. At one point we had at least 13 whales in the trench, and were still identifying new ones. We still are not finished working though all of the pictures from last season. At this point we have approximately 13 new sperm whales to add to the large group of whales who normally frequent the trench. Stay tuned for an upcoming blog post on the new bachelors of the Bonavista Bay trench!
These whales would often sleep in large groups resting horizontally but often vertically in the water for large chunks of time. It is a testament to how stress free our experiences are for them when they begin to nap beside us. They were also quite curious, and came in close to check us out frequently.
It is not uncommon for sperm whales to breach, but up until now, we hadn’t seen sperm whale breaches in our area. It seemed like once they started breaching, it continued well into the season. Our first breach was on July 10th ! It wasn’t just one of the whales in the group, but several who breached over the course of the season. Witnessing a breach certainly gives you a different perspective on the whale, it’s sheer size, and how it is put together. We really only see a small portion of these animals as they breathe, dive and sleep on the surface.

This year was different than others as we saw the sperm whales leave a little earlier than usual. The water was a little warmer than usual too. This warm water led us to another highlight. Stay tuned for our next blog post on what this meant for Bonavista Bay.
Inspired by this post and want to experience the excitement first hand? Book your tour today with Sea of Whales Adventures!
This entry was posted in Sea of Whales Blog by Sea Of Whales Adventures. Bookmark the permalink.