Huge humback whales up close at Mnemba

On the 4^th of August, Kisombe, one of our boatmen came calling that he saw two whales in front of the island. Quickly we called our guestS together to go and see them. With the rubber boat full of guests we drove towards the telltale bush of spray blown out by the whales breathing. About 50m away from the boat we stopped the engines and looked at the two humpback whales which were completely relaxed cruising at the surface. Definitely a mother with a sub-adult calf.

The whales seemed to be very relaxed and quite curious. Slowly but surely both of them approached our boat and than surfaced gently, not even three meters away from us.  About a minute later, the bigger of the two put its massive head out of the water (spyhopping) to have a clear view of us, and then slowly disappeared again under the surface. Breathtaking nature at its best!

Posted: Mnemba Island by Jan Christiaens, Date: 8 August 2007