Written by Dave
The Mission – Dolphin Watching in Gibraltar
Today we had our first cloudless day in quite a while. We decided it was finally time to take the kids out onto the Mediterranean for some wild dolphin watching. I have been doing some research, and discovered that we are actually in a tough time of year for seeing them. For some reason there are not as many active pods this time of year, but I decided we would try anyway.
The Dolphin Watching Adventure Begins
I had been researching a good company to go with, and decided on Dolphin Safari. They have been around for quite a while, and appear to have a good reputation. At 2:00 we met on the docks, waiting to board the boat. Nancy decided to sit this one out. Our last experience on a whale watching boat about 16 years ago off the coast of Oregon almost resulted in her jumping overboard and swimming for shore due to sea sickness. Not wanting a repeat adventure, she wished us a good voyage and saw us off.
New Friends
One of the exciting things about setting out on new adventures is the new friends you get to meet. There weren’t a lot of people on the boat, but that only makes it easier to meet everyone. We met a family from York, England, and a mother and daughter from New York, USA. Summer thought it was funny to have a family from both York and New York.
The family from York, England said they came south for a couple weeks to get out of the snow they have been having. The mother and daughter from New York were on their yearly vacation together. They were a lot of fun to talk with. It sounded as though they have great family travel adventures every year, going to a different place out of the US each year. What a great opportunity for them!
Luie hit it off greatly with the eleven year old daughter, and even managed to get an email address as we were coming back into the docks. He even tried to set up a dinner date for our families this evening, but that wasn’t going to be able to work. Can’t blame the boy for trying.
Our new friends were nice enough to take a picture of me with the kids, and I was able to get some other nice photos of the kids in spite of the rolling waves.
- Summer and Luie enjoy the boat ride.
No Dolphins
Unfortunately, we did not spot any dolphins this trip. The spotters on the boat saw a few a ways off, but the dolphins were able to slip quietly out of the area before any of the rest of us could see them. Summer thought she saw them in the distance, but none of the rest of us did. We didn’t mind, as it was a beautiful day for a boat ride. We also had some really great views of the Rock of Gibraltar, as well as North Africa.
Summer was thrilled to be boating between the Pillars of Hercules. After reading about them in one of her favorite book series, she said she never dreamed she would actually be passing between them herself. She was almost giddy talking about it.
Although we didn’t see any dolphins, we did get to see a sunfish swimming by. It is the heaviest known bony fish in the world, weighing in at an average of 2,200 pounds as an adult. The one we saw wasn’t nearly that large, and was maybe a couple hundred pounds at the most. It was fun to see at least one large fish. Even though it was right on the surface, I was unable to get a shot of it due to the rolling waves.
The boat crew offered to stay out for 30 minutes longer to keep looking, which was very kind of them. The rest of the search for dolphins came up empty, but that gave us more time to talk with our friends.
Back in the Bay of Gibraltar
The trip back was uneventful, and we thoroughly enjoyed our boat ride. We were surprised when one of the crew came up to us and apologized for not seeing any dolphins. Of course it is no ones fault, as they are wild animals and free to roam wherever they will. We were then even more surprised when he asked for our ticket, and wrote down a validation for us to sail with them again anytime within the next year for free since we didn’t see any dolphins. I was not expecting that. They were a great crew, seemed to have a love for what they do, and tried to make sure that everyone was comfortable during the trip. I would definitely recommend the Dolphin Safari for anyone wishing to take a dolphin watching trip in Gibraltar. We will definitely take them up on their offer for another trip in the next week or so.
Sounds like you are having a great time. I would love to go and watch for dolphins. How much longer are you in Gibraltar?
Yes, we are very much enjoying our time here. We have about 3 more weeks before we move on.
Great pictures . That “rock” fasinates me.Better luck next time , seeing dolphins.
Thanks! The kids are so excited to be able to go out on the boat again. We are going to wait for a day that isn’t too windy, since the roughness of the sea makes it harder to spot dolphins at a distance.
Until I read that Nancy wasn’t there I was shocked that “she” was taking pictures and not hurling over the edge. hahaha. Too bad you didn’t get to see dolphins. I often wondered after learning about those big sunfish if maybe that’s what swallowed up Jonah since it does day a big fish and not a whale. and since the only toothed whales big enough would be orcas and I haven’t heard of any orcas in the Mediterranean. Anyway, cool to see such things.
Actually, there are orcas here this time of year. They speculate that may be the reason the dolphins disappear a bit this time of year. They say the orcas have been known to go after the smaller dolphins. I would love to see one of the large sunfish, as they say they are as big as a car. That would be impressive to get that size on a diet of jellyfish. Maybe we will be lucky enough to see dolphins on our next trip.
I remember the whale trip and how sick Nancy was. Ryan was more interested in watching her throw up than he was in looking for whales. LOL Glad you guys are having such a wonderful experience.
Yes, I will never take Nancy out in a small boat on the ocean again. A Mediterranean cruise would be great though.