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The Whales are Coming

Image courtesy of Steve Simonsen.
Image courtesy of Steve Simonsen.

I absolutely love this time of year. Yes, it’s super warm and sunny, and it’s January, but there’s more to it than that … it’s almost whale watching season!

A very cool thing is about to happen around St. John. Each year during the months of February and March, whales can be seen swimming through our waters and also around Thatch Cay, North Drop, Congo and Lovango Cays. The whales travel to South America via the Caribbean so they can mate and calve. The calves spend their first few months of life in the warm waters of the Caribbean, building up a layer of blubber that will keep them warm in colder waters.

I saw a mother and baby calf while traveling on the car barge to Red Hook last February and it was amazing! For those of you who plan on doing a bit of whale watching, adult humpback whales have dark grey bodies and are between 35 and 60 feet long. They are endangered, so you’re not allowed to touch them. Just love them from afar, which is at least 100 yards away according to federal law. 🙂 And most importantly if you are lucky enough to see the whales, send us pics!

Here’s a not so professional video we took when we saw the whales last year:

In the meantime, here are a few more images taken last year by St. John’s amazing resident photographer Steve Simonsen:

Image courtesy of Steve Simonsen.
Image courtesy of Steve Simonsen.
Image courtesy of Steve Simonsen.
Image courtesy of Steve Simonsen.
Image courtesy of Steve Simonsen.
Image courtesy of Steve Simonsen.





4 thoughts on “The Whales are Coming”

  1. I have never seen whales when visiting St.John. They were amazing to see last winter in Hawaii so I hope I get to see some in 3 weeks when we visit!

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