Emotional and Spiritual Aspects of Being with the Whales

Interactions with and sightings of the whales evoke a wide range of emotional reactions and spiritual experiences unique to each participant on the trip. There are typically lots of broad smiles, yelps of joy, fun and silliness, a sense of ecstasy, bliss, serenity, reverence, awe, fulfillment, and quiet joy. Sometimes, too, there can be tears and a sense of overwhelm from the exquisite intensity of it all. Your experience will be uniquely, perfectly yours. No one will impose anything about what you should or should not experience. For most participants, the trip is a deeply spiritual experience; the diverse beliefs of everyone are welcome and respected.

Morning and evening meditation circles are offered to provide the opportunity for quiet sharing of sacred moments and personal learning, to begin and end each day with gratitude, peace, and sending love to the whales, and for both guided and silent meditation. Every evening at sunset we gather on the upper deck, stand hand in hand and play Amazing Grace as a song of prayer and thanksgiving to the whales.

The Guided Journal sent to each participant several months before the trip includes detailed sections on resources and suggestions for practical, emotional and spiritual preparation before, during and after the trip—the reentry home and integration of all that has been experienced and co-created. This includes
a list of flower essences known to help us during and through the aftermath of transcendent experiences.

A few notes from Teresa's first trip journal (1999):

The first time I saw them under water, all life as I previously knew it stopped. After years of surface whale watching with only parts of their bodies visible, after years of watching videos and gazing at photographs of humpbacks underwater, here I was in their water home, and they were right in front of me! There were light rays beaming down around us, allowing me to see them very clearly and making the whole experience seem even more magical.

The first thing I saw was a long white pec, beautiful and dazzling white in the dark blue water. I thought it was the mother because it was so huge in front of me. Then I saw another even bigger pec, and knew the first belonged to the baby. The baby was above the mother, rolling, twirling and playing. Suddenly they were looking at me. Oh! Little noises of joy rose up from my heart through my throat. I wondered why my mouthpiece felt funny. It was from smiling! It's almost impossible to describe the pure, raw joy, the other-worldliness of being eye to eye with a 50 foot mother whale and her baby in their water home. The trust and love emanating from them was palpable. As the mother continued to look at me I told her I had waited all my life for this moment, and sent them all the love and gratitude I could possibly express for this great privilege of being in their presence. The moment my message was sent I felt a powerful wave of love coming straight from and her wash through me as she said, "thank you for coming."

My whole body tingled. My mask and snorkel once again felt uncomfortable. I was choking, this time from crying. But it didn't matter. A moment of choking was nothing compared to being graced by the physical and spiritual presence of this humpback mother whale and her baby. It is a grace I will recall the rest of my life. It lives inside me in a place I travel back to visit when I need it most. I know I am forever changed.

Sacred Swims & Communication with Humpback Whales

Watch breathtaking video of humpback whales
and people swimming with whales!

~ Listen to the Songs of the Humpback Whale ~

Learn about messages from the whales in the
Wisdom from the Whales Webinar

Physical Interaction with the Whales

Is it really non-intrusive and non-harassing to be in the water with the whales?

The first year I was asked to come on this trip I was thrilled at the very thought of being able to get in the water with these whales I love so much. Yet I had reservations. It is their home, their habitat, and they're in the midst of having babies and mating. Was it possible to be in the water near them and not be disturbing? I didn't want to be party to having a once in a lifetime experience for myself at the expense of harassment to the whales. So I asked a lot of questions and did some research about the boat charter company and the Silver Bank area. What I learned then and during consequent years since 1999 makes me very comfortable getting into the water for three reasons.

One, the boat traffic is kept to a minimum of three vessels at a time by regulation of the Dominican Republic government, which has pronounced the area a marine mammal sanctuary. This is in a 75 square mile area. That's a lot of space for three boats! In Silver Bank the ratio of boats to whales makes it very, very easy for whales to avoid us at any time. The total number of guests and crew for all three boats is about 70 people to 3,000 - 5,000 whales in the area.

Secondly, the isolated location of Silver Bank (an eight hour boat trip from land), makes day trips impossible. All three large dive boats moor for a week. This means that large boats are not traveling in and out of the area every day. In addition, because only hardly and serious whale lovers are willing to spend an entire week living at sea to be with them, there is not likely to be pressure on the government from consumers to allow higher numbers of dive boats. This is also likely to keep the ratio of boats/people to whales favorable to the whales.

Thirdly, the vessels must adhere to strict guidelines of non-invasive travel near the whales. In addition, the policy, procedures and personal values of the vessel's captain are based on a deep respect for the whales, and concern for the safety of both whales and humans beyond government regulations. Accordingly, we don’t enter the water to swim after whales. We wait until whales come to us. And when they do come to our small boats and stay nearby, we don't noisily dive it and aggressively swim up to them. We enter quietly and simply float gently nearby. It is always the whales' choice to come closer to us, stay where they are or leave. And, absolutely no chasing of whales is tolerated, either by boat or by swimming person. I have been on trips to Alaska in small zodiaks where the boat operator/researcher chased whales relentlessly, amidst large, active feeding groups, putting both whales and humans at risk. This type of activity is not tolerated in Silver Bank. The country's regulations coupled with the captain's own practices and values, allow me to say with confidence that our presence with the whales on this trip is neither intrusive or harassing. If it were, I could not participate in it.

What to Expect

For the duration of the trip we live aboard the 100 plus foot mother boat, and twice a day for about 4 hours at a time, we cruise through the Silver Banks on small motor vessels looking for whales. During this time we are with the whales both in and out of the water.

Some of the surface behaviors we observe, at times very close to the boat, are:

flipper slapping

using their pectoral fins to slap the water

lob tailing

raising their flukes out of the water and slapping them over and over on the surface

spy hopping

raising just their heads out of the water at a perpendicular angle and looking around

sounding

slowly lifting their beautiful flukes out of the water as they dive

…and the always exciting breaching -

throwing their bodies almost completely out of the water and splashing back down on the surface

…and the exhilarating observation of rowdies

when the whales in groups swim very fast together, sometimes bumping into each other, like adolescent boys playing touch football. Sometimes these groups will surround our small boats and make us part of their pod.

While observing these spectacular surface behaviors is definitely exciting, being in the water with them is entirely different. The energy felt is usually gentle, still and sacred. When whales approach or are very near our small boats, and are not exhibiting rowdy or aggressive behavior, we are able to quietly slip off the side of a small boat with snorkel, fins and mask to be with the them in their water home. Many, though not all, of the in-the-water experiences are with mothers and calves, sometimes with accompanying escorts. The trust the mothers demonstrate by allowing us near their calves is astounding, and must be earned. It is extremely important not to swim toward the whales, or to express any aggression at all, physically or mentally, but to simply and quietly float above them. It is an experience of inviting the whales to come close if they want to, waiting for when they may be ready, rather than chasing them. Sometimes we see mothers and calves nursing. Sometimes mothers keep their calves at a distance from us, and other times allow them to closely approach our human group. Sometimes the whales will just barely let us see them and then swim off, other times they stay nearby for an hour or several hours. Sometimes they choose to come so close we can see only small sections of their huge bodies. Sometimes, we can hear the whales singing.

Each encounter is a blessing. Each time it is holy, a sacred opportunity to release any erroneous beliefs we may carry about perceived differences of importance between us and other beings, or about hierarchy among souls. The paradox is that though being so very close to the whales' magnificent, beautiful bodies in the water is such an undeniable thrill, at the same time, it doesn't even seem to matter that we have bodies when we're together. There seem to be no differences— only one spirit, only love. There is no fear, no alarm, no ego. Only love. There is simply light and love.

Watch breathtaking video of humpback whales
and people swimming with whales!

~ Listen to the Songs of the Humpback Whale ~

Learn about messages from the whales in the
Wisdom from the Whales Webinar