Siren Songs of Romance: Mating Humpback Whales in the Dominican Republic

The emotion builds as I begin to hear the characteristic spout of water while peering over the railing of our vessel, now seemingly much smaller compared to the mammoth creatures swimming just a few yards away. As I stare into the waters of the Caribbean, suddenly I spot two dark shadows. Fellow passengers gasp in delight at the realization that they've just glimpsed a female humpback whale and its newborn calf. Then, in the distance, a male humpback leaps completely out of the water, landing with a crash on the surface of the sea.

ll of these are common sights in Samana Bay, near the coast of the Dominican Republic, when thousands of humpback whales migrate from the polar region of the North Atlantic to their favorite spawning grounds in the Caribbean. It's estimated that up to 300 whales visit the bay at any given time during the whale-watching season, which officially begins January 14 and extends through March 15. A protected species since 1966, the humpback has made a gradual recovery to about 30 percent of its original numbers, estimated today to range between 15,000 and 40,000. In 1986, Dominican Republic President Joaquin Balaguer designated a portion of their primary breeding grounds in the Western Hemisphere, Silver Bank, as an aquatic refuge.

Lying some 50 miles due north of the Dominican coast, Silver Bank was subsequently enlarged in 1996 and renamed the Marine Mammal Sanctuary of the Dominican Republic. Although the park is off-limits during mating season, whale-watching excursions can provide views of these mammoth creatures just outside the mouth of Samana Bay, one of the Caribbean's largest estuaries.

As a boat draws near a pod of males in pursuit of a female, passengers may observe a variety of whale activities. These include breaching, which is when the whale leaps completely or partially out of the water, twists in mid-air and lands on its belly or back; the tail slash, when the creature slaps its tail against the surface of the water; flippering, a movement in which a whale rotates on its side and slaps the water with its flippers; and rolling, when the cetacean floats on the surface and does a 360-degree roll.

Not all the female humpbacks are looking for romance, however. The females that mated the year before return to these warm waters to give birth and so ignore the antics of aspiring suitors. Weighing approximately one and a half to two tons at birth, baby humpbacks drink up to 50 gallons of milk a day and gain up to 100 pounds of additional blubber during their stay in the Caribbean.

Most whale-watching tours depart from Samana Bay and generally last two or three hours, although there are also tours lasting up to a week on larger vessels that include accommodations and all meals. The longer tours usually include a bilingual naturalist on board. For more information on whale-watching tours in the Dominican Republic, visit whalesamana.com.

Photos Courtesy of The Dominican Republic Ministry of Tourism

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