By guest blogger Kieran Bown
There has always been a dispute as to whether the humpbacks in the Turks and Caicos use the waters around Salt Cay and Big Sand Cay as mating or breeding grounds or just as a pit stop on the way to Silver Bank and Mouchoir Bank, two areas identified as the main mating grounds for the Atlantic humpback whales.
Although most humpback mothers give birth in these two areas, there are some who have their calves further north and then migrate south with the newborns. Once a mother has given birth safely in one place, she will favor this location for any future pregnancies and will attempt to deliver calves in the same spot.
Encountering Humpbacks in the Turks and Caicos
We had near perfect conditions; the oceans were extremely calm; there was little wind and the water was clearer than normal, providing extra visibility. We had already covered a lot of ground through the morning but hadn’t seen anything, only spotting a few spouts in the distance without laying eyes on any whales, collect data or get any in-water footage.
We had already passed Big Sand Cay and were returning north to continue searching the body of water in between Salt Cay and Big Sand Cay. The east side of Big Sand Cay receives the swells coming in from the open Atlantic Ocean and the west side is completely sheltered from both the swells and winds. This makes it a perfect area for any whales wishing to rest, relax or nurture their young. We often patrolled this area and frequently had success; we were almost finished with our morning search and were about to leave these protected waters when, only 330 feet (100 meters) from the boat, the glassy water was suddenly disturbed by a calf’s small spout, which was immediately followed by a larger one, it’s mother’s. The mother was pushing her calf up to the surface, so we immediately killed the engine and lay dead in the water, watching this amazing pair.
When humpback calves are born, they struggle to breath during their first minutes and their mothers must be help them to the surface to breathe. I don’t know whether this calf had been born in the last hours but it lay over the top of its mother’s head, breathing and playing at the surface.
We observed this behavior for several minutes from the boat before we decided to enter the water to get a closer look. We donned masks and fins and slipped as quietly as possible into the water. With such great visibility we could instantly make out the shadows of the whales and we slowly approached, trying not to splash our fins or create any noise. The calf was still on top of its mother, and just as I got my camera out and began to film the calf began to roll around at the surface.
We were all frozen in the water and watched as the calf rolled at the surface; the moment seemed to last forever. The mother slowly came out of her trance-like state and began to move a little faster, heading right towards us with her calf in tow. We’d noticed in several previous encounters that despite a calf’s small size, it often travels at the same speed as its mother. We put this down to the turbid water movement caused by the mother’s huge mass, creating water movement that pulls the calf.
Both the mother and calf passed by us at a distance of only a few feet, and we all floated at the surface in amazement as the pair swam by unfazed, continuing on through the shallow water as if we weren’t even there. This calf was the smallest we encountered throughout the entire season and although we could never be sure how old it was, most experts who saw the video believe that it could only have been days old.
The area where the encounter took place was only 40 feet (12 m) deep, and we returned often throughout the following months to watch whales resting. Because of the cover provided by Big Sand Cay, it’s an ideal humpback hangout.
