Every year, Samaná Bay and its surrounding waters, northeast of the Dominican Republic, become the scene of one of the most impressive spectacles of nature. Thousands of humpback whales leave the North Atlantic behind to travel to the warm waters of the tropics, where their breeding and reproduction areas are located. Discovering these marine giants, in their natural habitat, is an experience that must be enjoyed at least once in a lifetime. The Samaná Peninsula and its enormous bay is a place full of surprises. Former pirate hideout, idyllic tourist destination… but, above all, this corner of the Dominican Republic is a true natural paradise. Los Haitises National Park, the wonderful beaches of Las Galeras and Las Terrenas, the spectacular El Limón waterfall, the famous Cayo Levantado and the Humpback Whale Sanctuary are just some of the many attractions connected to the privileged nature of the area.
Whales in the Dominican Republic
The Caribbean Sea and its contact zone with the Atlantic Ocean is one of the richest ecosystems on our planet. And it is precisely in this strip where the Dominican Republic is located. Its warm waters, populated by coral reefs, are home to countless marine species, from tiny fish and mollusks to large giants of the sea, such as the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae). To protect its wonderful marine life, the Dominican Republic created the La Plata and Navidad Banks Marine Mammal Sanctuary in 1986, one of the first protected areas of its kind in the world, the largest marine protected area in the Dominican Republic and the first marine mammal sanctuary created in the Atlantic Ocean. The Humpback Whale Sanctuary in Samaná is part of this large protected area, of more than 50,000 km2, which, in addition to dolphins, manatees and orcas, annually receives between 1,500 and 2,000 specimens of this wonderful marine giant.
The humpback whale is one of the largest fin whales: adults can measure more than 15 meters in length and weigh more than 30 tons. These cetaceans feed during the summer in arctic and subarctic waters, and reproduce in winter in tropical areas. A migration that can exceed 1000 km annually. The northern coast of the Dominican Republic is one of the main breeding and breeding sites for humpback whales in the world. After almost 12 months of gestation, the babies born in Dominican waters measure, on average, about 5 meters long and can weigh a ton. Male humpback whales are famous for their way of “singing.” Their long vocalizations are a tool of social interaction that they use to mate, to obtain food and to locate other individuals of their own species, among other functions. Thanks to the fact that they are very curious whales that approach boats, and that they also really like to show off with their spectacular jumps out of the water, humpbacks are one of the species of cetacean that is most enjoyed on whale watching excursions.
When and how you can see the Samaná whales
Between 1,500 and 2,000 humpback whales visit the waters of Samaná Bay and Banco de la Plata each year. And although the first ones begin to arrive in the area in November and the last ones leave in April, the observation season runs from mid-January to the end of March. Normally, the month of February is the best time for sighting. The most common way to see humpback whales is on boat or boat excursions that visit the Sanctuary in Samaná. In about 3 or 4 hours of navigation, depending on the conditions of the day, the boats travel around the area looking for the best sighting points. Don’t forget your camera! And if for any reason someone cannot or does not want to embark, on the southern coast of the Samaná Peninsula, in the Punta Balandra area, is the Terrestrial Whale Observatory. If conditions allow, this viewpoint, inaugurated by the Ministry of the Environment of the Dominican Republic in 2011, is the best point to see the humpback whales that visit Samaná Bay from land. A tip: If you go to Samaná outside of the whale watching season or if you want to know more about these wonderful marine animals, be sure to visit the Whale Museum in Samaná.
