Fins, Flippers and Flukes

Whale watching can be incredibly exhilarating if you get lucky. As a tour guide and as a whale-watching punter, I’ve had some of the most memorable and some of the most disappointing moments of my life. But you need to have both to keep the passion alive. Whale watching is a like a drug and each time you get a glimpse or a near miss, that addiction is fed. Eventually, you’re rewarded with an adrenaline and dopamine-filled experience as a whale or dolphin swims, in the case of these Atlantic spotted dolphins, right beneath your dangling feet.

That said, you don’t have to be on a boat to go whale watching. Some of the best cetacean interactions I’ve had happened without leaving dry land. Just last month (June 2024) in Scotland three members of an orca pod known as "the 27s" swam less than 10 metres in front of me whilst I was standing on John O’Groats Pier. But more on that later.

Whether I’m on a boat or land, I usually have a combination of the following whale-watching essentials stuffed into a rucksack. I just need to get better at remembering to apply the sun cream.