An orgy in wildlifewatching. Yala Nationalpark

Yala National park is Sri Lankas second largest and most visited park, making the place to a circus at times. Yet, the wildlife watching there is superb. I had two visits to Yala. One when the landscape was wet and green and the pools filled with water, reptiles and birds. And one when the park had dried in. Both visits were great-but very different. Like it was two different parks i had visited.

Tissa (Tissamahamarama) is the nearest town, and the place to set things up. First of all, you need a jeep. Go for a car whose seating face the driving direction-benches along the sides is impractical for watching wildlife-especially if there are many people. Next-it is wise to find travel mates as carhire is per car, not per person. There is a need for a permit-my driver took care of that-but make sure things will be settled!

The main draw for visitors is the possibility to see a leopard. The chances are good-Yala is home to the highest leopardconcentration in the world. But even if you don;t see any cats-there are so many other creatures around. The afternoon is regarded to be the best time to find leopards-however, both my leopard sightings were  in the mornings.

My first trip was on my own. I started when it still was dark and arrived the parkgate at the same time as the very first daylight. When we were processed by the guards and ready to pass the gate, one could see the surroundings clearly and the first thing i saw was a group of wild boars plowing the ground with their noses in search of food.

Later we came to a forest lined bay, with fertile green grassland. Here beautiful spotted deer were grazing. They shared the banquet table with boars and cattle.

A beeater.

A kingfisher.

About to catch something. I didn't really see what it found-but it definitely got it!

Monkeybusiness.

         

Further in we came to some freshwater pools. They were teeming with birds-egrets and storks, mainly. In the surroundings, several peacocks were parading. Lining the pool were crocodiles, so many i could not really figure out how to fit all in. The birds were unaffected by the reptiles-which normally don't attack them.

A male peacock shows off. I don't know what the peacock ladies say, but i got impressed.

Two males check eachothers credentials.

Drinking.

Beautifull. simply beautifull!

A junglefowl. Sri Lankas nationalbird.

And here is  what we all dream about. He walked along the road a bit well in front of the car, then crossed into the forest. It took only 20 seconds.

Hiding and resting in a far away tree. It is late in the morning, and the cat will rest until it  gets colder.

Having a good time showering in a pool.

Moving towards us. The message is clear-I don't want you here! We left. No questions asked!

Another elephant. A big, impressive tusker.

A mongoose got surprised. It measured us, not knowing what to do-dig or run for it. He continued digging ferociously.

Mealtime in the reptile camp as well.

Whale-drenaline kick! Whalewatching in Sri Lanka.

Mirissa-with a hint of tropical paradise at  the fishingvillage.

The fishingportarea, where the whaling trip started and ended.Mirissa itself ws an ok place to spend an afternoon. The villagecenttre is strung along the mainroad. here you find touroperators, eatingplaces Internet and other services. The village itself is tranquil and in parts photogenic. Taking a stroll is a good idea.

Fishingvessel passing by. Often they provide the whalewatchers with observations.

Mirissa on the southern coast of Sri Lanka, ca 180 kilometers from Colombo is THE place to go whale watching part of the year, especially during the migration season of the big, big whales. Including the blue whales. The seasons run from November-April, and July to September. But parts of the year can boast rough sea with comfort issues and a heavily reduced chance of seeing anything. December to March is considered to be the best season. Often trips starts early, but this departure was closer to 9 am.

I went in the very beginning of the season. The sea wasn't flat-but it wasn't bad either. There had been some good sightings recently, so it was good hope. The price was still low-i got my trip for 6000 rupees. Ive seen people talking about paying a 3 digit number of dollars for a whale safari. You don't have to pay that sort of money. And you don't have to make far ahead reservations either. Arranging it in Mirissa the day before should normally be ok.

The fishing fleet gets infiltrated by dolphins.

It took quite a while before we saw anything at all. But further out we saw a gathering of fishing vessels. Fishing boats means fish. Fish means the possibility of bigger game. Especially dolphins. Many of the big whales eat other things. Bingo. As we closed in, we saw a big area where the surface seemed to boil. So did my blood when i realized what was ahead. Hundreds of dolphins. They were surfacing and diving, and resurfacing. They swam in formations and sometimes did small leaps. It was a high speed exercise and one that truly gave me a kick. We came close, and they were so numerous.

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A high speed, high energy type of wildlifewatching.

We were eager for some big stuff. We had seen no trace of any, but the boats have radio contact and cooperate a bit. We got a tip, and set of as fast as the boat could go towards a given position. As we approached, we learned it had left. But there was a second one not far away. This time we got a visual on it-we heard the whale blow, and we saw the blowhole mist drifting away above it. Now it was several minutes of tense waiting and eager scanning of the surface. Nobody can tell where it will come up. But up it came, still quite a bit away, but considerably closer. From now on the encounter went my way. Next surfacing was less than hundred meters away, and i got a good look at it coming up , blowing and going down. The thing with whale watching is it is often a matter of only seconds before the whale is gone. Taking pictures-especially relatively good pictures really is a challenge. But during the last surfacing we got to see before leaving, was almost perfect. And i was even placed on the right side of the boat to capture it all. The whale came up very close to the boat, it felt like just beside because of the size of that thing. It delivered a big blow, swam a short bit on the surface, before diving again.

A whale blow, quite a bit away-but promising. The photo is taken trough a 300 mm lens.

Just surfaced! According to the guide, this is a finwhale-one of the very biggest of them all. It is dwarfed by the bluewhale, though-which also can be seen in this area. 

One of the greatest wow moments. The big whale a splitsecond before surfacing. I could almost not believe it. My body was shaking in excitement. But: this was very close. Too close actually.      

And blowing. Even with a hint of rainbow in the moist. That was fantastic.

    

About to dive again. The last we saw of this magnificent creature.

Lucky Fluke passes by.

Whale Dorado!!

Husavik on Iceland is nicknamed the whale watching capital of the world. And the truth is that outside Husavik and a couple of other villages, one can have some whale encounters ranging from great, to amazing to extraordinary. It is an area where the sea is extremely fertile. Daylight 24 hours a day in summer means that the production of biomass is a never stopping process. This is what keeps the whales coming. You find a big numbers of whales here in summer-ranging in size from tiny porpoises to the mighty blue whale itself. The biggest animal in the history of life.

A minke whale calmly swim outside Dalvik. It is the smallest of the baleen whales, reaching  "only"ten tonnes in weight. Being a baleen whale, its diet is not fish, but plankton. It is quite commonly seen, and are good to tourists in that way they take several short dives in a row before going on a serious one-lasting up to 20 minutes, but often only five. And one see when it goes down seriously-it curves its body more than before the breathing break submerging. In the north Atlantic it might be as many as 174.000 individuals of them. A safe species time being.

My whaling adventure started in the bottom of a fiord south of Husavik. I stopped my car, as i saw something moving out there. It was a pod of white beaked dolphins-a species known for its spectacular behaviour. And this pod was at it. Jumping out of the water, smacking the flukes on the surface. They were too far away for me to really appreciate their performance-but i could hear the powerfull when they fell back down in the water, and beat the surface with their flukes.

A pair of white beaked dolphins. They are from 2,5-3 meters long, weighing in at up to 300 kilos. These dolphins are very fast. Very active and on both the occasions i met them, they did acrobatics. They reside permanently in Icelandic waters and are often seen on whale safaris.

 

Dalvik is a small town-by Icelandic standard,. Big village by European standard-south of Husavik. The whale watching experience here is different from that in Husavik-partly because far fewer tourists go there. Partly because it is a different place altogether. When I embarked on my first trip there, I had that "this is wasted cash, I will not see a thing at all"feeling. That all changed. First we saw the white beaked dolphins, busy playing the sea world game for a good 15 minutes before we lost them. Then we saw a pod of killer whales far out. We approached them slowly, then stopped-only drifting with the current. Waiting to see what they would do. Nothing at all to begin with. Then suddenly-as steered by one single hand, they turned towards the boat, coming towards us in great speed. They appeared so determined, goal oriented in their approach. The came closer and closer. Right up to the boat hull. But not stopping there. Like fighter jets flying a display in an airshow they split. Some went under the keel. Some in front of the bow. At full speed like torpedoes. One could see straight down into their blowholes. For a while they now amused us by swimming around us and below us. Back and forth. Up and down. Then they took off as fast as they had arrived.

Compared to sleepy Dalvik, arriving in relaxed Husavik is like coming to a cosmopolitan city. I stayed at the campsite in town. The shower facility there is a no brag thing. But that is of little interest since the towns big thermal bath is a short walk away. That was the first place i visited once my tent was set up and i had moved in. Which included a shot of Brennivin-the national liquor with a black label. It is nicknamed Svarta daudir-meaning black death. With it, the unique Icelandic speciality Hakarl. Sharkmeat that has been somewhat dried and fermented for up to 6 months. A peculiar snack. But i actually do like it. In limited amounts. The price of the stuff do limit the amount all by itself.



Feeling clean-and hot-all the way into the core of my soul. went to the harbour, having a look at the pretty wooden boats used for whale watching by my chosen company Northsail. The boats were earlier used in the fisheries. some were also whaling vessels-still with the lookout barrel in place. But not anymore. The lookout barrel in the mast now only accommodate scientists. From there i made my way to Gamli Baukur, an atmospheric restaurant situated in the harbour. It is build of driftwood collected along the shores and the perfect spot for a beer and a bite. It is the replica of a house built in 1843, which burned down in 1960.

It was with great expectations I boarded Nattfari. We crossed straight over the bay, we already knew it was action over there. Big it turned out. We came in the middle of an eating party with two dozens of big whales-humpbacks and minke whales hanging around. Eating is basically all they do-day and night. The next hour was spent observing whales in all directions, a few seconds at a time. Whales going up and down almost continuously. A big WOW!

Its coming up! By the way, it is coming one up at the other side of the boat as well....

Hello humpback. These whales are among the biggies-25-40 tonnes, and they live long. 95 years. These whales are long distance migrants. Intercontinental migrants.

Serious sized nostrils.

About to dive.

Fluke up!

Down it goes.

Humpback is the entertainers of the big whales. Sometimes they leap, other times they are modest-waiving their fins like this.