Have you ever seen cetaceans?

[allanimalswelcome]

(Cetaceans:Whale, Dolphin, Porpoise).

Have you ever seen one? Captive or wild share your experiences here.

Never seen a captive dolphin since I don't believe in it.

I recently went on a whale watch in Gloucester MA. We saw

-Two humpbacks (Fern and Echo)
-Tuna jumping about in the water
-A lot of birds!
-A dolphin (not sure what kind but probably an atlantic white sided dolphin)

It was a great trip and we plan to go again in October! My dream is to Southeast Alaska to see orcas!

~Rachel

[RubyMutt]

I have seen orcas, gray whales, & porpoise in the wild.

I've been one one whale watching trip and saw a couple pods of orcas as well as some gray whales (that was in the San Juan Islands, WA). I also saw one gray whale when I took a ferry up to Alaska. I saw the porpoise while on vacation at Ocean Shores, WA.

In captivity I've seen orcas, porpoise & dolphins, & beluga whales at both the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma, WA and the Vancouver Aquarium in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

[Kfamr]

We see dolphins all of the time out in the gulf. They will swim right beside the boat or wave runner. I've also seen dolphins and whales in captivity more than once.

[allanimalswelcome]

Thinking of the Vancouver Aquarium makes me sad.

Moby Doll, Skana, Natsidalia, Hyak II, Finna, Kyosha(orcas) plus all those poor Beluga's that died there:(

~Rachel

[allanimalswelcome]

*bump*

;)

[primabella]

When my family and I were in Florida, we took a boat out to see some dolphins. They were jumping and doing tricks for us. So much happier in the wild. They were so adorable. I'll see if I can find the pictures. We got some nice ones. :)

I saw whales and dolphins at Marine World, ON. Poor babies. I was young but could tell they were miserable. :(

[Kater]

I've seen humpback whales and bottlenose dolphins in the wild. When I did outrigger canoe paddling dolphins would sometimes race alongside our boats on our early morning Saturday practices! They would leap and play around in the water just 1 or 2 feet from the sides of the boat! Talk about an energy booster! Such beautiful, amazing creatures!!! :D

I went to Sea Life Park when I was younger. However as my views on using captive animals for entertainment have evolved, I have decided to quit going and supporting Sea Life Park. They have one (maybe two?) half dolphin, half whale creature called a "wholphin." :( (http://allsands.com/Science/Animals/whaledolphin_bbg_gn.htm)

[allanimalswelcome]

It's weird we do such awful things to whales and dolphins but they seem so ready to make us their friends:)

I could never bare to see Marineland Prima...those poor animals:(

~Rachel

[allanimalswelcome]

Kater-

Sea Life park has two. It's not right in my opinoin.:( It's a cross between a dolphin and a False Killer Whale (which is a dolphin).:(

[Kater]

Oh yeah! I forgot they were one half Orca--- it has been so long! That's really dumb to call them wholphin's when it's only going to perpetuate the myth that Orca's are "whales." How dumb can you get! Yeah, they are definitely just concerned with entertainment and tourism (aka $$$) if they can't even get the animal classifications correct. Educational? BAH!


It's not right in my opinion either!!! :( :mad: :mad: :mad:

[allanimalswelcome]

Well it's not that big of a deal about the name since Dolphins can be considered whales I suppose..

They are not orcas. False killer whales are different:)

That's what I thought. They only did it to bring in the cash.:mad: I despise marine parks!

~Rachel

[slleipnir]

I use to see hump back whales a lot when I use to go out on a boat a lot..Had pics but lost them :( Other then that I'd seen dolphins, orcas, and something dophin like..can't remember the name..at sea world <33 lol

[allanimalswelcome]

Probably belugas...

I've never been to sea world before...do they tell you about the real Shamu?

~Rachel

[allanimalswelcome]

The real Shamu was a young female captured from the J,K,or L pods in 10/1965. She was meant to be a companion for an orca named Namu but didn't get along with her. She was then brought to Sea World California. She died 8-23-1971 after 6years in captivity.

Now Shamu is a stage name for the orcas of Sea World so no one will know when one dies:(

~Rachel

[allanimalswelcome]

Here's a picture of Shamu

[Kater]

Originally posted by allanimalswelcome
Well it's not that big of a deal about the name since Dolphins can be considered whales I suppose..

They are not orcas. False killer whales are different:)

That's what I thought. They only did it to bring in the cash.:mad: I despise marine parks!

~Rachel

Heehee. B:eek:y am I confused. Okay, "false" killer whales, hehe, got it.
But it is a big deal because it's drawing on a difference that doesn't exist. They make it sound like two different genus mated successfully? Don't they?

Help me out here, oh dolphin master.

Ugh, that is horrible about the Shamu conspiracy. Only 6 years....poor thing. :( :( :(

[allanimalswelcome]

Yea like it's a new species...never before discovered...whatever:rolleyes:

~Rachel

[kingrattus]

When I went to Newfoundland for the scout jambaree about 8 yrs ago, on our way home (leaving the island) We saw about 6 killer whales about a km or 2 out at sea. We were all in awe & we didn't have time to take a pic :(

[wolf_Q]

Nope, I've never seen any of them.......wild or captive. There really isn't anything like that around here.

[Logan]

Sandra (Tatsxxx11) treated Helen and me to a whale watch when we visited her in Massachusetts two years ago. It was one of the highlights of our trip!!!! I absolutely loved every minute!!!!! :D

[tatsxxx11]

Wasn't that fun, Logan??:) Of course, you failed to mention that I was NOT on board!:D The dreaded seasickness!:eek: Only on very big boats, go figure!:rolleyes: I have often seen white sided dolphins swimming here off shore and whales too, though sadly, only in mass strandings. Whale and dolphin strandings are very common here on the Cape. Last year, at the beach just down the road from my house, we experienced the largest stranding in over a decade, almost 50 pilot whales. Sadly, most were lost though over a hundred volunteers tried desparately to save them. They restranded themselves the next day on another beach:( Here are some photos of that day; opptimistic at first, but sadly, most of them died.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid77/p097de0869e68070adc9c3c3d7874d31d/fb348f6b.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid77/p73b6996229e1f019160f57708cc43aee/fb3485d4.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid77/p51a4eb2ef41a5834bf192f4d7a108c2f/fb34806f.jpg


And here's the story with more photos.
Whale stranding (http://www.neaq.org/scilearn/randr/pilot.html)

[RICHARD]

just south of Tijuana on a foggy morning-

about 15 dolphins body surfing! simply incredible!!!:D