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> West Wight Potter Website at URL
> http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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> I know we all want to see whales, dophins, seals and so forth, but please don't chase the wildlife. "Getting lots of practice tacking to get closer to the whale" means that you were too close and were disturbing it; that actually lowered your chances of seeing it. Sometimes when just cruising, they'll follow you.
> However, in most cases I find the best way to observe wildlife is to keep your distance and use binoculars. If you're close enough to alter their behavior, you are too close. Of course, it would be even better if the binoculars were the Cannon Image-Stabilizers...
Leander, East Coasties, Web Gang:
I agree with much of what Leander says here. We've had lots of practice observing marine mammal life here, and there have been days where they initiated the contact and came about. Other times, we have viewed them from a respectful distance. Always though, we make our way under sail power, where it is far less
intrusive. We were observing 3 Humpback Whales a couple of years ago and the Cape May-Lewes Ferry passed fairly close to us and the whales. They weren't bothered by the ferry. However, when a Bayliner full of folks roared up past us and came within 50 yards of the whales, the big male slapped one of his flippers
on the surface, making a deafening crack. With that, they all disappeared. What did we gather from this? Well, the whales have been coming here for as long as I can remember, so they knew that the ferry wasn't going to deviate from it's course. The Bayliner though... well, I think it came in way too close, too
fast, and too noisy, spoiling it for the rest of us who were casually observing quietly from a distance.
The Pilot Whales here are similar in behavior but are more difficult to observe. We've seen them logging on the surface but always kept a distance from them, as they were obviously resting.
Harbor Porpoise, Bottlenose Dolphins and other marine mammal life in similar vein are as likely to approach you as you would them. You definitely get the feeling that the "observations" are mutual!
As far as binoculars are concerned, we use our trusty old Tasco yellow rubberized 7x50s and have never really had difficulty observing any marine mammal life. The Canons sound intriguing, but we are completely satisfied with our Tasco units. I can't imagine spending that kind of money for a pair of binoculars that
weren't night vision! (g)
-- "Sea" ya!--Lars S. Mulford, President East Coast Potter Association (ECPA) Come visit us at http://members.tripod.com/~SpeedSailor "Forgive, and live. Life is worth the challenge of living." --LSSM "Love is good; Love hurts; Love sustains; Love remains." --LSSM