HOW MANY whales spotted in the Maldives?

Most of us will consider ourselves lucky to spot a whale from a boat, but divers on a liveaboard in the Maldives were surrounded by more than a thousand.

Passengers on the MV Sea Spirit in the Far South of the Maldives were overwhelmed at the sight of a massive school (pod?) of Melon-headed whales.

The ocean was boiling with them

The Melon-headed whale is a close relative of the pygmy killer whale and pilot whale.

Cruise Director, Anne-Marie said: “An OMG moment! We were just leaving Addu atoll and heading north when we came upon the LARGEST school of MELON-HEADED whales I have ever seen. There must have been at least 1,000 of them.

“The ocean was boiling with them. They were very friendly and mobbed each other to get to ride the bow wave of Sea Spirit, jumping on each other and swimming three or four deep whilst the majority of the pod just lolloped around sunbathing. It looked like a little mating activity was occurring too”. 

Anne-Marie estimates that this photo shows about 20% of the school … she said: “try and count the dorsal fins – I reckon for every dorsal you can count on the surface, there are at least two underwater”.

Scuba Tours Worldwide founder Rob Bryning, said “The Maldives is a destination that just keeps on amazing us – even after 25 years of running trips here”.   

Check out trips on MV Sea Spirit or MV Sea Queen at the Scuba Tours website.