Bangkok Whale Watching! Who knew???

[Skeptic7]

Earlier this month we booked a full day whale watch excursion departing right here in BKK! Learned about this about a year and half ago, but finally just got around to doing it 2 weeks back. To be clear...rendezvous with the group leaders in BKK, near BTS SkyTrain "Bearing" Station, at 0600. From there drive in 2 mini vans approx 1 hour to Samut Sakhon and launch out into the Gulf of Thailand. We were "at sea" for 8 hours and rewarded with fine views of Bryde's Whales and "beakless" Irrawaddy Dolphins. The adult female we saw (with 2 calves) was HUGE. They can grow to 16m (over 50 ft) and weigh 40,000 kg (90,000 lbs)! Also saw tons of birds...mostly Little Terns, Little Cormorants and all 3 Egrets, among others. The boat can accommodate 40. but gladly we went with only half that, which made it thoroughly enjoyable. We were dropped off at our starting point near BTS Bearing Station around 6 pm.

Managed a few decent snaps. Enjoy...

 

the adult female...

random pics...

 

 

below is mom and calve feeding...

mom's massive maw...

the blowhole...

 

...and the dolphins below

 

 

 

...and Great Egret, Little Tern and Little Cormorant

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 26, 2018 by Skeptic7

[thequietman]

The wife is piling on a few extra pounds, so we in the villages get to experience the occasional whale or two as well.

 

Seemed like a great day out. Well done!

[NoMeAmes]

was it a meetup group? I remember having seen something like that in one of those... How much did you spend?

[direction BANGKOK]

That is great. I would like to know the cost and info as well. Definitely would like to support this kind of sustainable tourism here in Thailand. 

[balo]

I would also like to know the cost of this, been on whale watching in the arctic , in Norway and never dreamed about it could happen here. 

[Sheryl]

please post link for this, I am very interested.

[Skeptic7]

OK All...here's the scoop. Wild Encounter Thailand. ฿2300/person. ฿1000/person deposit when booking. Runs mainly Sept - Jan, but all info, dates and essentials can be found at the 2 links below. Can phone too, no prob. Excellent English speakers are part of the team. At least one of the (Thai) guides was educated in Oz. Real experts. Very professional whom appear to LOVE their jobs. 

 

https://www.wildencounterthailand.com/

https://www.wildencounterthailand.com/brydes-whale-watching/

[Skeptic7]

A professional HQ vid done in Gulf of Thailand. 10 mesmerizing minutes.????

 

 

Edited October 26, 2018 by Skeptic7

[Kinnock]

Thanks for posting - looks great and good photos too.  I'll look into it.

[Skeptic7]

3 hours ago, thequietman said:

The wife is piling on a few extra pounds, so we in the villages get to experience the occasional whale or two as well.

 

Seemed like a great day out. Well done!

Yes..."Bride's" Whales are no longer a rare sight all over T-land. Their numbers (and kgs) are booming! 

 

Just an interesting FYI. The species is named after Norwegian Johan Bryde. Google told me it's pronounced "broo-deh"...thus "broo-dess" whale. 

[balo]

17 hours ago, Skeptic7 said:

The species is named after Norwegian Johan Bryde. Google told me it's pronounced "broo-deh"...thus "broo-dess" whale. 

Well Google is wrong , as a Norwegian I can confirm its pronounced "Brue-deh"  Its difficult because its sounds partly as u and e but when you say it fast it becomes Norwegian Y .