Captain Orneil Galbraith and first mate Nino Dilbert were out cruising on Sunday on the 47-foot sailboat, ‘Splendour in the Wind’ when they had an amazing encounter with sperm whales.
“I first saw a splash in the distance,” explained Galbraith, who owns Blue Sky Sailing. “Initially, I didn’t say anything to the guests. We were heading around from the North Sound to the Wreck of the Kittiwake, but the sea was like glass. It was a flat calm, so I decided to head further out into the deep water and then I saw it [a spout of water] blowing again, so I told my guests to be on the lookout.”
Shortly afterwards, Galbraith said they came across a whale resting on the surface with a much smaller baby whale at its side. In the distance, he said there was a much larger group with about 20 whales in a pod. As the sailboat approached, Galbraith believes the mother whale spotted the boat, and both whales immediately dived beneath the surface.
Not wanting to disturb them, Galbraith said he dropped the main sail, shut off the engine and waited. Some minutes later, the whales returned to the surface about 100 yards from the boat.
“Even though we were in about 4,000 feet of water, one of the guests was determined to get in the water to get a closer look,” Galbraith said. “It wasn’t long before the guest got separated from the boat. Even though the wind was very slight, the boat was drifting away from him, so we started to back up and I asked him to hold onto to the ladder.”
It was at that point that Galbraith observed another large whale, which he estimated to be at least 35 feet long, in the distance.
“This whale surfaced and then immediately started swimming towards the mother and calf. After it joined the mother and calf, the large whale then turned and swam directly towards the sailboat and positioned itself between the boat and the mother whale and calf,” he said.
“It was literally only about 30 feet from the boat. It was just resting on the surface beside the boat. It was huge and it appeared to be watching us. I decided to get in the water with the guest.”
Galbraith quickly grabbed his mask, snorkel and a GoPro camera and clung onto the ladder beside his guest.
“I don’t know if it [the whale] was warning me, but it opened its mouth quite wide, and I could see all the teeth on this small lower jaw. I don’t think it felt threatened at all, and because of the teeth and the jaw, I realised it was a sperm whale. I was able to get a few photos before it moved away. It was huge and majestic. It was the first time I have seen whales, and it was an incredible experience,” he said.
Later that day, Galbraith called his wife and children, who were off island, and told them about his extraordinary encounter at sea with the whales.
“My children asked me to be careful because they said there are stories of whales breaching on top of sailboats. I always believe if you have an opportunity, you have to seize it,” he said.
Repeat sighting
Curtis Eldemire of Tropical Real Estate said he had a similar experience precisely one year ago in almost the same location off North West Point, and he shared a photograph of one of the whales he saw.
“I came across a sperm whale with a small calf at her side in about 4,000 feet of water, but I decided not to get in and swim with them,” Eldemire said.
He said he thought Captain Orneil was brave to enter the water with the whales.
“Even though I was tempted to swim with them, I decided not to chance it. Sperm whales can make one of the loudest vocalisations of any animal on the planet. They can use a powerful acoustic sound wave to stun their prey. So, with the baby whale in the water, I decided to remain on the boat,” he said.
He also had a theory about why the whales are here.
“I suspect there may be a lot of giant squid in Cayman waters at this time of year. Each whale eats about one ton of squid per day, and I recall some time ago, Jon Jon Arch found a huge squid on the surface of the water that had clearly been bitten by something very large. I think they must be feeding on giant squid in the Cayman Trench,” he said.
Galbraith said he was constantly amazed by the beauty of the marine environment in the Cayman Islands and that is why he had been in the local watersports industry for the past 31 years.
“I am keeping the Caymanian sailing tradition alive and bringing joy to the people that come out for adventures on our blue sea,” Galbraith said.
“These same guests who came out and saw the whales are repeat customers and they were with me earlier in the year in January when we spotted a shark trying to eat a turtle by Main Channel. There is always something different to see and our water is so clear. We are so fortunate and blessed to live in the Cayman Islands.”
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