Dolphins (or else) in the wild - tips

[mevelandry]

Hi!

I don't know if there is a thread about this but I think some of us (on DISboards) are animal lovers.

As you can imagine I'm totally against dolphins swims (for obvious reasons)... But I love trying to spot dolphins and other creatures during our cruises.

I wanted to create that thread so we could share some tips.

Here are mine:

1) Every time we leave Port Canaveral, I stay on my verandah on starboard side (a deck would do the job) instead of watching the show.

At some point, a few minutes after leaving port you'll see the "tip" of a beach. (EDIT: Jetty Park beach/Pier)

Close to that tip we always see two to six dolphins. (Maybe it's just luck but on the 1st cruise we saw three, 2nd we saw six and 3rd we saw two.)

Also, once as we were leaving PC, we saw Pelicans "fishing". It was impressive to watch.




2) Serenity Bay is a great place to spot creatures from the ocean.

On our first time in Serenity Bay (Castaway Cay), I only had water to my hips when we saw a stingray. The 2nd time I had water to my knees when I saw a barracuda. Both times we have found starfishes. Saw many tropical fishes (that I wish I could name), different kinds of crabs (that I also wish I could name)...

Anyone would like to share tips?

P.s.: I'll add pictures later.

 

[mmouse37]

Since wild sea life is so unpredictable the only tip I can give is keep watching out at sea when you are on deck. You never know what you might see. We have seen dolphins, flying fish, a sea turtle and once we even saw the blow from a whale.

The flying fish are small and like to jump in the wake of the ship. We would stand on Deck 4 and just look down to the water and see them. We have also seen them from the portholes in Promenade Lounge.

Even in 38 DCL cruises it was not that often that we saw sea life. More times than not we didn't see anything. But, I am always hopeful and always keep a look out!!!

We have also seen some non wild life while at at sea....once we came upon an abondoned life raft just floating around and once a fighter jet buzzed the ship and was at almost the same height as the funnels. That caused everyone on Deck 10 to jump!

Oh and I almost forgot.....while in St. Thomas keep a look out for iguanas on the beach. Every time we went to a beach club in St. Thomas iguanas would be roaming around at the base of the palm trees where the grass and sand met. We often saw people trying to get close but we were told people should not do that because they can bite and can be aggressive, especially during mating season.

MJ

 

[Napoleon Dynamite]

Thanks for the tips! We too are against the whole dolphin swim thing...and my daughter would LOVE to see them in the wild. Hasn't happened yet, but we will be keeping our eyes peeled on our cruise next week!

 

[Cackyschmackers]

Hi!

I don't know if there is a thread about this but I think some of us (on DISboards) are animal lovers.

As you can imagine I'm totally against dolphins swims (for obvious reasons)... But I love trying to spot dolphins and other creatures during our cruises.

I wanted to create that thread so we could share some tips.

Here are mine:

1) Every time we leave Port Canaveral, I stay on my verandah on starboard side (a deck would do the job) instead of watching the show.

At some point, a few minutes after leaving port you'll see the "tip" of a beach.

Close to that tip we always see two to six dolphins. (Maybe it's just luck but on the 1st cruise we saw three, 2nd we saw six and 3rd we saw two.)

Also, once as we were leaving PC, we saw Pelicans "fishing". It was impressive to watch.


2) Serenity Bay is a great place to spot creatures from the ocean.

On our first time in Serenity Bay (Castaway Cay), I only had water to my hips when we saw a stingray. The 2nd time I had water to my knees when I saw a barracuda. Both times we have found starfishes. Saw many tropical fishes (that I wish I could name), different kinds of crabs (that I also wish I could name)...

Anyone would like to share tips?

P.s.: I'll add pictures later.

I'm so with you. All of my girls love to swim/ the ocean, and it kills me that we, can never do the dolphin encounters (no way!).

Do.you like to snorkel? We had awesome snorkeling (deep water, living reef) on both our Grand Cayman non-DCL excursions as a part of our Sting Ray City day. We saw gorgeous colorful fish of course, a moray eel and star fish. Great experience. And yes iguanas on St Thomas.

 

[ntmec]

One of my favorite DCL memories... watching several dolphins jump over and over just to the side of the Magic's bow as I was walking on a treadmill in the fitness center. Early morning, glassy sea, sun was just up. Beautiful!

 

[mevelandry]

I'm so with you. All of my girls love to swim/ the ocean, and it kills me that we, can never do the dolphin encounters (no way!).

Do.you like to snorkel? We had awesome snorkeling (deep water, living reef) on both our Grand Cayman non-DCL excursions as a part of our Sting Ray City day. We saw gorgeous colorful fish of course, a moray eel and star fish. Great experience. And yes iguanas on St Thomas.

I did not snorkel yet, I am not very good swimmer. But I want to try it on my next cruise. I heard that you can borrow a vest for the lagoon at Castaway Cay.

 

[mevelandry]

Here's my stingray (with a little friend) at Serenity Bay.

 

[jrabbit]

In Alaska a few years ago.... Totally COOL and there were LOT of them. They came up right next to the ship for quite a while.
Also I once saw a bird STANDING ON THE WATER. I stood up to get a better look and it was actually a bird riding / resting on the back of a sea turtle (think the comic BC but in the water instead of on land)

 

[mevelandry]

Barracuda at Serenity Bay.

 

[mevelandry]

In Alaska a few years ago.... Totally COOL and there were LOT of them. They came up right next to the ship for quite a while.
Also I once saw a bird STANDING ON THE WATER. I stood up to get a better look and it was actually a bird riding / resting on the back of a sea turtle (think the comic BC but in the water instead of on land)

This is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. Thanks for sharing.

 

[mevelandry]

Starfish

 

[Cackyschmackers]

@mevelandry I'm glad you got to see all that at SB! Bc there's no reef to speak of, the fish at CC are of the colorless variety. If you ever feel up to it as your confidence builds, you might consider a good snorkeling trip to a living reef.... you'll be blown away.

 

[mevelandry]

@mevelandry I'm glad you got to see all that at SB! Bc there's no reef to speak of, the fish at CC are of the colorless variety. If you ever feel up to it as your confidence builds, you might consider a good snorkeling trip to a living reef.... you'll be blown away.

I believe you. I watch a lot of documentaries about the ocean... I'm obsessed.

 

[dcassetta]

Here's my stingray (with a little friend) at Serenity Bay. View attachment 219432

This is a great photo for a non-snorkeler!

 

[redsonja76]

I love this thread <3
I refuse to do anything with captive animals so it's rare to see animals like this, I am hoping one day to do an Alaskan cruise so I can see more!

 

[mevelandry]

This is a great photo for a non-snorkeler!

It was so close from the beach! I only had water to my hips. (And I'm only 5'4"!)

 

[mevelandry]

I love this thread <3
I refuse to do anything with captive animals so it's rare to see animals like this, I am hoping one day to do an Alaskan cruise so I can see more!

I want to do Alaska so badly!

 

[bbel]

If you do go to Alaska you can see some amazing wildlife. I've seen whales, seals, eagles and even a bear (through binoculars)
But my favourite is in Skagway. The last few years there's been a seal that hangs out near the ship/gangway. He'll just chill and 'people watch' everyone getting on and off, and likes to entertain the crew during crew drill.

 

[com_op_2000]

At Serenity Bay, I am on the beach, and DW is on a raft about 20 yards out. I start walking out to take her picture and all the little fish around me scatter. I start looking around and see a 2-3 foot Black Tip shark cruising through the water. Picture did not come out due to angle of sun and reflection off the water. My DW is splashing the water with her hands to move the raft, so I tell her to stop because I see a shark. So what does DW do, she jumps off the raft and makes a bigger splash. The shark turns towards her. I have to run and get between her and the shark.

Checkout this thread: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2371788
This thread is originally from 2010 but has pictures of sharks and other sea life taken at CC.

From the ships:
At sea:
I have seen, flying fish, dolphins/porpoises, and sea turtles; other types of fishes while docked or anchored at ports.
At PC:
Porpoises before the ship leaves the dock and as the ship is going through the channel, jumping in the wake.

 

[JenPinks]

Hi!

I don't know if there is a thread about this but I think some of us (on DISboards) are animal lovers.

As you can imagine I'm totally against dolphins swims (for obvious reasons)... But I love trying to spot dolphins and other creatures during our cruises.

I wanted to create that thread so we could share some tips.

Here are mine:

1) Every time we leave Port Canaveral, I stay on my verandah on starboard side (a deck would do the job) instead of watching the show.

At some point, a few minutes after leaving port you'll see the "tip" of a beach.

Close to that tip we always see two to six dolphins. (Maybe it's just luck but on the 1st cruise we saw three, 2nd we saw six and 3rd we saw two.)

Also, once as we were leaving PC, we saw Pelicans "fishing". It was impressive to watch.


2) Serenity Bay is a great place to spot creatures from the ocean.

On our first time in Serenity Bay (Castaway Cay), I only had water to my hips when we saw a stingray. The 2nd time I had water to my knees when I saw a barracuda. Both times we have found starfishes. Saw many tropical fishes (that I wish I could name), different kinds of crabs (that I also wish I could name)...

Anyone would like to share tips?

P.s.: I'll add pictures later.

Isnt it awesome to see animals in their own environment! That's the only way me or my children will see animals!