Humpbacks of the Silver Bank

The North Atlantic humpback whale population makes a yearly journey south from their summer feeding waters of New England, Newfoundland, Greenland, and Iceland. They swim over 2500 miles to the Silver Bank, 90 miles from the Dominican Republic, to mate, give birth, and raise their offspring. In these shallow waters they spend their winter, and several liveaboards, including Aggressor Fleet’s Turks and Caicos Aggressor II, offer week-long trips to snorkel with the humpbacks of the Silver Bank.

在哪里以及如何

The Dominican Republic是世界上唯一发出有限数量使用座头驼背许可证的国家。经过多年访问银行，船长，船员和研究人员提出了保护鲸鱼的方法，并为鲸鱼和我们想要与他们一起游泳的人提供最佳体验。为期一周的银行庇护所的宪章提供了极好的机会，可以看到上面和水中的座头仰泳。

1zplay银行不允许潜水，因为鲸鱼似乎受到气泡的干扰以及快速的运动，例如自由潜水。鲸鱼也在不断移动，将潜水员和装备进出水中需要更长的时间，这可能会延迟遭遇。1zplay

In the Water

Most in-water encounters take place with females and their calves. Adulthumpbacks大约每20分钟呼吸一次，但是新生儿需要每三分钟呼吸。通常，母亲会留在一个地方，小腿放在她的啄鳍下，婴儿会在她的水面上几次呼吸。这使得母亲和小牛在哪里，并与他们在一起。

通过冷静和仍然在水中（尽可能少的溅出）浮潜通常不会打扰鲸鱼，如果母亲保持舒适，有时会持续数小时。小牛每隔几分钟就会出现一次，检查浮潜者，然后回到妈妈身边。

通常，婴儿会走到浮潜者的线上，游泳，在回去之前检查每个人。奇怪的小牛可能在表面上闲逛的时间比平常更长，在浮潜者周围玩耍，有时会给他们带来啄一下一下，甚至突破。

Some encounters occur with a mother, calf, and male escort who marks his territory to mate with the female. Other common in-water encounters often happen with sleeping whales. They don’t move very far, usually hovering in one place, ascending to take a breath around 20 minutes, and then descend back down to the same spot.

Male humpback whales sing and their song can carry from miles away. By just by putting your head in the water at the Silver Bank, many different voices of whale singers can be often be heard. Occasionally a male singer is found and in-water encounters can happen. Singers are usually vertical in the water with their heads down. If you are close, the sounds can be so loud that they seem to vibrate through your body.

在表面上

Topside activity in the Silver Bank is also worth the visit. Surface behaviors include peck slaps, where the whales slap their peck fins (thick arms) on the surface repeatedly, probably as a means of communication. When a whale dives deep it sometimes does a fluke dive and displays its whole tail.

当鲸鱼完全从水中伸出头部时，就会发生间谍啤酒花，这被认为是环顾表面的一种手段。当然，当一条鲸鱼从水和扭曲中发射，降落在侧面并造成巨大的飞溅时，有著名的违规行为。

Mating occurs at the Silver Bank and competition for females is common. Most females have an escort male with her, who will not leave unless another or group of males challenges him. Several males can be competing for a female, and there can be vicious fights with breaching on top of each other and fin or peck slapping one another in very exciting and sometimes bloody battles.

Small boats allow guests to get very close to this action for fantastic photo opportunities. However, there are no in-water encounters during these activities, as it could be dangerous to snorkelers, and the males usually move too quickly to keep up with in the water.

我最喜欢的顶部行为是母亲在教小牛的新技能时。母亲将表现出违反或尾巴的打击，婴儿的回应是尝试做妈妈做的事情。这可能会一遍又一遍地发生，因为一个婴儿试图违反数十次，通常在明显疲倦的同时，随着时间的流逝，违规行为变得不那么强大。

看到座头鲸是一次了不起的经历。每次相遇都是不同的，您永远不知道会发生什么，持续多久或将会在哪里。鲸鱼是野生动物，即使应该在某个时间处于某个地方，也永远不会保证您会看到的。幸运总是参与了令人惊叹的海洋遭遇。

进一步阅读

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