Sri Lanka 2013
Episode 2: Whale Ho: Mirissa Beach
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January 10-12 2013 Mirissa, Sri Lanka
“At 1 o’clock everyone, see that water spout? The Blue Whale is surfacing”. Finally, after two hours of motoring into rough seas off Mirissa on the south coast of Sri Lanka, we were rewarded. We were actually going to see the largest mammal in the world surface. All 30 tourists on board the Raja and The Whales whale and dolphin tour boat rushed to the railings to catch a glimpse of this threatened species. Eight other whale watching boats converged to get a closer view of the whale’s performance. We were not disappointed. The huge mammal does not breach, but it does blow several times, gambol above the surface so we can see its back and fins, and after only six minutes or so, lifts its tail like a flag and dives. True to the prediction of the boat crew, the whale surfaced again after 15 minutes and the performance was repeated, not once but four times, not in exactly the same spot, but close by. There are many whale boat choices in Mirissa. We chose Raja from the Lonely Planet recommendation. Raja has run the company for 5 years and goes out with clients nearly every day. He has become very knowledgeable about whales and tracks all the whales that come in the bay. He identifies them by the shape and markings on their tails and has names for each one. As is the case with Right Whales in the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, the whales compete with huge tanker ships for the best feeding grounds. Raja told us that 31 whales were killed last year, the majority after being injured by tanker propellers. Raja and like minded conservationists are campaigning to find a solution to save the whales. We hope they are successful in altering the shipping lanes enough to avoid the whales, as has happened in the Bay of Fundy. Mirissa is a small beach resort with a broad crescent beach lined with small restaurants and some low rise resorts. We had travelled by tuk-tuk from Unawatuna, 45 minutes to the west, to see the whales and enjoy the beach. Amanda resort, a five minute walk downhill to the beach, was our choice for our visit. The small family run establishment had just six rooms on two floors. We soon became good friends with the other travellers on our floor. They were all travelling around Sri Lanka in the opposite direction than we were so had lots of good suggestions of what to visit and where to stay. The first few days started out with blue skies and ended with rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Finally, the skies remained clear for our third and last day. We headed for a small cafe on the beach with wooden chaises, tables and chairs that were free to visitors, provided you bought some of their food. We parked our towels and tried out the relatively gentle surf in front of the cafe. Swimmers were trying their skill at body surfing, riding the waves on body boards and at the far west end of the beach, riding in on surf boards. I enjoyed swimming parallel to the shore just beyond the first breakers while Ray preferred a spot at the eastern edge of the beach. Rocks formed a gentle lagoon at the eastern spot on either side of a 10 M high rock, just right for sunset watching. The mask and snorkel I had brought with me from home were perfect for fish watching in the lagoon. |
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