Dominica: a magical island
Dominica holds a special place in our heart and we came back truly in love with the place. If there’s one destination we’d recommend to everyone, it’s Dominica.
This beautiful little volcanic island in the Caribbean is nothing like the typical Caribbean image of white sandy beaches and mass tourism. Instead, Dominica is wild and green—full of lush rainforests, rugged black sand beaches, and dramatic volcanic landscapes. It’s a paradise for hikers and nature lovers, surrounded by an incredible ocean teeming with life.
One of the things that makes Dominica truly special is its resident population of sperm whales. It is one of the most famous places in the world for encountering these magnificent creatures. WiseWhale had the chance to work there for a while, and we can honestly say that almost every time you go out on the water, you’re surrounded by sperm whales.
Sperm whales are different from humpback whales, for example, which migrate across vast distances. Female sperm whales don’t migrate at all; they live together in stable family units with their calves. The males, who roam the colder waters of the world alone, occasionally travel to warmer regions like Dominica to mate. Because of this, Dominica is home to multiple resident female pods that stay in the area year-round, moving only between nearby islands.
If you’re fascinated by sperm whales and dream of seeing them in the wild, Dominica is the place to go—100 percent.
Unfortunately, there are no government regulations for whale-watching in Dominica, meaning that, in theory, people can do whatever they want out on the water. However, unlike other places, there aren’t many companies offering whale-watching tours, and you don’t often see private boats crowding around the animals. Most of the time, the only boats present are from professional tour operators.
Luckily, this means you don’t typically encounter situations where 10 or 20 boats are swarming around a single group of whales. First, because there are fewer companies overall, and second, because they actively try to avoid putting too much pressure on the same group of animals. Since sperm whales are abundant in the area, guides make an effort to spread out. If they see that a group of whales already has few boats around them, they move on, searching for another group elsewhere. This approach is really great, as it helps minimise stress on the whales.
Another positive practice is limiting time spent with any single group of whales. Since there are so many around, operators have the opportunity to observe a pod for a while and then move on to find others, reducing prolonged disturbances.
That said, there are still some issues, particularly with how boats approach the whales. There’s a common tendency to approach them from behind, which isn’t ideal. This often happens because sperm whales lift their tails (fluke) when they dive, and operators want to position their boats so passengers get a clear view of this moment. While it makes for great photos, it’s not necessarily the best approach for the whales. Still, compared to many other countries, the overall whale-watching practices in Dominica are relatively responsible.
However, what really disturbed us is the fact that, once again, swimming with the whales is allowed.
In Dominica, swimming with sperm whales has become a big business. Companies pay the government significant fees for permits, and in turn, they charge individuals around $1,000 per day for the experience. While there are regulations in place regarding the number of people allowed in the water, what we observed was often disturbing.
First of all what we saw repeatedly was these boats deliberately cutting across the whales’ path to slow them down. Once the whales were disrupted, the crew would throw people into the water, regardless of ocean conditions—whether calm or dangerously rough.
And how did the whales respond? More often than not, they would immediately change direction or dive deep to escape.
This practice raises serious ethical concerns. Are we truly appreciating these magnificent creatures, or are we just harassing them for profit?
In rare cases, whales might tolerate swimmers—perhaps they’re socialising, resting, or nursing their young, and they remain in the area. But most of the time, as soon as a swimming boat arrived, we already knew our observation was over. The whales would immediately change direction or dive deep—clear signs that they were disturbed by the presence of people in the water. This kind of stress is significant.
Sperm whales are deep-diving animals. They spend an average of 45 minutes underwater without breathing, and when they surface, they need about 20 minutes to recover and breathe before diving again. But what happens when boats continuously drop swimmers into the water? The whales don’t get that recovery time. Instead, they are forced to dive again and again. Boats wait for them to resurface, then rush ahead and drop more people in the water, triggering another dive. This cycle repeats, cutting their surface time shorter and shorter.
It’s not just stressful—it’s physically exhausting for the whales. Changing direction repeatedly is a waste of their time and energy. They have somewhere to go, but every time swimmers are dropped in, they are forced to adjust their path. And while regulations may limit the number of swimmers per boat, we often saw multiple companies operating at once, throwing in more and more people.
This is a serious problem. And honestly, WiseWhale is concerned that it won’t change. The reality is, this business brings in a lot of money. But that’s exactly the problem, isn’t it? We keep putting profit before the well-being of these incredible animals.
