Bilikiki's last trip was 10 days of whale watching with Dr. Charles Anderson and his 16 guests, who came from the UK, the Netherlands, Canada and the USA. It was a fantastic trip and we spent these days learning about and having incredible encounters with many kinds of cetaceans.
Our route in the Central Province, took us around the Florida Islands, Russell Islands and Mborokua Island. We had amazing encounters with Indo Pacific bottlenose dolphins, spinner dolphins, rough toothed dolphins, spotted dolphins and the rare and beautiful Omura's whale.
On our way to Mary Island we had the privilege to spot an elusive dwarf sperm whale and spent a long time with a group of sperm whales, they were travelling together and taking care of their calf. Based on the size of the calf our experts on board estimated that it was a maximum of a couple of weeks old!!! All of us onboard (crew and guests) were mesmerised about how good care the adults take of their young ones, and how they showed their flukes right before they dived…..it was definitely one of the best encounters we had!
Over in the Western Province, we had Fraser's, common bottlenose and Risso's dolphins came to play with us! From the five different kinds of blackfish that can be found in the Solomon Islands we had great encounters with four of them: pods of melon headed whales bow riding and jumping around us, false killer whales hunting and playing, pods of pilot whales and also some shy pygmy killer whales.
But, as always, Bilikiki has more to offer... so not only did we enjoy the whale watching and cruising around these beautiful waters, we also had beautiful snorkelling sessions and some dives in the magnificent hard coral reefs that we love so much! Our snorkelers even got to enter the cut at Leru Island, enjoy the stunning hard coral gardens at Kicha and Karumolun and snorkel in the mangroves at White Beach!
The village visits were also a big hit with the dancing, the singing and the panpipe show at Karumolun - what a wonderful experience! In Peava we did the carving market, got some fresh produce at the market and then went for a little stroll around the village, what a delightful morning we had!
And on top of that, every other night, Dr. Charles would give a talk about our encounters and about all the species of dolphins and whales we had seen! Such a complete trip! Thank you very much Dr. Charles for choosing us to take you around and look for these incredible creatures and also thank you to all the guests for being such a nice group!
Again, BIG THANKS to our amazing crew for taking care of us and for their amazing spotting skills!!!
We wish you all safe travels back home and until next time, Happy Bubbles!
Pato & Fernando
