Whale watching is on the rise in the Galapagos waters, where several species of large whales can sometimes be seen. With the exception of the bottlenose dolphin, no species is predictable enough to be reliably sighted, but boats cruising between the islands encounter them occasionally. Whales avoid boats that approach aggressively, and the most exciting encounters and opportunities to swim with them occur when the whales approach stationary boats themselves.

The most frequently-seen baleen whale is the 12–15 m [40–50 ft]-long Bryde’s whale. The 18 m [60 ft] finback and the eight-meter [27ft] mink whale have also been sighted, and there are occasional reports of 10 m [33 ft] humpback whales. Aside from baleen whales, the other most commonly sighted whales are 9 to 17 m [30 to 57 ft] sperm whales. Beaked whales and Orcas [killer whales] are occasionally seen. Several species of dolphin live around the islands, but the only species consistently sociable with boats is the bottlenose dolphin. There’s no point in approaching these dolphins; if they wish to swim with your boat, they will.

|Article contributed by Dominic Hamilton|||