The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

A HUMPBACK whale has been spotted in waters just two miles off New Providence, with local dive officials yesterday claiming they have never seen the species venture so far into the Bahamian archipelago.

Stuart Cove, head of Stuart Cove’s Dive Bahamas, told The Tribune yesterday that his employees were conducting a shark dive with several guests just off South Ocean last Tuesday when a massive humpback whale “came into the area where they were conducting the dive.”

He said the whale, which didn’t seem the least bit frightened of the sharks or the divers, swam around curiously for about 20 minutes before disappearing back into the Atlantic.

“This is amazing because the whale came into the off the wall area, into 30 feet of water, within two miles of Nassau,” Mr Cove said. “I’ve heard of humpback sightings before at the Tongue of the Ocean, but not on the bank. It literally came onto the Great Bahama Bank.”

He added: “We have seen sperm whales out in the Tongue of the Ocean, we’ve had multiple experiences with dolphins and pilot whales, but it’s always been out in the ocean – not in the bank, in 30 feet of water.”

According to nationalgeographic.com, humpbacks whales migrate annually from summer feeding grounds near the poles to warmer winter breeding waters closer to the equator.

Those winter breeding waters, Mr Cove explained, are located in the Silver Bank off the Dominican Republic for Atlantic humpback whales.

On its way back north, Mr Cove surmised that the whale must have swum too far off course.

“I’ve been diving out here my whole life, since 1964 and daily since 1978 - either I have or my staff - and we have never seen a whale in the water in this area,” he said. “To personally see humpback whales we have to go down to the Dominican Republic.”