“You had a once-a-year day today.”

Wildlife experiences tend to be easier to describe qualitatively than quantitatively. Even then, I find myself taking days, months, and sometimes even years to find the right words to accompany an image. The nature of these moments varies significantly— conditions, duration, and behaviors all make it difficult to assign a frequency to what you observe. 

So this time, I allowed my guide to do it for me.

Most encounters with these whales are brief. They swim past you in seconds as they prepare for their next descent into the abyss. Even during these “respites,” the giants cut through the water far too quickly to keep up with. The two coveted behaviors—sleeping and socializing—are the most visually impactful, and they provide you with more time to freedive around the animals to create an image. On this day, I was graced with both.

Sperm whales form tightly knit matrilineal units of around ten members. Socialization events, like the one captured here, are not often witnessed. Grandmothers, mothers, and calves of a single unit, or even multiple units, take pause from their travel to congregate at the surface. They twirl their massive bodies, circle the other whales, bob their heads up and down, and squeeze their way into the pile to rub against one another. The animals click constantly as they communicate. 

No matter how many times I return to Dominica, I likely won’t have a day like this again. It was the novelty of the encounter but also the essence of it. You always hope for an engaged subject, yet there are some moments where interactions among the animals are far more powerful. The whales put on this spectacular display—not to impress, but to connect. 

These are bonds being forged that will last a lifetime.