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Our Tour

Sea-Tac aims to provide the experience allowing both the human beings and the wild animals to enjoy the encounter. We do not want to chase the whales refusing to be watched or the dolphins being reluctant to swim with humans. When they behave as such, we would stop to chase and explain the reason why they take such a behavior.

Ocean in Ogasawara

There is amazing ocean which provide a lot of wonderful encounters with wild whales and dolphins in Ogasawara. We have seen at least 18 different species of cetaceans over the past ten years. Not many place around the world can provide the chance to encounter with such various kind of species. Though Ogasawara is a solitary island in mid-ocean, that is especially why such good environment has been protected.

We desire to stay careful to keep the good environment where the wild animals can live in peace and we human beings can enjoy the encounter with them sustainably.

Sea-Tac’s ECO Tour

We have been observing wild wholes and dolphins and operating this kind of tours aiming to encounter with them for over 30 years in Ogasawara. Their behavior has gradually changed as whole watching and dolphin swimming becomes popular. We will continue our efforts to improve our tours to be coexistent with wild animals.

Our goal is not only to take you to swim with dolphins and watch whales, but also to help you understand more about them and the environment surrounding them. We are more than happy to explain what you see and also answer your questions.

In the tour, we, human beings are required to adapt our conduct to the behavior of wild animals. We are not able to predict when or how they appear. Since our encounters are with wild animals, we are also not able to guarantee cooperation from the animals or the weather. However, our success rate for encountering dolphins and whales for past years is consistently more than 90%.

You can enjoy their vital attitude and actions. You may encounter the wild animals other than whales or dolphins; for example, manta ray or green turtles. You will feel how beautiful the sea is, how warm the sunshine is, and how pleasant the sea wind is.

We hope you can see, feel and understand the wild animals and the environment surrounding them in the course of our tour. They are our precious friends living on the earth together with us. We, Sea-Tac, will lead you.

 

OUR BOAT

Our boat, “Dancing Whale”, is about 45 feet long and custom built for cetacean encounters. It has been in service from January 2007. This boat has a 22-passenger capacity. To enable the passengers to enjoy the tour with a  sufficient space, however, we usually set the limit on the number of passenger: around 16 people. In the case of a charter cruise, 22 passengers would be available.

At least 2 staff will be on board with you. The staffs also escort you into the sea.

On the forward deck, there are some stainless steal bar for the sake of safety and the seat device for watching. On the quarter-deck, there are some seats in the shade. You can enter into the water easily going down the stairs on the stern of the boat.

You may enter the cabin when you feel cold or a squall are hit the boat. Your belongings should be put into the cabin. In the cabin, there is a restroom you can use at any time.

On the upper deck, our captain steer the boat with searching the wild animals and watching our guest. Some other staff always watch the sea on this deck. When the boat are moving, please refrain from getting up on the upper deck for the sake of safety.

 

DOLPHIN SWIM TOUR

Our boat will take you out to blue ocean looking for dolphins. The dolphins you can encounter in Ogasawara is totally wild. They are very different from the dolphins housed in an aquarium. We are required to swim in the deep sea with, as the case may be, waves, surges or currents. The condition is not like the shallow pool. If we are in the pool, we only need to wait at some shallow point for the dolphins coming. In the ocean, however, we need to swim toward the dolphins. If you are not an experienced snorkeler, you may not be able to find the dolphins in the water.

How close we can approach the dolphins is case by case. It would be good to have snorkel skill to some extent though. If you are not familiar with snorkel gear, you may get nervous only about entering into the sea. All you can do is breath at the surface and you can not afford to watch or swim with the dolphins. So, for such people, we suggest to join or snorkel lesson tour before joining the boat tour.

When we find a party of dolphins, we carefully get closer and see what they are up to. When they’re in a social mood, we quietly enter into the water, and this is when the fun starts. They are some of most friendly marine mammals you have ever come across.

They will come, check you out and play with you! No two encounters are ever the same.

The crew will also get into the water with you to keep an eye on the dolphins and the other on you.

If sea condition allowed, we are going to swim to Minamijima, a beautiful island, and walk around for about 1 hour.

HUMPBACK WHALE WATCH TOUR

Humpback whale watching tours are available from January to April. The whales are very large and exhibit many interesting behaviors. They stick their heads out of water to see what’s going on, slap their tails, pec fins and so on. You will also be able to see the 30-ton whales jumping out of water if you are lucky.

The whales come to Ogasawara to mate, breed and nurse newborn calves. They are also famous for singing. Mature males sing songs, which are believed to be “love songs” for mating. On our whale watching cruises, you will be able to listen to whale songs through our hydrophones.

Our captain will also take you to shallow water for snorkeling among rich corals and fish. We’re going to swim to Minamijima and walk around on the tour. If sea condition is bad, we can’t go there.

SPERM WHALE WATCH TOUR

From June to October, we go out a bit further in search of sperm whales. These large toothed whales hang out to feed in deep water from 10 to 20 kilometers offshore. On the way to the sites, we occasionally see other species such as pygmy killer whales, false killer whales, pan-tropical spotted dolphins and more.

On this full day tour, we’re going to find dolphins around Chichijima for a half day – in the morning or in the afternoon. And we’re going to offshore to see sperm whales for the other half day. We are planning to take a lunch break at some point with rich corals and fish.  You can enjoy snorkeling there. We are not scheduled to go to Minamijima on that tour.

If sea condition is bad, we may have to change this tour to the full day tour for dolphin around Chichijima, not offshore.

PAGETOP
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