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DOLPHINES
Dolphin & Whale watching tours in Sri Lanka
The best time to see dolphins and whales in Kalpitiya is from November to April during the N-E monsoon. Generally, sea conditions during this period vary from mirror calm to small wavelets, glassy crests, but no whitecaps. During this last season some unusual weather and experienced poor sea conditions from mid- March to April. This same period last year (2007) was excellent. Logs of the boat trips. Based on an analysis of 21 boat trips from Jan - Apr, there was 85% success rate of seeing dolphin / whales.
Clients are more interested in seeing the spinner dolphins and even though whales are seen at a distance, clients wish to remain with the most acrobatic dolphins in the world. Their entertainment value is unrivalled.
The dolphin tours usually last about 2 hours as 66% of the dolphin sightings are within the first 45 minutes of leaving the shoreline at Alankuda. The Kalpitiya dolphin line is a defined area where over 90% of the spinner dolphin sightings have been recorded during 2007 to 2008. This area located off the west coast of the Kalpitiya peninsular is between longitude 7° 56#146 N and 8° 03' N and latitude within 79° 39.6'E and 79° 40.8' E.
This ocean area is about 30km long and about 2¼ km wide. It is about 3km directly west of "Alankuda Beach Resot" so it only takes about 15-20 mins to reach the target area.
While there are 33 species of cetaceans that may be located in Sri Lankan waters only 27 species have been recorded as sightings and/or strandings. The 14 species / subspecies of cetaceans and sirenian identified in "NW" column above have been recorded in the Gulf of Mannar, North-West of Sri Lanka.
A much smaller number of cetaceans are usually encountered when whale and dolphin watching around Sri Lanka (++ identifies cetaceans usually encountered in Gulf of Mannar). These cetaceans are:
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