One of the best things about being out there is having close encounters with cetaceans, pelagic birds and other wildlife. Sometimes the encounters can get a bit too personal. An article in Flying Fish called Chance Encounters Between Whales and Ships (2012/2 pp70-80) was subsequently published in Yachting World (Jan 2015 pp50-54) and prompted several people to contact me with their own reports of close encounters. I thought it might be useful to create a thread here to allow members to share their experiences with other members.

Please include any information that could be useful like the hull colour of your vessel, the species encountered if known, where it happened and under what circumstances, what you did, what the creatures did, etc.

Vice Commodore, OCC 

Last summer in Alaska, a humpback surfaced with a great splash, very close alongside, about 10 metres away. Whether it was aware of my presence before it surfaced, I know not, but it didn 't hit me, so we both got over it and moved on.

A few times, I 've had to alter course to avoid a sleeping humpback whale. This would be the biggest danger, as if woken suddenly, they are likely to dive with a flurry and a lashing of flukes and flippers.

I 've had big sperm whales come to about 30 metres away to take a close look at me, just out of curiosity. I 've tried to sail closer to take a closer look at them, out of curiosity, but they won 't let me.

I had a pair of big sei whales swimming very close alongside for an hour, in the N Pacific. Again, just curiosity on both sides.

In general, I treat whales as very large but entirely benign animals. They go about their business, and I go about mine, and we treat each other with respect, but no fear or animosity.