Along the promenade, below the surface
La Herradura. Not a place where you take binoculars by default. But that has changed since December 2023.
We were standing at Marina del Este, the water mirror-smooth, and suddenly we saw them: three whales. Not a dream, not a blur. Clear. Big. And nearby. They passed slowly, just below the surface - like a secret the sea wanted to share with us for a moment. No drone footage, no tours, no expectation. We didn't even know it was possible.
Since then, we have seen them every year. And this year already three times. The last time: April 18. In the bay. A morning like any other, except that suddenly a gigantic body slithered through the water. It remains a strange contrast: a fishing boat floats, someone grabs his snorkel ... and there, less than 300 meters away, swims the second largest animal in the world.
Near Gibraltar, you can go on whale watching excursions. There they are used to it. Not here. But the underwater world of La Herradura proves irresistible - to dolphins, angelfish, and now also to the rorcual común, the common fin whale. Not that there is anything ordinary about an animal 27 meters long, 70 tons heavy.
According to biologists, it's because of the krill. To the plankton. To rain, temperature, climate. But maybe also just: to rest. No jet skis here in the off-season. No ferries. Only the rhythm of the sea.
You don't have to be lucky. Just a little attention. They appear when the water is still, usually in the morning or near sunset. Sometimes they swim along the Punta de la Mona. Sometimes they cross through toward Maro. And always it is quiet. Even the birds seem to hold their beaks for a moment.
We see dolphins almost every week. But this? This remains rare. And maybe that's just as well.
Because some things are more beautiful when you don't plan them. Just see them - and never forget them.
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