THE BLUE WHALES OF TIMOR LESTE
By Nigel Marsh
Jumping off the side of the boat I quickly finned in what I hoped was the right direction. I looked down, then left, then right, hoping to get a glimpse of the animal I had come all this way to see. A frustrating minute passed, and I was sure I had missed it. I kept scanning below when suddenly I saw it, the largest animal to have ever lived – a Blue Whale.
I quickly freedived down to 8m to get a better look at this 20m long whale. I watched in awe as the whale, another 15m below me, glide gracefully by. I got a good look at its distinctive V-shaped head, its elongated body, its small pectoral fins and finally its wide tail as it disappeared into the gloom. Returning to the surface I had the biggest grin on my face and was incredibly happy to have finally seen this immense marine mammal.
This whale was actually a Pygmy Blue Whale, a subspecies of the Blue Whale that still reaches an impressive 24m in length. Mainly found in the southern hemisphere, one of the biggest populations of Pygmy Blue Whales feeds off the southern waters of Australia over summer and autumn. They then venture north, up the Western Australian coastline on their annual migration to spend winter birthing, breeding and feeding in the waters of the Banda Sea in Indonesia. On this migration a population of over 600 swims through the Ombai-Wetar Strait, off Timor Leste, heading north between June and August and heading south between October and December. On this return journey the local dive operators based in Dili, the capital of Timor Leste, offer special whale watching trips and swims with these enormous cetaceans.
The Pygmy Blue Whales are not the only cetaceans seen in the Ombai-Wetar Strait, as scientists studying the whales discovered that this body of water, which is an important link between the Indian and Pacific Oceans, is one of the greatest hotpots for cetaceans in the world. They have recorded 24 species of whales and dolphins in the strait. Some like the Pygmy Blue Whales migrate these waters, while many others live here permanent, feasting on the rich waters that reach 3km deep in the Ombai-Wetar Strait.
IMAGE BELOW - TWO PYGMY BLUE WHALES SWIM BY.
Hoping to see Pygmy Blue Whales and some of the other cetaceans that gather here, like Sperm Whales and Short-finned Pilot Whales, I organised to take a special photography group to Timor Leste in November 2024. For our week-long trip, diving with Dive Timor Lorosae and staying in their comfortable guest house, we organised four days of diving and two days of whale watching.
Timor Leste is one of the smallest and newest nations, having gained independence from Indonesia in 2002, after a long and bloody struggle. The nation is one of the closest to Australia, with the flight from Darwin to Dili taking just over one hour. Located in the coral triangle, the nation also has lovely coral reefs, numerous muck sites and a wonderful collection of fishes and invertebrates.
Our first day of diving saw us loading into a van, as most of Timor Leste’s best dive sites are accessible from the shore. We drove east from Dili, passing through small villages and seeing cows, goats, dogs and even monkeys. Ninety minutes later we arrived at Lone Tree. We quickly geared up, walked across the rocky beach and slipped into the water to find 30m visibility and 30 degree water.
Following our guides Bella and Will, we drifted down a grey sandy slope and onto a lovely coral wall covered in healthy hard corals, soft corals, sponges and gorgonians. While we didn’t see any pelagic fish, there were plenty of small reef fishes to marvel at including a wonderful variety of angelfish, butterflyfish, wrasse, parrotfish, basslets, damsels, rock cods and scorpionfish. There were also lots of different anemonefishes, including a garden with dozens of anemones that were home to tomato, pink and western clown anemonefish.
After packing the gear, we relocated to a nearby site called K41, where we enjoyed a very filling lunch under the trees with the local goats, dogs and chickens. We then explored K41, descending another sandy slope to a recently scuttled shipwreck. This wreck was home to batfish, snappers and a family of emperor angelfish and is just starting to get corals growing on it. We couldn’t find the resident frogfish, but did see garden eels, shrimpgobies and a leaf scorpionfish. We also explored another lovely coral garden at this site, seeing more reef fishes and schools of cardinalfish and golden sweepers.
IMAGE BELOW - WEEDY SCORPIONFISH.
The next day was to be our first day of whale watching, but unseasonal strong winds cancelled our departure until after lunch. Heading out into the Ombai-Wetar Strait our hopes were high for seeing a Pygmy Blue Whale as one had been sighted the day before. Unfortunately, after sixty minutes all we had seen were seabirds and flying fish.
Then from nowhere we were surrounded by cetaceans, a mixed pod of Pygmy Killer Whales, Short-finned Pilot Whales, Spinner Dolphins and Fraser’s Dolphins. For the next two hours we had this big group of whales and dolphins around the boat, riding our bow wave and sometimes feeding. We managed to slip in the water a few times to get glimpses of the Short-finned Pilot Whales, but we never managed to get closer than 10m and each time they saw us they dived. No Pygmy Blue Whales, but it was an incredible two hours of cetaceans that are rarely seen elsewhere.
Over the next two days we enjoyed more coastal shore dives. Heading west we dived Bubble Beach, which has volcanic gas bubbles issuing from its grey sand, and enjoyed a muck dive at La Casa. While Bubble Beach was a lovely dive with jawfish, razorfish and dartfish, La Casa was the highlight.
The sandy slope at this site has seagrass where Dugongs are often seen. Unfortunately, no Dugong for us, but we did see a purple Paddleflap Scorpionfish, Painted Frogfish, Longhorn Cowfish, garden eels, shrimpgobies, pufferfish, razorfish and lots of cheeky Saddleback Anemonefish.
Heading east again we explored lovely sandy slopes and coral gardens at Marble Rock and Behau Village. Here we saw trevally, tuna, triggerfish, angelfish, damsels, blennies, nudibranchs and leaf scorpionfish.
We had planned to do a day of boat diving to Atauro Island, on the other side of the Ombai-Wetar Strait, but having missed half a day of whale watching we decided to spend both of our final days looking for Pygmy Blue Whales. We once again found the mix pod of Short-finned Pilot Whales, Pygmy Killer Whales and Fraser’s Dolphins. However, this time they also had Risso Dolphins and Melon-headed Whales with them. We only spent 30 minutes with this pod as we got news that a Pygmy Blue Whale had been sighted.
We raced east, and quickly saw a gathering of boats, indicating the location of the Pygmy Blue Whale. Our guide, Marti Walton, explained that the six whale watching operators work closely together, sharing information and whales. They also have rules that only four people are allowed in the water with a guide, and that mothers and calves and feeding whales are left alone. We then spotted the whale as surface and breathed, seeing a cloud of mist, a long back and a small hooked dorsal fin before it submerged. Marti explained that they follow the whale to observe its breathing and diving pattern, and if calm the whale will take two to four breaths before diving for four to ten minutes. The skipper then aims to drop snorkellers about 50m in front of the whale and wait for the whale to swim past.
IMAGE BELOW - MAJESTIC PYGMY BLUE WHALE.
We followed the whale for 30 minutes and then it came our time to drop. The whale took two breaths and then we were told to jump in. I finned madly in the direction of the whale, looking down, left, right and in every other direction. The visibility was 30m, so I was pretty sure I would see the whale, if it didn’t change course.
Suddenly I spotted it, it was deep below, so I freedived to 8m to see this massive marine mammal. It was an incredible sight, a 20m long whale slowly gliding along about 15m below. I snapped a few quick photos, but was more impressed at having seen this immense animal. I surfaced with a huge smile, overwhelmed to have seen a Pygmy Blue Whale underwater.
Only half our group saw the whale on that first drop, so we got in the queue for another go. Unfortunately, this whale then lost interested in the boats and snorkellers, and for the next hour regularly dived deep for 30 minutes and kept randomly changing course. We finally gave up on this elusive whale and decided to look for Sperm Whales, that feed in the deep water of the Ombai-Wetar Strait. However, they thwarted us, and an afternoon storm forced us back into port a little early.
The next morning, we had perfect weather for our last day of whale watching, and leaving port we got the good news that two Pygmy Blue Whales had already been sighted. We raced east and 30 minutes later we spotted our first whale. We then followed it for the next 30 minutes and soon realised that we were following a group of three.
We then got into position and our first group drop was a success. I was up next and saw nothing. Then on my second drop I got a great view of one of the whales swimming below me. By now six other boats had joined us, and drops were getting a little harder. Our skipper then got news that two more whales had been spotted further east, so we decided to leave the crowd and try our luck with these whales.
Once again, we were amazed to see that this was a group of three whales travelling together. Sometimes they would surface and breathe at the same time, other times they would surface individually. I got ready for the first drop and plunged into the water. Then came the waiting game, was the whale going to be below me, or to my left or right. I was looking below when suddenly I realised that the whale was still at the surface and was starting to submerge.
I snapped images as the whale glided by only 4m away. This was the closest encounter I had so far experienced. And then it got even better, when I realised that there was a second whale coming in on the shoulder of the first. I couldn’t believe my luck, I was spellbound looking at these two giant whales. The encounter was all over in 20 seconds, but it will last in my mind for the rest of my life.
Over the next two hours we had several more drops on this group of whales. Half were successful and half were not, you only had to look in the wrong direction or swim slightly off course to miss the whales. But what we did see was amazing and will be imprinted on my mind for the rest of my life.
The Sperm Whales eluded us for the rest of the day, but this has given me a great excuse to head back to Timor Leste to see the incredible cetaceans of the Ombai-Wetar Strait.
Nigel Marsh is leading a special group trip back to Timor Leste in November 2026 to again dive the local reef and muck sites, and also spend a few days swimming with the majestic pygmy blue whales. Please head to the trips page if you would like to join.
IMAGE BELOW - LONGHORN COWFISH.
