Sealife encounters around the world: readers’ travel tips

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“Orcas!” shouted Dave, a Stromness resident, our friend and host. Having been notified on his Orkney cetacean alert app, he was glued to his telescope, viewing a pod of six orcas in Stromness harbour. “Looks like they are moving towards the coast, get in the car!” Slinging on our warmest waterproofs, we raced down to the Point of Ness via the campsite and arrived as the pod rounded the headland. The two adults guided their four young on their breakfast fishing spree along the coast at Guardhouse Park. As they headed off up the coast out of sight, we headed back for our own breakfasts, elated.
Beverley CattermoleGreat white sharks, Cape TownA great white shark hunting for seal off Simon’s Town, just south of Cape Town.FacebookTwitterPinterest A great white shark hunting for seal off Simon’s Town, just south of Cape Town. Photograph: Alamy
A couple of years ago I was in Cape Town for a wedding. The city is one of the best places in the world for spotting great white sharks, and we hopped on a conservation boat with some PhD students studying great whites’ behaviour in Hout Bay. The boat took us to Seal Island, about 20 minutes out. Around 30,000 seals were crammed on to what was essentially a very large rock. Deafened by the noise of the seals, we watched as great whites started circling the island, picking off young seals one by one. The sheer power of the sharks was intense. To top the trip off, we were followed by a pod of around 20 dolphins on the way back to shore and spotted a Bryde’s whale descending. Incredible experience.NeilTurtles, BarbadosA female leatherback turtle crawls back to the Caribbean Sea after nesting.
FacebookTwitterPinterest A female leatherback turtle heads back to the Caribbean Sea after nesting. Photograph: Nationa Geographi/AlamyAdvertisementIn Barbados it is not uncommon to see hawksbill, green and leatherback sea turtles, but you are normally surrounded by dozens of other tourists, especially if you are on any kind of organised trip. For an altogether more relaxing swim with the likelihood of encountering these magnificent creatures, I often head to Carlisle Bay early in the morning. At that time of the day everyone is at the far ends of the beach and the tourist boats are nowhere to be seen. We have spent many a peaceful hour snorkelling around the shipwreck and coral, almost always in the company of a handful of sea turtles and huge shoals of reef fish.Kirsty Yeomans
Rockpools, FuerteventuraRockpools on the coast of Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands.FacebookTwitterPinterest Rockpools on the coast of Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands. Photograph: Alamy
Is there anything more captivating than a rock pool? Discovering these miniature ecosystems on a holiday in Corralejo, Fuerteventura, took me straight back to my childhood. Aged five, crouching on a Cornish beach, prodding anemones and scooping more sand than sea life into a bucket, life couldn’t have been more glorious. Now older, I’ve recaptured that pleasure, spotting tiny hermit crabs, suckerfish and curious little beautifully coloured blennies. Transparent shrimp tickled my feet as they investigated me, and crabs emerged from their rocky shelters to graze on algae. I could have spent hours watching all these fascinating little creatures.RobynOtter, Isle of Skye
Otter in Broadford BayFacebookTwitterPinterest ‘The otter was too engrossed to notice us.’ Photograph: Pete DavisAdvertisement
There was a hissing sound like an angry cat and I looked up to see my first British otter in the wild – the culmination of many years of unsuccessful otter walks from the River Otter in Devon to the Isle of Mull. Otters are claimed on many rivers and much of our coastline but they have been avoiding me for years! My wife caught up with me just as the otter disappeared into Broadford Bay. We headed back down the coast savouring the late afternoon light and suddenly the otter re-emerged from the sea and climbed out on to a rock with a newly caught crab. It was too engrossed to notice us this time, and we enjoyed a superb and extended view of this beautiful and elusive creature.Pete DavisPuffins, Staffa, Inner Hebrides
Puffins on Staffa.FacebookTwitterPinterest Puffins on Staffa. Photograph: AlamyA 50-minute boat ride from Fionnphort, Mull, off the west coast of Scotland, is the Isle of Staffa. Landing on the island, you walk up a steep set of stairs and along a ridge before stopping at the cliff edge to watch puffins dive for fish. The puffins seemed unafraid of people: when we sat down to recover from the walk a puffin landed next to us to watch for fish. Its bright beak against a grey north Atlantic sky was beautiful, and watching the playful nature of the puffins’ dives was so absorbing we nearly missed the boat home. The three-hour trip costs £35pp with Staffa Tours from Mull or Iona.JenniferWhales in the winter, NorwayAn orca surfaces at sunset off the coast of northern Norway FacebookTwitterPinterest .