THEY’RE having a whale of a time. Guests aboard Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ fleet made more than 4,400 wildlife sightings with the help of marine wildlife charity ORCA in 2022.

It came as part of ORCA’s Cruise Conservationist programme, a unique whale and dolphin monitoring project hosted on the fleet’s ships, supplying data for vital research.

The most frequent wildlife spotted was the common dolphin, which was sighted no fewer than 296 times, with the total number of individual dolphins spotted adding up to 1,996.

Other sightings included humpback whales, orca, a blue whale and even the deepest diving animal known, the elusive Cuvier’s beaked whale, which can dive to depths of nearly 3,000m.

“Spotting native wildlife is something that makes a holiday truly special,” says James Moss, Journey Experience Co-ordinator at Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines.

“It has been a real privilege to work with ORCA this year, helping guests not only to spot marine mammals, but to learn more about them and to play a part in capturing important data too. We’re looking forward to another successful year working together.”

For information on Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ ORCA cruises, visit the special webpage here.