OCEAN & REEF

ALL OCEANS, BAR THE ARCTIC

Blue whale, wandering albatross, pygmy seahorse, sexy shrimp and leatherback turtle

Not just the largest creature on Earth today, but the largest animal ever known to have existed, the blue whale is truly – with due respect to Muhammad Ali – the greatest. A beast up to 30m long, its heart is the size of a small bear, with blood vessels you could stick your head in. Rebounding in numbers after centuries of whaling

(though still rare: its population is estimated as between 10,000 and 25,000), there are nevertheless some parts of the world where sightings are almost, if not completely, guaranteed. The south coast of Sri

Lanka is now a blue whale hotspot, where they come to the deep-water channel between Mirissa and Dondra Head to feed on krill from November to April. Less well known are the waters off Trincomalee, on Sri Lanka’s east coast, where – between March and May – you might even catch a glimpse of these ocean Goliaths from the shore.