How close may visitors get to the animals?
Anywhere from two metres from Galápagos wildlife to 500 metres from a polar bear on Svalbard between March and June. Each place's card gives its own rule.
What are the rules for boats near whales?
Boats keep at least 50 m from whales off Kaikōura, approaching from the side and slightly to the rear, and at least 100 yards from whales in the Channel Islands, under the US Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Which place on this page has polar bears and belugas?
Churchill. Between 3,000 and 5,000 belugas are estimated to use the Churchill River estuary every day at their summer peak, and from late September to mid-November many polar bears move to the coast to catch the first pack ice.
When do the right whales come to Península Valdés?
Between June and November, when about 600 southern right whales arrive at Península Valdés to breed.
When does the Christmas Island red crab migration start?
With the first rain of the wet season: usually October or November, and sometimes as late as December or January. Then millions of red crabs leave the forest for the sea.
Which places on this page are about whales?
Six: gray whales off Anacapa Island, belugas at Churchill, sperm whales off Kaikōura and Dominica, southern right whales at Península Valdés, and humpbacks and sperm whales around the Ogasawara Islands. Isla Holbox's whale sharks are sharks, not whales.
Can this page say when the animals will turn up?
No. The months are the seasons each park or wildlife service publishes, not a forecast: the animals keep their own schedule, and each card links the page with the current word.
