Five Fin Whales in Formentera

An Unforgettable Sighting

Formentera, June 11, 2026

Today I’m going to write a first-person account, so this article will be a little different from what I normally publish on this blog.

Yesterday, at 6:38 PM, I opened Instagram without the slightest idea that I was about to experience one of those stories that make life on a small island so special.
Among my private messages, I found one from Berta, a follower who visits Formentera every year.
—Ramon, we’re in Es Caló and there’s a family of whales right in front of Can Rafalet. Incredible.

My surprise could not have been greater.
A group of whales spotted from the shore? That’s not something that happens every day in Formentera. I immediately felt a huge urge to head over there, but at that moment it was completely impossible for me to leave.

A few seconds later, Berta sent me a video. In it, several whale blows could clearly be seen rising vertically above the sea. The wind was blowing hard in that part of the island and the water was fairly rough, but even so, those columns of vapor were unmistakable.

The rough sea conditions also explained another unusual detail: there wasn’t a single yacht anchored anywhere along that stretch of coastline, and that undoubtedly favored the presence of these animals.

“They’re heading north right now, toward Cala en Baster” Berta told me.

So I made a phone call.
I contacted my friend Jose Antonio Arribas.
A professional photographer, drone pilot, diver, and regular collaborator with the Formentera Divers diving center in La Savina.
I called him to tell him what was happening and suggested that, if he could, he should head to Cala en Baster as soon as possible.

He didn’t even let me finish explaining.

—I’m already here filming the family of fin whales.

My response was immediate.

—Then I’ll hang up and you can tell me more later. I’ll head over there as soon as I can.

At 8:07 PM, finally free and driving toward Cala en Baster, I received a call from Jose Antonio.
He explained that he was already leaving the area. The fin whales had been too far from the shore to approach with the drone, but from the cliffs they had been able to observe them perfectly.
Five specimens. Confirmed.
Five enormous fin whales following a feeding route between Es Caló, Cala en Baster, and the spectacular cliffs of La Mola.

I then thought about the sheer size of the animals we had nearby. Fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) are the giants of the Mediterranean and can be detected from great distances thanks to their characteristic blows, visible when they surface to breathe.

Reaching lengths of more than twenty meters and weights approaching seventy tons, they are the second-largest whale species in the world. They feed by traveling across vast stretches of sea in search of schools of small fish and concentrations of krill, filtering thousands of liters of water through their enormous baleen plates. Knowing that five of these colossal creatures were feeding beneath the cliffs of La Mola added an almost surreal dimension to what we were experiencing that afternoon.

As we spoke, he told me where to look for them.
—Right now they’re near Punta de sa Creu. Look in that direction with your binoculars.

But the best part of his story was yet to come.
During the sighting, they had managed to record several of the animals breaching. Breaching!!
Something that took the experience to an entirely different level.
Later, he sent me a video via WhatsApp in which, despite the distance, it was clearly possible to see several of the fin whales breaking through the surface in spectacular leaps. A truly breathtaking sight.

During that same conversation, Jose Antonio told me something that made me smile.

Among the people gathered on the cliffs was a couple he had started talking to. They explained that they had sent a message to Ramón from 4mentera to alert him about the sighting. Since I couldn’t get there immediately, they were told that a friend would be contacted in an attempt to capture some images.

Jose Antonio’s response came quickly.

—Well, that friend must be me, because Ramón called me a little while ago to tell me about it.

We kept talking while I drove toward Cala en Baster, and then he described the couple to me.

—They’re on a scooter. You’re definitely going to pass them.

And sure enough, a few seconds later I saw them coming toward me along the narrow paved road.

—Jose, I’ve got to go, I’m about to cross paths with them.

I started flashing my headlights and honking the horn to get their attention. I managed to get them to stop, and as I approached with a smile, I asked:

—Berta? I’m Ramón from 4mentera.

And yes. It was them. Berta and Fernando.

The very people who had sent me the first news of the fin whales. The same people who had shortly afterward met Jose Antonio on the cliffs of Cala en Baster. Strangers brought together by something as rare as watching a group of whales from the cliffs of Formentera.
I couldn’t tell you how long we stood there talking and laughing in the middle of the road.
I thanked them sincerely for letting me know.
They told me they have been visiting Formentera for fourteen years. That, like so many of us, they are deeply in love with this island, its waters, and its people. And that my videos and posts help them stay connected to it during the rest of the year.

I must admit that these chance encounters move me.

Those moments when life brings together people who, despite not knowing one another, share the same way of enjoying and understanding the world.
I’m convinced I’ll meet Berta and Fernando again. Perhaps in Formentera. Perhaps in Seville. Because some encounters stop being mere coincidences the very moment they happen.

I finally arrived at Cala en Baster.
And there, far in the distance, through my binoculars, I was able to see what I had been chasing for nearly two hours.
Five whale blows rising above the horizon.
Five fin whales beneath the cliffs of La Mola, near Punta de sa Creu, exactly where Jose Antonio had told me they would be.
They weren’t close. I couldn’t photograph them. I couldn’t film them. But by then, that hardly mattered.
Because in the end, this story wasn’t only about five fin whales.

It was about a follower who decided to let me know. About a friend filming one of the most spectacular wildlife sightings of recent years. About two strangers who became acquaintances in the middle of a country road. And about how, on a small island like Formentera, people still connect with one another in a way that is becoming increasingly rare elsewhere.

The fin whales were the excuse. The real story was everything that happened around them.
For me, these are the stories that make Formentera even more special.