Sri Lanka sits on one of the world’s most active blue whale migration corridors and the deep-water canyon off Mirissa creates a feeding ground that draws blue whales, sperm whales and spinner dolphins with remarkable consistency between November and April. The boat departs Mirissa harbour before dawn, heading out to the deep-water zone as the sky lightens and the first spotted blow – a sudden column of spray on the horizon – is usually the moment the whole boat goes quiet. What makes this different from whale watching elsewhere is the proximity: sightings typically occur within 20 kilometres of the harbour, a fraction of the distance required in most other whale-watching destinations and the species mix here is genuinely rare in its consistency.