On your travels, take time out for some whale watching - from the shore, from a tourist boat or up close on a sea-kayaking trip.

See whales from the shore at South Africa's Hermanus Whale Festival in September. For boat-based whale watching, try Dyer Island Cruises: www.whalewatchsouthafrica.com.

For a boat trip in Ireland see: www.whalewatchwestcork.com. The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group has news of sightings and events.

In the Azores, you can combine whale-watching with scuba diving: www.whales-dolphins.net. Or spend your entire holiday whale watching with www.whalewatchazores.com.

Take a mini-cruise in the Bay of Biscay with www.companyofwhales.co.uk.

Or in Tarifa, Spain, with the Swiss foundation, www.firmm.org.

Combine four days sea kayaking with two days whale watching in Baja California, Mexico, with www.kayakinbaja.com.

Combine whale watching and other activities in Victoria, Canada, with www.greatpacificadventures.com. Northern Lights Expeditions has sea kayaking in Canada: www.seakayaking.com.

Whale watch in Australia in Hervey Bay, Queensland. For details about the whales of Hervey Bay see: www.oceania.org.au.

For a list of boat-trip operators in the Muscat area of Oman see: www.whalecoastoman.com. This website also has some useful general guidelines on how to whale-watch responsibly.

For general information about whales, see the Atlantic Whale Foundation website, www.whalenation.org.

You can adopt a whale for yourself or as a gift from the Whale and Dolphin conservation Society.