Visitors and residents are enjoying the best whale watching in years, commercial boat operators claimed this week.

The hump back whales have even been swimming underneath boats during the annual migration along the South Shore on their way to New England.

"You could walk around Bermuda on whales, there's so many of them out there," Michael Heslop of Fantasea Diving, who has been running daily whale watching tours, told The Royal Gazette yesterday.

"I think its the best year, its been unbelievable. We don't even know which way to go - they're behind us, in front of, on the side of us. We went out the other day and switched off the engine and floated and we had whales under the boat for about two hours the whole time. It's incredible. When they jump out of the water you can see them clearly for several miles.

"We've got a glass-bottom boat and I've been videoing them under the boat. Yesterday we had one lady crying she was so overwhelmed. It's like Jurassic Park but its in real life."

Mr. Heslop said about 10,000 whales come by the Island, some as early as January, but the height of the season is March and April. They migrate from breeding north of Puerto Rico and swim to St. David's in the east of the Island before moving along the South Shore then heading north to New England. Some of the groups break up, with many remaining around Maine and others going further north.

Mr. Heslop asks guests to send him pictures, which he e-mails to Wheelock University in Boston, which is studying the whales. "Each of their tails is like an individual fingerprint which doesn't change. The university can identify the tails and say: `That's Sally, haven't seen her for a while'."

His company has spotted whales about a mile and a half off of the South Shore and off Southwest Breaker.

Mr. Heslop said the whales are not frightened by the boats, but added: "On the weekends, though, because people know we're whale watching, we've had about 15 boats around us and its too many, so we move away. If you scare the whales they move out to deeper water."

Charlie Green, a dive instructor at Nautilus Diving, which operates from the Fairmont Southampton Princess, said: "I'd say this is the best in about five years. It's been absolutely fantastic. We've had a lot of guests out. We've just seen a mother and calf, some dolphins and a manta ray. We saw one whale, it must have been about 40 foot long, that jumped right out of the water. For the guests, that was it.

"We try not to get too close to them and try to keep a minimum of 100 yards so we don't spook them."

Jack Ward, the principal curator at Bermuda Aquarium and Museum Zoo, said: "I've been out the loop and haven't talked to any of the commercial whale watching operators, but I have spoken to fishermen and they have said they have had some good experiences."