One of only three places on earth where in-water humpback encounters are legal. Mothers with newborn calves that approach out…One of only three places on earth where in-water humpback encounters are legal. Mothers with newborn calves that approach out of curiosity, males singing so loudly you feel it in your sternum, and surface rowdy groups of competing males. Up to 5,000 whales use the bank each winter. Nearly the entire North Atlantic humpback population breeds on Silver Bank. Declared a marine mammal sanctuary by the Dominican Republic in 1986, the first in the Atlantic, with a hard cap of three liveaboard permits per season, which is why it stays extraordinary. Anchorage: Shallow coral bank offshore; permitted liveaboards only, three vessels at a time. Hazards: No site-specific hazards noted, brief normally. More