At the right sites, not only are sightings almost guaranteed, but the variety of species that can be seen within a small area and in just a single day is quite phenomenal. And it can all be done from the comfort of a boat, warm (if not necessarily sunny) weather guaranteed.The Filipinos insist that the seas surrounding their islands were the setting for Moby Dick, and they could be right for since research began just four years ago, 27 species of cetacean - as whales and dolphins are known collectively - have been spotted in Philippine waters. These range from the large sperm and grey whales to the smaller killer and pilot whales, plus a whole host of dolphin species, including the well-known bottlenose and lesser-known species such as Rissols, Fraser's and spinner dolphins.So I was filled with high expectations when I arrived in the town of Bais, one of the country's two main cetacean-watching centres. It was a sunny little place on the east coast of Negros, one of the larger islands that makes up the Philippines' heavily fragmented waist, known collectively as the Visayas.Running for just three years, the operation is still very low key, but the local government is keen to expand.

In an area that has missed out on general tourism and which is suffering from a slump in global prices for its main product - sugar - the dawning of the ecotourist age and the presence of so many dolphins and whales just offshore offers the promise of an economic boom.And it's all in the hands of Rowena Merto, trained at the Marine Laboratory of nearby Silliman University, one of the top spots in the whole of southeast Asia for marine studies. It seemed to me an unusually enlightened act to put a biologist in charge of a tourist development, and it augurs well for the success of the project, at least in terms of protecting the interests of the whales and dolphins.Rowena led me to a quay lined with several shiny new boats, all large and brilliantly white outrigger trimarans, complete with sun awnings and plastic chairs just perfect for a leisurely viewing of the local marine wildlife. Soon we were speeding out across a calm sea, eyes scanning the horizon for tell-tale fins and water spouts.The sea around Bais is the sheltered Tanon Strait separating Negros from Cebu, site of the Philippines' third largest city and one of the country's main tourist centres. The strait is just a few kilometres wide, yet it is incredibly deep - more than 300 metres according to the latest studies.

I was warned that one cannot find the whole 27-species range here; its narrow confines attract mainly dolphins and the smaller whales. For the really big stuff I would have to head further south to more open seas. No matter; I had never seen dolphins or whales in the wild before, not close-up anyway, and I was excited enough at this opportunity.We were out for nearly an hour and were about two-thirds of the way across the strait before our first sighting, a group of about 20 spinner dolphins leisurely making their way northwards along the strait. Another cetacean- watching boat loaded up with a party of Filipinos was already trailing them, and after following along for a few minutes my skipper decided to break off and follow another school he had spotted further ahead and which was still without human company.Through the morning we trailed a number of schools of spinner dolphins, their characteristically tall black dorsal fins visible in the sunlight for quite some distance. Though an occasional dolphin came in close to our bow, in general they did not like the boat to approach too close: less than 50 metres and the whole school, 20-30 dolphins, would dive in unison and not reappear until a margin of several hundred metres had reopened.Several schools were visible scattered across the strait, over 100 animals altogether, all spinners and all heading north.