We had an outstanding day full of cetaceans! We started the day with ~50 Long-beaked Common dolphins, ~20 Offshore bottlenose dolphins and 3 Gray whales! The Common dolphins were fun to watch as they came up to the boat! The Gray’s were headed north back up to the Arctic. During the afternoon trip, we encountered a small pod of ~3 Inshore bottlenose dolphins outside of the jetties. We ventured out to the west and found a trio of Northbound Gray whales! Then only a couple of miles north of them, we sighted huge, tall spouts! We encountered a couple of Fin whales! Once we got into the area, we only observed the smaller of the two, which happened to be a calf! It was roughly ~20 feet long. We waited for mom to surface, but she never showed up for us before we had to head back in. During our third trip, we sighted ~10 inshore bottlenose dolphins near the jetties. Then we ventured out to the same spot off of La Jolla and crossed our fingers for sightings of tall spouts. Instead we found a couple of pods of Offshore Bottlenose dolphins that came up to the boat! The waters were so glassy and clear, we could see them swimming beside us down below. They were even looking right up to us, “people watching”! Only a couple of miles to the west, a tall spout was sighted! We hung out with a cow/calf pair of Fin whales! There may have been a third hanging around too! It was an amazing encounter! The calf became curious of us, and swam up to the boat, while underwater! You could see mom following her calf and was right next to our boat! You could see their white lower right jaw, which is a unique characteristic of Fin whales! The calf crossed our bow and popped up on the other side. All the while we were in neutral, ensuring a safe experience for the whales! It was an amazing day!

Hope to sea you again soon!
Naturalist,
Vanessa