Tuesday, August 15, 2023
Today’s sea conditions were pretty fair with light wind and overall good visibility. We were lucky enough to see baleen and toothed whales today! We travelled about 9 miles offshore. Around 7 miles offshore, we spotted a pod of short-beaked common dolphins however, we were then quickly distracted by a minke whale! The minke whale was behaving fairly elusive and it was difficult to keep track of it. However, we were able to spot it several times. One time it even surfaced super close to our bow! The minke whale led us in the direction of a massive pod of ~300 short-beaked common dolphins! The short-beaked common dolphins were jumping in and out of the water, riding our boat’s wake and even started to stampede! We also saw 2 Mola-molas on our way back to Quivira basin.
The sun came out for our final trip! We enjoyed calm waters and a beautiful sunset today. Before we reached 3 miles offshore, we came across a medium size pod of ~50 long-beaked common dolphins. We saw them porpoise in and out of the water. Once we reached the drop-off we encountered several scattered pods of ~250 long-beaked common dolphins. They escorted us back to Mission bay. Every trip is different, which is one of the most magical aspects of the wild ocean and we can’t wait for what we’ll sea next out there.
Naturalist,
Melissa
