We had a FIN-OMENAL day with sightings of 4 Fin whales and hundreds of Common dolphins seen on our single trip! We set out to the west and found a pod of ~100 Long-beaked Common dolphins feeding under diving birds. They were very boat friendly and cruised beside us in our wake and rode the bow. We got out into deeper water and sighted robust, tall spouts on the horizon. There were 2 Fin whales hanging out side-by-side while another one popped up nearby and then another further north of us. They synchronized their breaths coming up for air after about 10min. We hung out with the pair and got the BEST looks as they were also very boat friendly! They would do very close passes next to our boat on two separate occasions! Please see the video posted in the comments! It was so hard to leave the friendly pair, but we continued in and saw an incredibly dense group of California Brown Pelicans! There had to be at least 100 of them! There were other birds, sea lions and Common dolphins all around. We decided that the name Common dolphin didn’t suit the species all that well, so we decided to nickname it THE BEST dolphin! 🙂 We spotted a stealthy northbound Gray whale 3-miles from shore. We ran out of time, but wished it a safe journey back up north! We also observed more By-the-wind-sailors all around us and even a Mola mola at the surface. The wildlife activity seems to be perking up! Join us for a trip asap!
Naturalist,
Vanessa
