Fin- omenal day out to sea! There really is nothing like clear blue skies, clear blue water, and a WARM sunny day out in San Diego waters. We started the trip out with a small nursery pod of dolphins but they seemed to want to keep their distance so we watched them from a far for a short bit before heading out to fin some MUCH bigger things! Just 8 miles off of our coastline lies the drop off – or that’s where our continental shelf drops off into the depths, and that’s often where we find the best life! Today we found a gargantuan fin whale! This fin whale was staying at the surface for long intervals and kind of squirming or slithering like a snake at the surface. We’ve seen this behavior before, usually when a whale has a large mouthful of food and they spend some time at the surface straining out the water with their baleen plates. This whale kept surfacing near to our boat so we got some incredible looks, allowing us to see the shimmering silver/ charcoal patterning on its back, old cookie cutter shark bit scars, flaking skin and the distinct white jawline found on fin whales. Man was it i sight to behold!
Thanks Ocean, we love you beyond words.
Naturalist, Alison
