Why the long face? We had a unique sighting today! A large male northern elephant seal! We actually got pretty close and got to hang with it for a while – this is a first for our company – usually these animals are incredibly shy! Elephant seals are the deepest diving seals, they can dive NEARLY a MILE deep! About 5,000 feet deep! The feed on squid, octopus, skates and small sharks. We also had a MEGAPOD of dolphins that looked as is it were a WHOLE MILE LONG!

For our sunset trip, we were lucky enough to spot a Minke whale just 3 miles from shore! This Minke took us by surprise, popping out of nowhere, making us slow down the boat to take a closer look! We had some great views of it’s rostrum and shiny back, as well as as it’s hooked dorsal fin and even the white glow from their Minke mittens- a circular white spot on each pectoral flipper! This Minke zigzagged in front of us and had guests excited to encounter a baleen whale so quickly into our trip! To end the evening, we encountered a playful pod of Long-beaked common dolphins. About 50 individuals, all showing off their high speed swimming and jumps in the air! The sunset did not disappoint tonight!

Naturalists Alison and Brooke