We are having a FIN-tastic Feeding Frenzy Friday out here! We encountered 2 Fin whales, hundreds of Long-beaked Common dolphins and multiple bait balls!
To start our morning off, we cruised out to the west and spotted hundreds of birds on the horizon! Underneath the diving birds, we observed Long-beaked Commons zooming around, corralling anchovies! In the middle of the madness, we spotted a tall columnar spout belonging to a Fin whale! We were so excited to see it moving from bait ball to bait ball feeding right alongside the dolphins! We spotted another Fin whale circling the area. The Commons raced up to us when we picked up speed but as soon as we slowed they went straight to the bait ball!
On our afternoon trip, we headed to the same zone and sure enough there was a Fin whale zig zagging near hundreds of Long-beaked Common dolphins! We even witnessed some awesome feeding behavior that we don’t always get to see! Once, we observed it side lunge feeding at the surface! You could see the silvery fish trying to flee as they jumped out of the water! Another couple times, it turned to its side and you could see half of its tail, giving shark vibes! We were lucky to get close looks as it approached us a few times and once went under our boat!
The last couple of days we were sighting Humpbacks in the feeding frenzies, today they were replaced with Fin whales! Who knows what we will find next! We have a sunset trip going out in an hour, can you make it?
The biomass madness continues! We were hardly two miles out of the jetties when we found an incredible feeding frenzy! Everything we could ask for just a few minutes outside the jetties! We were drawn to the area by sea birds but upon arrival – it looked like we were just the first of the arrivals to the banquet. What started as just a few birds circling in the sky evolved into a massive frenzy of feeding biomass. There were dolphins coming in from every angle, a humpback whale feeding on the millions of anchovies, a solid raft of 30 sea lions picking off bait. Not only did we get all the whales we could dream to ask for, we got a STUNNING sunset. Few clouds in the sky, just enough low lying on the horizon to surround our great star with golden  filigree. (You’ll just have to check the photos)
Naturalist,
Vanessa & Alison
