We’re off to the races! The fastest of the baleen whales seem to be sticking around and we couldn’t be more stoked about it!
Fin whales are known as the grey hounds of the sea – they can reach the fastest burst speeds of up to 29 MPH! CAN YOU IMAGINE? 200,000 thousand pounds of animal just barreling towards you at nearly 30 miles per hour?!?!?!?
The ocean really provides a glimpse of what is left of the true wild!
We were lucky to encounter 4 fin whales and about 100 common dolphins on our morning trip today! The second pair of fins we saw were super friendly and comfortable around the boats so were EXTRA lucky, Captain Coco turned the motors off and as we drifted on the vast blue expanse of the Pacific. As we drifted silently, far from the noise and commotion of land – the whole boat fell silent – and the two fin whales made a turn towards out boat – Their exhale so powerful it shook the air around us. The rumbly vibration of a 300 mph exhale from the second largest animal on earth – is enough to take your breath away.
Truely, it’s a magical time to get out on the water! Get out here while it’s good! We’ve got a sunset trip later tonight and more trips tomorrow!
Our sunset trip was magical from start to FINish! The greyhound of the sea, stuck around for golden hour! Around ~7 miles from shore we caught up with a speedy fin whale on the move! We also caught up with a feeding frenzy of ~50 long beaked common dolphins and sea birds such as elegant terns and California brown pelicans. The fin whale was going down for ~5 min dives, which is a pretty short dive for this large baleen whale. We hung out with it for a few breaths, it stayed pretty close to our starboard bow! The orange and pink sunset on our way home was the cherry on top to end this FINomenal day!
Naturalist, Alison & Melissa
