Happy Father’s Day! We had an awesome time hanging out with a couple of Stinky Minkes and hundreds of dolphins!
We started our trip this morning by shooting out to the west toward deeper water. We passed the drop-off and a couple miles beyond it, we spotted a friendly Minke whale! We got amazing looks as the Minke popped up all around our boat super close to the boat. We were so excited to see the Minke surface and and then turn and swim upside down and flash us its white belly! Through the waters surface, it looked like a gorgeous turquoise glow! It felt like it was asking for belly rubs! It was the same individual we have been seeing over the last week. You can see distinct cookie-cutter shark bites all over its back. We noticed it begin to travel to the west so we waved goodbye and continue to the coast. We were crossing the drop-off and another Minke popped up in front of us! This one was slightly larger and had an all dark back with no visible cookie-cutter shark bites. The dorsal also look taller and more hooked. It was Minke Madness!
The sun warmed up our afternoon trip! We had blue skies and gorgeous blue seas! We pushed out to the NW and spotted a fun pod of ~50 Offshore bottlenose dolphins that were being really playful! We got great looks as they zoomed all around the boat. We could see a few juveniles in the mix as well. We continued out and spotted ~100 Short-beaked Common dolphins way out at about 12-miles from Mission bay! They were also energetic and playful! They breached, porpoised and tail-slapped near our boat! We continued on to the coast and spotted likely the same pod of Offshore bottlenose dolphins. They were a little more active as we saw them leap up high and surf in our wake. We enjoyed the smooth ride home!
We had an amazing sunset trip out on the Pacific Ocean! We got a glimpse of some of the large California sea lion males lounging on the bait receiver as we made our way out of the basin. As we accelerated to leave the jetties, Captain Michael spotted some dorsal fins- inshore bottlenose dolphins!!! This group of about 12 circled and had fun with our passengers who excitedly watched from the boat. They followed for a bit as we left the jetties. There were excellent conditions on the water today, with a light wind and fantastic water visibility. As we made our way straight out to the west, just past the dropoff we ran into a nursery pod of about 75 short-beaked common dolphins! It looked like these mommas were teaching their babies how to breach, as we all gasped at each calf that rocketed out of the water! We eventually left the group and headed a bit to the NW, then eventually north. We saw more blows in the distance paired with lots of bird activity- we had found some offshore bottlenose! This group was SUPER acrobatic, we got fantastic photos of them fully launching out of the water, displaying some possible courtship behaviors. Some of them even swam right next to the boat on their sides, looking straight up at us. We eventually made our final turn to head towards home, but they followed us for almost a mile, riding the bow and surprising us with breaches every now and then.
Hope to see you on a trip soon!
Naturalists, Vanessa & Olivia
