We had a Wacky Whale Wednesday with sightings of Offshore bottlenose dolphin, Long-beaked Common dolphins and a MINKE whale!
We started our afternoon off by cruising out to the west and cruising the drop-off. It was a bit quiet except for a small group of 4 large male California sea lions headed out to the west. We spotted hundreds of shearwaters sitting on the water. We had a quick sighting of a mola mola resting at the surface. We turned in and caught up with a fun pod of ~30 Offshore bottlenose dolphins. They were constantly coming up for big exhalations even exhibiting mini spouts. They would go on dives for a few minutes and then pop up not too far from us. We got great looks as many rode the bow and surfed our wake! They breached in the wake giving us the best looks! We waved goodbye as they continued up the coast.
On our sunset trip, we set out to the west and spotted a nice feeding frenzy of birds and ~200 Long-beaked Common dolphins! They zoomed about chasing fish. We didn’t wait very long and spotted a Minke whale! It followed behind the feeding frenzy waiting for its best chance to feed. While cruising it surfaced beside us and paralleled our boat! We waited for it surface and it crossed our bow within just a few feet off our bow! We watched it continue toward the feeding frenzy. The Commons were feeding non-stop and didn’t pay us much attention. The feeding frenzy fizzled and then the commons became curious! We got great looks as they surfed our wake and rode the bow! The sunset was absolutely stunning! We even got a very quick glimpse at a green flash. The view got even better after the sun set!
We hope you’ll join us on a trip soon!
Naturalist,
Vanessa
