What a beautiful day on the water!
Our morning trip started off a bit chilly as a thick fog bank rolled in, but once we pushed through, we found pockets of sunshine along the way. We cruised southwest and were thrilled to encounter a huge, scattered pod of approximately 100 Short‑beaked Common dolphins! They raced alongside the boat, with some surfing our wake while others bow‑rode the Privateer—an incredible sight.
We eventually left the dolphins behind and continued south, where Captain Austin spotted a couple of spouts ahead. Soon after, we were treated to great looks at a pair of northbound Gray whales, clearly visible as they swam just beneath the surface. As they headed farther west, we waved goodbye. On our way back in, we spotted a distant spout from a Fin whale, but unfortunately, we ran out of time to investigate further.
During our afternoon trip, we headed back out to the area where we last sighted the Fin whale—and luck was on our side! We spotted the large spout on the horizon and got one good look before it gave us the slip. We waited nearly 20 minutes, but never saw it again.
Not long after, we caught up with some nearby dolphins—about 20 Long‑beaked Common dolphins cruising south. We then worked our way back up the coast along the drop‑off, where we spotted a tall, columnar spout a couple of times, though it never surfaced close to the boat. To top off the day, we also encountered a couple of mola mola and a juvenile shark!
We hope you’ll join us for a trip soon—things are really turning on, with lots of wildlife showing up!
Naturalist,
Vanessa
