We headed out to an ocean TEAMING with life today! We found dolphins everywhere we looked! IMMEDIATELY, we came across a pod of hunting long‑beaked common dolphins feasting on fish. We’d barely left the jetties when we found them, so we headed out west!
The further we went, the more dolphins we found! We located a pod of about 200 short‑beaked common dolphins, jumping out of the ocean like popcorn on a hot pan! There were so many little baby dolphins leaping out and wiggling around like fish out of water!
These animals always bring so much joy with them—that’s why we like to call them dopamine torpedoes!
We’ve got one more trip today and are excited to get out there to see what else we’ll find!
Naturalist,Alison
Dolphins and fins, oh my!
The afternoon tour on the Privateer saw sunny skies and started with a pod of about 100 short-beaked common dolphins! At least 4 pairs of dolphins were mom and calf duos! Momma dolphins are pregnant for about 10.5 months before giving birth to a 2-3 foot long baby! They grow rapidly drinking mom’s milk just like any other mammal, usually weaning to eating small fish after about a year.
As we headed into the second half of the trip, Captain Brian spotted a blow about a mile off the bow! After waiting for about 5 minutes, we caught up with 2 fin whales! They really showed off with slow, elegant surfacings where we could see the asymmetrical colored jaws, dark gray on the left and bright white (showing turquoise blue underwater!) on the right. The most exciting part….we saw a fin whale poop! The bright red color tells a story of what was on the menu recently: krill! So good to see fin whales eating good in the neighborhood.
Naturalists, Colleen and Vanessa
