Vanessa James
The day was so magical, I had to make up words to describe the wildlife encounters the Privateer witnessed today. From newborn common dolphins, crispy terns diving, cheeky sea lions and a never before seen (for this captain and crew) FIN WHALE TAIL. Fin whales are so long and sleek, they typically don’t show their … Read more
The Privateer rounded out a scorcher of a weekend with a hot streak of finding multiple large baleen whales off our San Diego coastline! We made the executive decision to cover different water that had been explored today and had a huge payout in the form of 3 absolutely massive and healthy fin whales. They … Read more
Privateer headed out this afternoon for another epic dolphin day. Not just the 50 bottlenose dolphins but about 350 short beaked common dolphins. Both species were being super playful and gregarious with breaches and tail slaps and endless entertainment. The beauty of dolphins is they sleep unihemispherically, half their brain on and half off, so … Read more
Today was a day of rarities! We saw 2 blue whales STAMPEDING through the water. Blue whales can swim at speeds over 20 miles per hour when they want to and we just couldn’t catch up! We have seen burst speeds for short intervals in the past, but this was the first time this crew … Read more
A feeding area of GIANTS straight out from Mission Bay today! We headed way out west and found a racing pod of short‑beaked common dolphins, but barely spent any time with them — we got a call about 4 HUGE fin whales hanging out together. These four were traveling as a group and staying on … Read more
When the ocean is flat calm and the depth sounder is showing a TON of food, the only way to go is west! We headed out from Mission Bay and found a friendly pod of about 50 offshore bottlenose dolphins. Their rakes and jagged dorsal fins tell us they’ve weathered their share of storms and … Read more
A gathering of giants (multiple species!) took us FAAAR offshore today, all the way to the outer edge of the 9‑mile bank. During our afternoon trip, a mother and calf fin whale lingered at the surface. Mama twirled on her side while baby rolled around — their gleaming white bellies aimed up at the sky. … Read more
We really live here? On THIS planet? Sometimes it’s hard to believe when the sunsets look so UNREAL. Today 500+ short‑beaked common dolphins paraded through golden rays of light — cruising right next to our ship, playing in the wake, glowing in the sunset. Then we watched them take off full speed, stampeding straight into … Read more
These dolphins were smacking the water with everything they had – chins, tails, bellies and backs! Guests had a blast watching these short-beaked common dolphins bursting out of the water and showing us their best impression of a fish out of water. Calm seas and sunny skies made seeking out wildlife enjoyable on the Privateer … Read more
A little bitty blubber nugget to send us off tonight! We set off into a golden sunset and a horizon littered with leaping dolphins. Nearly 500 short‑beaked common dolphins surrounded the boat, playing in our wake and launching themselves high into the sky. Naturalist, Alison