The Humpback streak continues! We have sighted Humpbacks on every trip since last Thursday!! Whoohoo! We are having a whale of a time out here!
Today, on our afternoon trip, we explored out to the west and once we got to the drop-off we noticed diving birds and splashes on the horizon! We were on our way to investigate when a spout appeared only a mile away from us! It was a very sleepy, Humpback that was traveling south. It stayed down for 10-12 minute dive times but also came up for 7-10 breaths! It lifted its flukes high and we got great looks at its unique flukes! It had a cut in the right fluke and looked to be a bit scruffed up! We waved goodbye and continued out to the amazing dolphin pod that was super playful! There were some high flying show-off dolphins that played all around our boat! We spotted a Minke whale that swam toward the dolphins and then all of a sudden they took off into stampede mode! We got a couple more looks before turning home and enjoying the smooth ride!
We had a gorgeous sunset trip with another huge pod of ~500 Long-beaked Common dolphins out beyond the drop-off to the SW. All the passengers were so happy to see the dolphins racing toward us! We got great looks as they rode the bow and surfed our wake! We were completely surrounded by the amazing pod! There were also a few feeding frenzies with hundreds of birds diving and feeding on big bait balls! We left the pod and followed the drop-off to the north to see if we could find something else. And just before we turned in, we sighted a few small poofs! We waited and then lost the whale. So we continued north and then sighted it again in full breach mode! Only a select few sighted it from afar. We were racing against the sunlight and at the very end, sighted it one more time and got a view of the tail! The sunset was beautiful and lucked out seeing a mini green flash!
Naturalist,
Vanessa
