Good to be back out on the water with longer days and a clearing of the skies after some early winter storms occurred over the recent Christmas holiday. We had three trips today. Spectacular scenery and a pod of long-beaked common dolphins on our morning trip.
On our afternoon trip, some good looks at a Fin whale and up to 200 Risso’s dolphins, a species we don’t see all too often.
For our sunset trip, we got out beyond the drop-off and found a large, scattered pod of long-beaked common dolphins followed by some good looks at a Fin whale. The fin whale dove down for 7-minute dives and came up several times further away than expected on its feeding forays.
We had a “green flash”, a spectacular sunset with gorgeous lighting during the twilight as we made our way back to the Mission Bay Channel entrance. It is a good time to be out on the water, whale watching enthusiasts! —Naturalist Greg
