It is STUNNING out there—whales and dolphins are hanging out in San Diego! We had two VERY different trips today.
The wind died down for a day, leaving us with absurdly dreamy conditions that allowed us to spot animals from miles away.
This afternoon, we saw dolphins before we even made it into the ocean! We had coastal bottlenose dolphins at the jetties, followed by a feeding frenzy of long‑beaked common dolphins… then another pod of shorties… and then about 600 long‑beaked commons. The dolphins were endless. Everywhere we looked. With glassy sea conditions, we could see them deep below the surface.
Our sunset trip was UNREAL. The sunset looked like a simulation, and we had a pair of fin whales feeding—very low‑key, but taking deep dives. They were feeding on what we think was likely krill, down between 400 and 600 feet deep. Not many opportunities come along where we can turn the motors off completely and just… watch.
The whales were close enough that we could feel the vibrations of their powerful, 1,000+‑gallon lung capacity as they exhaled at the surface. These whales surfaced in rippling golden light—it felt like a night straight out of a fairy‑tale about leviathans of the sea. 
Naturalist, Alison
