Despite being slightly gloomy out on the Pacific, spirits were high and wildlife bountiful.
Our trip started out with a dense pod of ~ 200 short beaked common dolphins leaping out of the water and working together with the shearwaters to hunt fish.
A cocoa booby graced us with some close looks at a rare sea bird in the middle of the feeding frenzy!
Not far beyond the drop off an enormous spout was sighted from an enormous blue whale!
We got lucky with this whale having shorter dive cycles of about 12 minutes and 10-15 breathes at the surface.
On our way back in we also got some good looks at a harbor seal! Not something we sea every day.
The wind had picked up a little bit on our afternoon trip and was still relatively gloomy and splashy it was worth being out on the water to see our favourite blue whale from earlier in the day.
In the distance as we approached we could observe the blue being VERY surface active, and barrel rolling and splashing around, maybe some more peck slapping which was observed in the previous days? Seeing a blue whale with this surface behaviour is extremely rare and a treat for everyone onboard.
The ~300 short beaked common dolphins we hung out with on our way back to the coastline put on the best show! Lots of tail walking and massive 15 ft in the air leaps! An adorable baby dolphin repetitively showed us its best jumps and pink belly too.
Keep your eyes out for what we’re seeing on the sunset trip and we have availability tomorrow if you want to spend your Memorial Day on the Pacific Ocean. It is also the final day of voting for best whale watch in the country from USA today! Help your favourite local whale watch out with a vote!
-Naturalist Ruth
