Tues July 3

Sun July 1

Whales and Dolphins!

Our first trip was a success. We had reports and coordinates for hundreds of dolphins and a minke whales sighted this morning and a humpback sighted yesterday. Off we went to find them and we did. The minke was “stinky minke” seen by just a few people. As we continued searching, we found a large aggregation of about 100 short-beaked common dolphins. The aggregation included adults, juveniles, and calves.

We left the dolphins and headed towards the coordinates for the humpback.  We found it about an hour later. Its dorsal fin was partially gone probably due to an entanglement.  It was diving often and searching for food.  We stayed in the area and the whale consistently came up ¼ to ½ half mile away. Fluke shots were taken for identification and it was a eventually time to leave. We got back to the dock late but everyone was exhilarated and everyone had a wonderful afternoon.

Sightings:

100 Short-beaked common dolphins

1 Minke whale

1 Humpback whale

25-30 Wilson’s storm petrels

15-20 Cory’s shearwaters

8-10 Great shearwaters

2 Sooty shearwaters

10 Manx shearwaters