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Sun Aug 20 – Whale Watching

Check this one off your bucket list!

Passengers aboard yesterday’s whale watch excursion experienced the trip of a lifetime! It all began with a breaching humpback, which upon further investigation, turned out to be not one, but two whales! The possible mom and calf pair breached more than a dozen times, performing acrobatic twirls and twisting breaches directly ahead of our vessel. In the vicinity were blows from at least 7-8 other whales, but the boat sat safely out of gear watching the display until the pair (and we) moved on. We immediately encountered a handful of other humpback whales, at least two fin whales, and at least one minke whale. The animals were moving quickly completing shallow, subsurface dives to feed on the bait detected just below the surface. Then things got really interesting; humpbacks began popping up on all sides of the vessel straining prey through their baleen and flipper (pec) slapping. More blows spouted off in the distance while fin and minke whales popped up next to us affording spectacular views. Then, a pod of 40-60 short-beaked common dolphins came charging in to join the feast. Hundreds of shearwaters and storm petrels completed the guest list. There were cetaceans in close proximity everywhere you looked. More humpbacks appeared within a cloud of bubbles slowly moving along the surface (a technique known as dragging) to strain the engulfed water out through their baleen and retain their prey. A nearby breach surprised passengers at the stern and we all had the fortunate problem of not knowing where to look as the spectacle surrounded the Viking Starship entirely. Altogether, we encountered 20-26 humpbacks, 4-6 fin whales and 3-5 minke whales, with many others in the surrounding waters.

We have only five trips remaining in our incredible season. Book your trip with us today!

20-26 humpback whales

4-6 fin (finback) whales

3-5 minke whales

160-220 Cory’s shearwaters

260-320 Great shearwaters

1 Sooty shearwater

120-160 Wilson’s storm petrels

 

Please remember to bring cash to purchase food in our galley and our 50/50 raffle, should you wish to participate. We hope to see you soon!

a bird swimming in water next to the ocean a dog swimming in a body of water a whale jumping out of the water a man riding a wave on top of a body of water a dolphin swimming in a body of water a whale jumping out of the water a bird flying over a body of water an animal swimming in the water a man riding a wave on a surfboard in the water animal on the water a person riding a surf board on a body of water a man riding a wave on top of a body of water a whale jumping out of the water a small boat in a body of water a bird flying over a body of water a dolphin jumping out of the water a duck swimming in a body of water

a whale jumping out of the water a whale jumping out of the water a whale jumping out of the water a man riding a wave on top of a body of water a bird sitting on top of a body of water a small boat in a body of water a whale jumping out of the water a large body of water a dog swimming in a body of water a bird swimming in water a bird swimming in water a dolphin swimming in a body of water

a body of water a bird flying over a body of water a whale jumping out of the water a large body of water a flock of seagulls are swimming in a body of water a flock of seagulls flying over a body of water an animal swimming in the ocean a whale jumping out of the water a body of water next to the ocean a whale jumping out of the water

 

 

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