Mon Aug 5 – Whale Watching

Another trip, another multispecies day

Well, we keep on finding them. The visibility was exceptional and once we got within 5 nautical miles of the whale grounds, we saw blows, breaches, and other activity easily. The whales, dolphins, and pelagic birds were out there, just as they have been now for weeks. Some feeding near the surface, others at depth, and others giving us views of breaches, flipper slapping, and associated groupings. While we didn’t observe cooperative feeding, we did encounter associated pairs, duos, trios, and quadruples, sometimes all at once around us. The whales were so spread out that we weren’t able to get to all, but there’s always the next trip! The cooler sea surface temperatures and winds helped to cool us throughout our time out there. Heading home brought us back to warmer waters, and with the winds behind us, it was warm. Even with the warmth, it was an exceptional trip again!

~30 Humpback whales
2 Minke whales
40 Short-beaked common dolphins
1 Ocean sunfish
45 Great shearwaters
10 Cory’s shearwaters
5 Sooty shearwaters
70 Wilson’s storm petrels

Photos soon