Sun Aug 3 – Whale Watching

With the sun shining, a light, cool breeze, and nearly unlimited visibility, it was a perfect summer’s day for a whale watch. Under ideal sea and atmospheric conditions, we had our first signs of cetacean life, the tell-tale signs of a distant blow, approximately an hour after passing the lighthouse. We expertly followed the spout and waited for the whale, a mature finback, to surface. Typically, with fin whales, their speed, and long breath-holding times keep us a good distance away, but yesterday’s trip was an exception. This whale would surface, at first about 100-150 yards from our vessel, increasingly getting closer as we waited safely out of gear. Close approaches by fin whales are rare, but passengers got exceptional views as this whale, likely feeding on the dense patches of bait near the surface, appeared repeatedly around the vessel. To add to the excitement, two minke whales also popped up in close view, and like the fin whales, were uncharacteristically easy to watch. The minkes would appear predictably in an expected path of movement, making for repeated sightings between surface appearances by the finback. Off in the distance, two additional blows were seen and they, too, were moving closer toward us. These were two additional fin whales, believed to be a mom-calf pair due to size and behavioral characteristics, and excellent views were afforded of them as well. Then, a successful marriage proposal resulted in an eruption of applause amongst the passengers, and an air of joy surrounded us at sea! Additional blows, likely belonging to even more fin whales, were observed way out in the distance, too far for us to safely investigate while waiting on the fin whales to surface around us. Eventually, the dive times and distances of the whales increased, and we investigated a fourth fin whale with an interestingly faint blow (likely due to its small size) before heading back to port. Photos of these whales will soon be examined and Dr. Artie Kopelman, Senior Naturalist and Curator of the CRESLI Finback Whale Catalog, will determine whether these individuals have previously been documented in the area. Check out:
CRESLI’s SmugMug photo collection in a few days to follow-up

(https://drartiek- cresli.smugmug.com/CRESLI-2025-Whale-Watches). And CONGRATULATIONS to the newly-engaged couple on board!
4-6 finback whales
2-3 minke whales
120-150 Wilson’s storm petrels
8-12 great shearwaters
6-8 Cory’s shearwaters