Sun Aug 10 – Whale Watching

Another exceptional trip for Viking/CRESLI is in the books! With sunny skies, a refreshing breeze, and
incredible visibility, it was already a great trip when we encountered a small pod of Tamanend’s
bottlenose dolphins close to shore. We spent some time with them, but wanted to move on with
reports of humpbacks to our south. After spotting a couple of blows and seeing flukes (of diving whales)
at the surface, we knew we found at least two humpbacks, but the surprise was on us as they suddenly
appeared at the surface open-mouth feeding on the rich bait detected below. These whales were
bubble-net feeding, a coordinated effort where a circular (spiral) ring of bubbles is created to confuse
and corral small schooling fish such as sand eels, and they were doing it again and again, all around us as
the boat sat safely out of gear to watch. A third humpback was bubble cloud feeding (blowing a single
burst or trail of bubbles individually), but at one point, joined in with the associated pair such that all
three humpbacks could at once be seen feeding and then dragging (moving slowly along the surface
straining out the water through their baleen to capture their prey). This went on for a while with
bubbles – and then whales – appearing close to our vessel affording everyone exceptional views. Three
finback whales were also in the area but despite being the second largest animal in the world and a rare
and endangered species, most eyes were on the humpbacks, a testament to how incredible an
experience it was to witness. A very small pod of short-beaked common dolphins was also briefly seen
feeding near the surface. Eventually, it was time to return, but the incredible encounter kept everyone
delighted even as we steamed home. Every trip is different and we never know what we will observe
and witness. Come join us on our next adventure of discovery!
3 humpback whales
3 finback whales
20-30 short-beaked common dolphins
60-80 Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins
80-120 great shearwaters
30-40 Cory’s and/or Scopoli’s shearwaters
60-80 Wilson’s storm petrels