Wed Aug 14 – Whale Watching

Fin Whale Nirvana!
There has been a certain level of magic with our whale watching trips this season. Every trip is different,
but this year, each trip is very different from the last and we lay witness to beautiful and unexpected
encounters at sea. Yesterday was no exception, but for a short while, it did not feel that way. Our sunny
skies turned gray shortly after leaving the dock and there was a strong, gusty wind with a bit of chop.
The usual sightings of bottlenose dolphins near the lighthouse were lacking and as we headed south
towards an area where whales and dolphins were bountiful on previous trips, we saw few birds and no
cetaceans. Then we headed east, putting the strong wind to our back, and turning toward sunny skies as
if a switch had been flipped. Almost immediately, a small pod of short-beaked common dolphin charged
toward the vessel and swam around the bow, but only briefly. We waited and searched for more, but
this would be a fleeting encounter. We continued steaming and searching, and after a little while, the
dolphin pods returned, and this time, they remained. It was a small group and more mellow than the
charging pods we have seen on previous trips, but these rode the bow and swam alongside (and under)
the vessel for nearly 20 minutes. Everyone had excellent, lingering views. Then a blow was spotted and
we quickly investigated it. The single blow became two and we found two finback whales about 200
yards from the vessel. But there was a third finback behind the vessel and more blows were spotted in
the area. These belonged to six additional finback (fin) whales with blows belonging to at least six other
fin whales ahead of us. Fin whales are incredibly fast and notoriously tricky to encounter, but that was
not the case yesterday! The magic returned and we were surrounded by a dozen fin whales, with groups
of two, three, and five popping up around our vessel. The second largest animal on Earth, these whales
were HUGE and we soaked in their sights and SOUNDS as they exchanged breathes at the surface. It
truly was a magical and rare encounter. Unfortunately, we had traveled so far to find them, it was
eventually time to head home. Blows continued in all directions on our return and a surprise humpback
whale was spotted diving ahead of the vessel. We paused our transit to investigate and were elated to
see this whale surface again revealing its tail flukes on a terminal dive, marking the perfect punctuation
to another incredible day at sea.
11-13 (possibly more) finback whales
1 humpback whale
60-80 short-beaked common dolphins
30-40 great shearwaters
40-50 Wilson’s storm petrels