Saturday, September 12

Today was full of marine life (again, I know I feel like I keep saying this) but when there is so much to look at in just one trip, you can't help but know it was a good day! We saw 4 Ocean sunfish relatively close to the boat (with so many more out in the distance all throughout our trip!), 9 Minke whales, a group of at least 100 Atlantic white-sided dolphins and 3 Humpback whales. Ocean conditions were great to enjoy all of our sightings today. We started with a few sunfish before checking out our slow moving dolphins.

First Ocean sunfish of the day

The ocean was so calm you could watch the dolphins even when they were below the waterline!

Incoming dolphins

Dolphins

A few dolphins even leaped clear out of the water!

We then bit the bullet and slowly maneuvered our way towards the ever-growing tuna fleet to check out Hornbill the Humpback whale for a little bit.

Hornbill the Humpback whale

So much of Hornbill's body-length at the surface

Along with Hornbill circling around the area we watched Minke whales appear and disappear all around us.

Minke whale passing us by

We left the general area as soon as we got some looks to stretch our watery legs and go explore away from all the human activity around us. We spotted a few spouts out in the distance but ended up checking out some of the whales that were at the surface much more frequently than others. We ended the day with a pair of Humpback whales. It was Owl and her calf moving around.

Owl's calf raising its tail high into the air

Owl and calf (above and below)

Such a nice day on the water enjoying wildlife in the Gulf of Maine.