Sunday, August 21

The ocean breezes continued to increase as the day went on so the motion of the ocean continued to be felt throughout the day. For the whales however, waves are what they live in, so they still surface to breathe which gives us a moment to check them out where the water meets the sky. This morning we saw 4 Minke whales, 3 Fin whales and 4 Humpback whales. We started with Pinball and her calf.

Pinball's spout and her calf at the surface

Initially, these whales were on the move but soon they slowed and circled around the area. They stopped and circled so much we got some incredible looks as these whales swam in towards and all around us.

Incoming Pinball and her calf

Pinball's calf's flipper in the air

We then got a super quick look at Shuffleboard the Humpback whale before attempting to catch up to a pair of Fin whales on the move. These whales were steadily swimming along so we only got a few, but AWESOME, looks at this Fin whale pair.

Fin whale surfacing

Fin whale

Beautiful Fin whale chevron pattern

Soon we were venturing back to where we had seen other whales and got a brief look at Braid the Fin whale.

Braid the Fin whale

Before heading for home we quickly checked out Pinball and her calf one last time.

Pinball and her calf circling around one another

This afternoon we made our way back to the same area. In total, we came across 2 Minke whales and 5 Humpback whales. We started with Owl the Humpback whale not moving far in any direction.

Owl (above and below)

After some great looks at this adult female we meandered our way over to more spouts. Pinball and her calf were around.

Pinball and her calf

Pinball and her calf diving simultaneously

Once again we found and got a quick glimpse of Shuffleboard in the area. Among the few Minke whales that showed themselves briefly during the trip we eventually watched our mother/calf pair of whales turn into a trio. Not sure who the third whale was but always fun to watch adults group up for a brief moment in time.

Pinball, her calf and an escort this afternoon

Before heading for home we saw a few distant breaches by Owl, some lob-tailing by her, and a few movements by our trio of whales.

Owl lobtailing