Thursday, August 10

On both of our trips today we got a chance to spend time with 3 different species of whales. This morning we saw 6 minke whales, an ocean sunfish, Hornbill the humpback whale and a large pod of ~100 Atlantic white-sided dolphins.

Ocean sunfish are such interesting looking creatures!

Minimal amounts of wind allowed the sea conditions to be as calm as calm could be giving us a pristine backdrop for whale-gazing.

Minke whale

Hornbill

Atlantic white-sided dolphin

Flat calm seas + watching Atlantic white-sided dolphins = nothing but smiles

A small scattering of our dolphins this morning

Perhaps the most unexpected moment of the trip was when Hornbill breached completely out of the water! This phenomenon happened so quickly, and randomly, that I didn't capture a photo but it was certainly an incredible sight to see from this adult whale.

Hornbill

This afternoon we saw 3 minke whales a slightly smaller pod of 75+ Atlantic white-sided dolphins and Hornbill the humpback whale again.

Afternoon looks at Atlantic white-sided dolphins

More dolphins!

Hornbill this afternoon

This afternoon's unique moment was when one of our minke whales became very curious about the boat. It produced a large single bubble close to the boat (typically a social behavior for whales), swam circles around and even under us! You never know what may happen when watching wildlife and with whales, its no exception!

This minke whale was very mellow and a bit curious this afternoon!