August 26-27, 2025

Tuesday, August 26, 2025

Fall was in the air today! A crisp horizon with little humidity made for optimal sighting conditions. On our way out, we passed a harbor seal and a minke whale before seeing a large whale in the distance. Just before we approached the whale, an ocean sunfish was seen nearby. We checked out this huge, lounging fish and then moved into the area where the whale was seen.

The distant blows we had seen were a pair of humpback whales! Valley and Chromosome were still in the area! As the pair dove, we patiently waited for them to resurface- usually 5-10 minutes. But soon after the dive, Chromosome launched out of the water three times! He then did a few flipper-slaps before calming down.

Chromosome and Valley

Chromosome diving

Chromosome

A third humpback whale was seen in the area. It was slowly approaching the pair and eventually met up with them, forming a trio! Although we didn’t get great looks at this whale’s flukes, we eventually ID’ed it as Solo!

Solo diving

We then moved on to a different area and found a pair of humpbacks—Satula and Repeat! Repeat has been seen in our area most years, but not often. And even though we didn’t get a great look at its flukes, this whale has unique scratch marks on its dorsal fin, making the ID pretty easy once we zoomed in.

Satula and Repeat

Satula

Wednesday, August 27, 2025

Another beautiful day on the ocean! The seas were calm with just a gentle roll left over from last week's passing storm. Our first sighting was of an old friend, a humpback whale named Owl. This whale is a favorite of the captain and crew, as she is seen every year and is not shy of boats! Today, she was initially seen doing a quick bout of feeding and then traveling towards the west. She would stop here and there to catch some more fish- pogies were her feed of choice today. She lunged through a school of pogies, also under attack by some bluefin tuna! (Not a good day to be a pogie!) Then she turned toward our boat. We waited for about a minute and then saw a large bubble cloud right next to the boat! Humpbacks blow bubble clouds to keep the schools of fish in a tight ball. She surfaced within feet of the cloud and the boat! Wow!

Owl, above and below

As we moved on, we got some looks at a blue shark, about 4-5 feet long, and then a large ocean sunfish! 

In the distance, we saw some more blows. Here we found a pair of humpbacks, Fan and Victim! These two were moving slowly, but at one point, Fan lifted her flukes really high out of the water while Victim barely lifted her flukes above the surface. Whales....

Fan diving (with muddy streaks on her flukes)

Victim diving

More tuna were seen splashing in the distance, and we had a lovely ride home, just on the edge of an approaching weather front.