September 3, 2025

The forecast for Wednesday afternoon was very much ahead of schedule as we were met with high winds and seas during our travels offshore. Above the swell and the chop, we could see a large concentration of birds out in the distance, hovering over the remains of an animal that had passed on. We almost continued on towards whales we were seeing a ways away, until we inspected a photo we had taken of the carcass from a distance... a fin just behind it. We circled back and waited for a minute. Finally, we saw what we were looking for.

Blue shark feeding on animal remains

Blue shark feeding on its side

Blue shark

Wilson's Storm Petrels

We watched in awe as several blue sharks circled around the remains, occasionally moving in to take chunks from it. This is something much of our crew has never seen before, and won't forget anytime soon. It is unfortunate when we see marine life that passed on near the surface, but it is reassuring to know that they are playing their part in the food web, providing energy to countless other marine species. 

Trio of humpback whales

After leaving the sharks and seabirds behind, we made our way towards the whales we had been keeping our eyes on. This was revealed to be a trio of humpbacks, consisting of Spoon, Jabiru, and Clamp. These three whales we slowly making their way towards a large group of boats at anchor, so we switched our gaze to a pair of humpback whales swimming the opposite direction.

Humpbacks diving

This pair of whales was made up of Grommet and Gunslinger. Eventually, it was time to make our way back towards home. Along the way, we briefly stopped by the group of birds and sharks gathering near the surface, before continuing on.