Saturday provided some much needed reprieve from the usual weekend weather by giving way to glassy calm seas after we began to make our way offshore. After reaching Jeffrey's Ledge, we were first given brief looks at a minke whale and a single humpback whale, Clamp. While waiting for these whales to resurface, we couldn't help but stare in awe at the abundance of birds just above the surface. Thousands upon thousands of Wilson's Storm Petrels as well as a healthy amount of Sooty and Great Shearwaters were spending time in the area around us.
Petrels dancing at the surface
Sooty Shearwater
After moving on from Clamp, we passed by a second minke whale and got the absolute briefest of looks at a fin whale as it was passing through the area. Eventually, we came across another humpback, Quote.
Quote Diving
Most of the whales we happened upon so far were spending much of their time underneath the surface (so it goes with wild animals), but we would end up getting excellent looks at our final pair of humpback whales, Spoon and Chromosome. These two whales spent much of their time resting just at the surface, before eventually diving down into the depths below.
Spoon dorsal fin
Chromosome diving
Sunday began with us headed back out to where we found success the day prior. As we made our way offshore, we spotted a distant spout that revealed itself to be a humpback whale. This whale, Sedge, was very much on the move. Travelling far between each surfacing, but also giving us some incredible looks along the way.
After spending some time with Sedge, we continued further in search of our whales from the day before. We searched. Searched some more. When we were done with that, we searched EVEN more. Eventually, we were running out of time and ledge, so we opted to head back in towards where we had Sedge earlier. We were able to relocate him over 3 miles from where we had left him, got some final looks, and then made our way back home. We can't wait to see what next weekend has to offer!
