Thursday, July 24

We certainly saw plenty of wildlife today. Multiple Fin whales, Minke whales and even a few Harbor porpoise were seen on both of our trips today. This morning our first sighting of the day was one of the second largest animals ever to live on Earth; a Fin whale! It was Comet and she was circling around the area.

Comet

The majority of the time we were with this whale she was just moving around until one time she surfaced and rolled over on her side. You could see her flipper and half of her tail above the waterline. Turns out she did this multiple times as she was most likely lunging through the water catching lots of fish!

Within all the whitewater seen in this photo is Comet's light colored flipper and half of her dark tail!

Whales can change up their behavior at any point in time and as long as you are in the right place at the right time it was is quite amazing.

Comet decided to swim just past the front of the boat (while we weren't moving of course!)

Our next sighting was a pair of Fin whales. Dingle and #1008 were on the move together. While these whales were traveling through the area it was awesome to see just how easily they slip through the water and waves even though they can weigh well over 60 tons!

Fin whales #1008 and Dingle exhaling at the surface

Dingle

Another Fin whale was seen during our trip but this whale was spending a bit more time under the water and constantly changing directions so with a few looks at this whale we ventured on to other creatures around. We got a few looks at many of the 4 Minke whales we saw and even a quick glance at a few Harbor porpoise this morning.

A few of our Minke whales seen this morning (above and below)

This afternoon we once again were searching for whale activity and spent most of our day so close to home. Our first whale was a familiar animal, it was #1008. This whale only hours earlier had been associated with another whale but was now on its own.

#1008 swims alongside us

These whales constantly move around and can easily behave differently in a matter of moments. We got some great looks at this whale as it steadily moved along.

Fin whales are so large as #1008 swims at the surface of the ocean

We checked out a Minke whale after continuing on and soon we saw another spout out in the distance. Another Fin whale was around. It was Comet again.

Fin whale spout

As we spent time with this whale suddenly out of the blue another whale surfaced in the same general area. Minutes later we saw both whales surface close by to one another. But this was by no means a normal association. Suddenly we saw massive amounts of whitewater coming from where these whales were surfacing. Only after a few surfacings did we quickly realize who had moved into the area. Comet and Fjord were now on the move together.

The start of the surface activity seen by Fjord and Comet as they charged around the ocean together

At first we thought maybe these whales were chasing down fish. But instead it looked like they were chasing down each other! Comet was at the forefront of this occurrence. She was creating so much whitewater as she was crashing through the extremely calm seas we were in. Both of these whales started to porpoise as they surfaced. Comet was also rolling on her side and at one point brought her entire head above the surface and smacked it back on the water.

A few moments after Comet's entire head was above the surface as all the whitewater being created is a result of her head landing back onto the surface of the ocean

These two whales were charging all over the place moving in synchrony. The behaviors and movements these two whales were creating was absolutely insane!

Comet continues charging through the water each time she came to the surface

Comet rolling over on her right side as that is half of her tail high above the water!

To see such incredibly massive animals make so much whitewater and crashing through the water as they were charging after one another is something that is definitely not normal.

Comet so stretched out as she moves through the water

Fjord

For all of us on board we were completely taken aback from what we all saw. These whales continue to amaze us as they are just spending time in their natural habitat as we catch such a small glimpse in their wild lives.