The "summer" may be winding down for many people but the whales seem to continue to be in full swing. Today was quite the phenomenal day as we not only had a grand slam of whale species on this morning's trip but we also had a grand slam of whale species on our afternoon trip too! Four different kinds of whales all in one trip is incredible on its own but, accomplishing that on both of our trips today was extremely amazing. And in reality, it is completely up to the whales we go searching for as these wild animals are spending time their natural habitat and it is truly up to them what, when, where and how many we may ever see at any point in our travels. This morning we saw 5 Minke whales, 5 Fin whales, 2 Ocean sunfish, a group of 100 Atlantic white-sided dolphins and 3 Humpback whales. We started the day with two large Fin whales associated with each other and got some great looks at two of the second largest animals on Earth!
 |
| Fin whale #1 of our pair |
 |
| Fin whale #2 in our pair |
 |
| Fin whales at the surface together |
After that we were on to another pair of whales but this time it was a pair of Humpback whales. This is the first time we have seen these two particular whales in our area this season. Welcome to the Jeffreys Ledge region Ase and Canopy!
 |
| Canopy |
 |
| Ase |
These whales were seen just yesterday 43 miles from us and yet here they were less than 24hr later! When whales want to move they most definitely do! We also checked out one of the 2 Ocean sunfish seen and saw 5 Minke whales scattered around the ocean before finding a very special treat.
 |
| Ocean sunfish swimming just below the waterline |
A group of Atlantic white-sided dolphins were not far from us! These dolphins are very much a cold water offshore type of whale and a sighting we do not get a chance to see all that often. This particular group consisted of many young dolphins; a nursery pod! What a great find as we checked out these toothed-whales.
 |
| Atlantic white-sided dolphins (above and below) |
Before we turned for home we also saw our familiar "friend" Patches the Humpback whale and two more Fin whales including Dingle!
 |
| Morning sighting of Patches |
 |
| Dingle in such breathtaking conditions |
This afternoon we started our travels with perhaps some of the same Atlantic white-sided dolphins we spent time with this morning as we were once again checking out plenty of smaller, younger, dolphins that were dispersed in all directions around the area.
 |
| Atlantic white-sided dolphin |
 |
| More dolphins to watch! |
We also saw a couple of Ocean sunfish, a brief look at a Fin whale moving through the area, a Minke whale and 5 Humpback whales.
 |
| Afternoon Ocean sunfish |
A few of our Humpback whales were spending more time below the waterline than others but we still got some fantastic looks at so many cetaceans today.
 |
| Pair of Humpback whales at the surface together (above and below) |
Some of our Humpback whales included Canopy, Ase, Geometry and Patches.
 |
| Geometry |
 |
| Patches during our afternoon sighting |
It was a gorgeous day to be on the ocean and with so much wildlife to gaze at it was a certainly a successful day of whale watching.
No comments:
Post a Comment