Thursday, August 20

Today we were "lucky" to have the added bonus of fog to deal with on both of our trips. Fog can be extremely tricky; you can be socked in fog one minute and be surrounded by miles of visibility the next. We have had some incredible trips in the fog so while it definitely makes finding whales a bit more challenging that does not deter us from giving it a try. Many thanks to all who joined us today as your help in searching in all directions around the boat for any signs of whale life was extremely helpful. Both of our trips today included a quick look a Minke whale, an Ocean sunfish at the surface and a Humpback whale. Both of our Minke whale sightings were brief as these whales were being a bit elusive today. Interestingly enough while we were watching our Minke whales we found an Ocean sunfish in the area (occurring during both of our trips). Weird timing but always a fun sighting seeing an Ocean sunfish.

The lighter glow in this image is our Ocean sunfish subsurface seen on our morning trip

This morning while we were waiting for our Minke whale to resurface we suddenly saw a spout just in front of us. We maneuvered away from our Minke whale and headed in the direction of the spout. It was a Humpback whale, Quill.

Quill the Humpback whale

At first this whale was being a bit uncooperative. This whale was spending longer amounts of time below the surface and only coming up for a few breaths. Eventually, our patience paid off for as the fog rolled back in we were able to continue spending time with this whale.

Quill's tail

This afternoon, after our brief look at a Minke whale on the move (and of course our Ocean sunfish), we went searching for some more life.

Ocean sunfish swimming in towards the boat

The fog was thick but we knew we were moving through areas where we have seen whales recently. Suddenly there was a spout just off our starboard side. A Humpback whale was close! This whale was up for a handful of breaths as we quickly realized it was Mogul.

Humpback whale in the fog

Mogul

Awesome! Oh wait... not so much. After A LOT of searching, including other whale watching boat moving through the area, we had a VERY tough time relocating this whale. Eventually it was time to head for home as we remained in the fog the whole ride home. Sometimes the whales can be tricky to come across, sometimes the weather can make things a bit tricky but the unknown can only be determined when you put the effort in. So as long as the ocean allows we are never afraid of a bit of a challenge.