Saturday, September 19

Today was full of highlights: multiple whales, great looks and even a few aerial displays of whale-bodies being launched into the air! Whales being wild animals are always the ones in charge. They decide what they are going to do at any moment's notice. They are just going about their business and we catch a very small glimpse into their lives during our trips. Our visit today to their watery world was certainly an impressive one. We started the day with a single Humpback whale surrounded by a pod of 30-40 Atlantic white-sided dolphins.

Atlantic white-sided dolphins

Tight-knit grouping of our dolphins

It is always a fun experience to watch toothed-whales moving through the water with their larger baleen relatives.

A couple dolphins are seen just beyond where our Humpback whale was swimming/diving

In addition, this particular Humpback whale is a another new visitor to the area this season. Hello Canine!

Tail breach from Canine

As the fog rolled in, over, and luckily past us(!),we eased our way to some of the other whales reported in the area. Our next stop was a trio of Humpback whales. Owl, her calf and Mogul were all circling around together.

Owl's calf (left) and Mogul (right) going on a synchronized dive

The calf was being a bit squirmy, rolling at the surface a few times, as these whales move around. This group was short-lived as soon we saw Mogul now paired up with yet ANOTHER Humpback whale in the area while Owl and her calf moved slightly further away from us. This new pair was now Mogul and Hornbill traveling along.

Hornbill's flipper

Hornbill and Mogul were together for a brief moment in time

This association also did not last long for soon Mogul continued traveling along while Hornbill had stopped and was circling the area behind us.

Mogul (above) and Hornbill (below). Such similar tail patterns of these two whales and still unique enough to tell them apart from one another

We slowly made our way through some of our earlier sighting, and the 3 Minke whales popping up around us, before finding yet another pair of Humpback whales! This time we watched Canine (the whale we had started our trip with) now moving through the water with Geometry.

Canine and Geometry

What a data-filled (always important to record where we are traveling, what we are seeing and what any whale is doing while we are watching them!) day recording the comings and goings of all these whales; 6 Humpbacks in total. We ended our day with another brief look at Owl and her calf as the calf was continuing to be active with more breaching, flipper slapping and rolling at the surface!

Owl's calf launching part of its body above the surface

Owl (left) and her calf rolling on its side (right)

Another breach!