Tuesday, July 12

This morning we started our trip with 3 Minke whales, which seemed to appear out of nowhere. They were all at the surface and then just as quickly most of them disappeared. No worries. There was another whale near by. Actually, two! Two Fin whales appeared to just be circling around the area. However, soon after moving into the area the whales took off. We attempted to get some looks at these speed-demon whales (they are the 2nd fastest baleen whales in the world!) but, with their effortless movements they continued to press on leaving us to continue to catch up. Eventually we managed to get a decent look at one of these whales but quickly decided it was time to head further offshore.

After many attempts we finally could appreciate the massive size of a Fin whale

We made our way to an area where we spent time watching 3 Humpback whales meandering around while a single Fin whale passed by out in the distance. All three of our Humpback whales were creating bubble clouds while they moved around as we slowly meandered around the whales and tuna fleet.

Humpback whale (above and below)

After some nice looks at Hornbill, #0050 and Quill, we spotted another Fin whale during our travels home. We decided to take a chance and see if we could have more luck with this Fin whale. Our determination paid off as we got some GREAT looks as this whale was doing some tight circles around the area.

Fin whale with White Island in the background

To add a cherry on top of an already great trip, we passed by a harbor seal that even took the time to take a quick look at us before dipping below the waterline.

Harbor seal watching us watch it!

This afternoon we started the trip with a large Fin whale. This whale is a familiar whale, and the first time we have seen this particular whale this year. Great to see you again #0354!

Fin whale #0354

With some wonderful looks at this Fin whale we made our way over to Hornbill who was doing a bit of traveling. With a few quick looks we continued back offshore and found Quill and #0050 still in a similar area from this morning. We ended up getting some incredible looks at Quill who was surfacing so close to us multiple times as this whale was busy circling around and creating bubble clouds!

Quill

Similar to this morning, while traveling towards home we picked up another spout, which turned into two! There were two Fin whales traveling past us. These whales were on the move so it was a brief encounter but another sighting of more whales to wrap up a successful day on the water!