Our day spent out on the ocean today provided a few surprises, starting with our first sighting! A pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins were moving through our area. These toothed-whales were on the move creating plenty of white water as they surfaced for breaths of air.
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| Atlantic white-sided dolphins on the move (above and below) |
Typically, Atlantic white-sided dolphins are seen approximately 25% of the time we whale watch. These whales were all but absent at the start of the season and while they have been appearing more often recently, there is never a guarantee they will be around each day. It was a special treat to start the day.
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| Atlantic white-sided dolphins |
We ended up spending the rest of the day with baleen whales including seeing 4 Minke whales and 5 Fin whales. We even passed by a grey seal and a couple harbor seals during the trip. We attempted to check out our first pair of Fin whales but these whales were cruising through the area, at a good clip, and not taking many breaths!
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| One of the two Fin whales we attempted to get looks at |
It didn't take long to decide it was time to move on and head over to a different pair of Fin whales that were nearby. These whales were not taking a large number of breaths but they were definitely not moving through the water as swiftly as our first pair. Upon our first glances of this pair we were thrilled to see it was a mother and her calf!
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| Fin whale mother and her calf |
This is the first sighting of a mother/calf pair of Fin whales for us this season. So fantastic! We got some great looks at this pair slowly moving around.
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| Fin whale mother's dorsal fin |
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| Fin whale pair at the surface |
Before the day was done we checked out one other Fin whale we found during our travels.
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| Final Fin whale of the day |
Wonder what the ocean has is store for us tomorrow? Check back tomorrow evening to find out!
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