Wednesday, August 24

This morning we started whale watching in an area where we had 2 Minke whales darting around. We spent some time watching these whales before moving on to search for more marine mammals.

Minke whale

Soon we saw a spout, which turn into two, then three! We moved into the area only to realize the whales continued to surface. There were 5 Humpback whales nearby! It didn't take long for these whales to separate from each other as they ventured off in their own particular directions. We checked out Owl and got a quick glimpse of Daffodil before spending some time with Pinball and her calf.

Owl

Daffodil diving in towards us

Pinball's calf was a little skirmish at the surface as this whale tail breached and flipper slapped from time to time.

Pinball's calf rolling on its side bringing its flipper above the waterline

Pinball and her calf

We watched this mother/calf pair move through the area before ending the trip with another pair of Humpback whales. Two of the five whales we had seen earlier swimming around by themselves had become associated with one another. Daffodil and a newcomer to the area this season, Jabiru, were swimming alongside one another. What a great end to a great morning.

This afternoon we came across Jabiru swimming around alone. This whale was steadily on the move.

Jabiru

We checked out this whale for a bit before we moved on to Owl not to far from our current location. With some nice looks at these whales we got the opportunity to end the day with Pinball and her calf.

Pinball

In just a few short hours this pair of whales had moved 8 miles from their last known location. Whales can, and do, constantly move around as they look for large patches of guess what? Moving schooling fish! Fish move, whales move; the process is never-ending! Pinball and her calf were slowly meandering around and while they spent time at the surface we even enjoyed watching these whales taking some quick naps!

Pinball and her calf resting at the surface this afternoon

A few times the calf even rolled on its side, and onto mom's head for a moment in time! Crazy kids ;)