This morning we had glassy-calm conditions and saw a few harbor
porpoises and an elusive fin whale before seeing something very
unexpected: a pair of north Atlantic right whales skim feeding at the
surface! This was awesome and inspiring as this is a critically
endangered s
pecies (only about 500 left)
and I felt very humbled to be able to spend a little time with them, if
even from a distance.
![](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-73bMKcb26vo/WWrCqOW3wiI/AAAAAAAAF88/boWVvJ_PmXIcIGvfmNKKz7JfuDOWZ4hvQCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_8189.JPG) |
Two right whales skim feeding |
The trip continued with several minke whale
sightings including several views of "Scar" the adoptable minke whale.
![](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LBuOhq_NsuY/WWrCtFt1FtI/AAAAAAAAF9E/9EmaOVyihqoR_WsyofxW-K132WH4plsPwCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_8224.JPG) |
SCAR minke whale |
We've been watching Scar since 1995 and are always thrilled to see him
return year after year!
![](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vHuMgD5cDEc/WWrCrx0Fo1I/AAAAAAAAF9A/75KljTHUmiYN_m6LJ4ocHzb39gzfAF1ewCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_8236.JPG) |
another minke whale! |
On our way home, we swung by the right whales
again, mostly to ensure that boats zooming through the area wouldn't hit
them.
This afternoon, we
found at least 4 minke whales, 2 fin whales (including #0354), a pod of harbor porpoises
and 2 right whales.
![](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eoueaEP0rw8/WWrDqxynAFI/AAAAAAAAF9M/VIAxCsFlRfQKWJ0O6BlopwZ2EH_QOD5pACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_8292.JPG) |
minke whale |
![](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-s0-8WAasMjY/WWrECVnio-I/AAAAAAAAF9Q/SsKFPAz2cy8XffOa007qkJW7q0gciLvEQCLcBGAs/s320/Bp%2B0354%2BIMG_8286.jpg) |
Fin whale #0354 |
![](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_2oUdrNYmeM/WWrDpH2t7CI/AAAAAAAAF9I/fO6O-SK_JNExBiHHH-zFqy7W2BYav7EMwCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_8304.JPG) |
right whale flukes |
We are still working on our photo analysis, but are
pretty sure these were the same 2 that we saw on the morning trip,
however they had moved quite some distance in just a few hours. Again, this is why our crew loves whale watching- we never know what we will find and where it will be!
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