Friday, July 20, 2018

This morning we headed back to where we were watching whales yesterday and were happy to find that they were still in the general neighborhood! We watched a couple minke whales close to the boat before finding a nice pod of Atlantic white sided dolphins! 

minke whale

Atlantic white sided dolphin

It was glassy calm- perfect conditions for viewing dolphins underwater. 

Next we passed by a couple more minke whales and then found two humpback whales: Hornbill and Clamp. They were blowing deep bubble clouds to catch their prey. 

Hornbill

 We headed for home and soon spotted even more whales! At first, Nine and Milkyway were separate and a 3^rd whale was around.

Nine

Then, suddenly, all three got together causing quite the commotion! Banyan was the new whale and a new visitor to the area this year! The trio was charging around and at one point, Nine swam right up to the boat, passed underneath us, and dove on the opposite side! 

Nine and Milkyway

Milkyway and Banyan

Harbor porpoises and harbor seals were also seen throughout the trip!  

This afternoon, the wind picked up so we couldn’t find the dolphins or porpoises. The whales, however, were great! We got some nice views of a minke whale and then found the humpback whale named Clamp. 

minke whale

humpback, Clamp

We stayed with her for a bit before moving on to a trio of humpback whales. Nine, Milkyway and Banyan were together at first. 

Then Banyan split off and was doing some kick-feeding while the two ladies were using deep bubble clouds to consolidate their prey.  

Humpback whale, Banyan

Banyan feeding

Milkyway

We shut down the boat and had the three humpback whales all around us, and close! Amazing views, especially of Banyan who was surfacing nose first in the patch of frothy water where he kicked his tail before diving!  We even saw him filtering water through his baleen! Another minke whale was seen briefly on the way home as well as a few harbor porpoises closer to shore.