Monday, July 16, 2018

One item remained constant today, the fog. Fog in the morning. Fog in the afternoon. Fog loves to be finicky. It can dissipate as quickly as it appears. It can completely disappear just a few miles of the coast. It comes and goes in a blink of an eye and today was no different. So we intently searched for marine life as much as possible and ultimately found life!

Our travels took us near Boon Island and so we checked out the seals lounging on the rocks through the fog this morning

This morning we came across three minke whales. One was being extremely fascinating each time it surfaced. This whale was exhaling under the water almost every time it was ready to surface. You could see the bubbles gather at the surface just before the whale came up.

Minke whale

We also had a few firsts. We saw our first ocean sunfish on a whale watch this season.

Ocean sunfish

Then the majority of our crew had a life marine mammal! A lone white-beaked dolphin was passing through the area. Such an unusual sight for this area of the ocean!

White-beaked dolphin!

The shading pattern of a white-beaked dolphin is much different than its cousin we normally find in these waters (the Atlantic white-sided dolphin)

This afternoon we continued to search plenty of areas. We ultimately got a chance to spend time with a trio of humpback whales. Clamp, Milkyway and Nine were resting. Almost the entire time we were in the area these three whales were napping. We got some fantastic views, even in the fog, of these whales.

Resting whales

Trio of humpback whales at the surface

Milkyway going on a dive