The lack of posts this week certainly is not due to any shortage of sightings! Busy busy. Recent trips have included a variety of marine life that we are so lucky to have spend time in our area during the season. Minke whales, humpback whales, fin whales, a scattering of Atlantic white-sided dolphins and even a few ocean sunfish have been seen! Known humpback whales have included Dyad and her 2018 calf, Pitcher and Bombay. Fin whales have included Ladder, Blunt and #0720!
This morning we saw three ocean sunfish, seven minke whales, a small pod of 6-8 Atlantic white-sided dolphins, a distant glimpse of a fin whale and four humpback whales. Our trip started with an ocean sunfish before finding a minke whale shortly thereafter.
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| Ocean sunfish swimming by |
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| Minke whale |
While watching this minke whale a small pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins popped up!
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| A few Atlantic white-sided dolphins at the surface |
We then pressed on further offshore and among all the other minke whales around we found a few humpback whales. Unfortunately, all of these whales were holding their breath for a LONG time. Dives of 15+ minutes was typical and only a few breaths at the surface made some of these whales much more challenging to keep track of even with the stunning ocean conditions. Oh well. Such is the case with wildlife. We are on their schedules and witness only what they decide they want to do. We were able to identify these whales as Pitcher, Jumanji, Tear and Abrasion.
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| Humpback whale flipper |
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| Whale tail |
This afternoon we saw seven minke whales. We also came across four fin whales, including a pair. We started with Blunt circling around the area. Then we found Crow and #1031 associated with each other.
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| Fin whales Crow and #1031 |
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| Fin whale spout |
To top off these sightings we spotted Comet nearby! Not only are all of these whales great individuals on their own they were only remaining under the water for a few minutes at a time. We got some fin-tastic looks at these enormous mammals!
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| Comet! |
The trip wrapped up with a group of 20-25 Atlantic white-sided dolphins. What a great ending to beautiful day on the water!
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| More dolphins |
Thank you for sharing the sighting of Comet. Beautiful.
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