Friday, August 10, 2018

The 8:30 trip started out with a couple of less-than-cooperative minke whales and a small handful of dolphins. We began to wonder if we’d get good looks at anything as the clock was ticking.  But then we came upon a pod of about 50 Atlantic white sided dolphins milling about with a couple more minke whales that were close by!  

As we were investigating a grey seal that was imitating a leatherback sea turtle (you folks on the trip know what I’m talking about….), a trio of humpback whales surfaced! Amazing!   These turned out to be Spoon, her calf, and another female named Jabiru! 

We saw this trio yesterday afternoon so it was fun to see that they were still together!  A fin whale came by, and even from a distance, we could tell that it was Bolshoi, a male first seen in 1980! 

Another fin whale appeared as well but we couldn’t identify that one.

This afternoon, we did some searching before arriving at the “one-stop whale watching area”!  As we slowed down, we could see dolphins, minke whales, fin whales and humpback whales all around the boat at the same time! A grey seal was also floating about! We began with the dolphins- a pod of about 50 or so. 

 Then we saw a minke whale. Two new humpback whales had moved into the area. I’m not sure who these are yet but they are whales I haven’t seen yet this summer! 

Minke whales continued to scoot around us while the fin whale named Bolshoi was seen again!  

Then we got great looks at Spoon, her calf, and Jabiru, still hanging out together!!  Spoon’s calf was rolling around, slapping its flippers and even tail-breaching (tossing it’s posterior end out of the water causing a big splash).  Baby whales are so much fun to watch!  

Another fin whale was seen along with a couple more minke whales before it was time to head to the barn.

For birds, all the shearwaters were out in force, along with a few Wilson’s storm petrels, some red-necked phalaropes, a few northern gannets. We had a hot report of a Skua near the Isles of Shoals on the morning trip but we were unable to locate the avian pirate. Skuas are known to harass other birds to steal whatever they have caught rather than fishing for themselves.