October 13-14, 2019

The weather has been less than ideal this fall speeding up the end of the year. Sunday was our final public trip of the season. Luckily the wind was almost obsolete as we spent time offshore in the diminishing swells created during the past week. The ocean was alive with whales. We saw a total of nine humpback whales and three fin whales. The fin whales were being their sneaky selves as they were spending lots of time subsurface.

Sleek fin whale

Not all of the humpback whales were fluking, showcasing their unique pigmentation patterns, but so it goes with wildlife. We found a trio and even a group of five on the move together!

Trio of humpback whales

Three, out of the five, humpback whales in our second group

Identified individuals include Bungee, Infinity, Reaper, A-plus and Moonlight.

Infinity the humpback whale

Associated humpback whales

On Monday, we had an all-day bird trip. There were things to see the entire time. Lots of birds and lots of whales (for our crew!). Sightings included multiple puffins, a leaches storm petrel, a south-polar skua, a little gull, red and red-necked phalaropes, northern fulmars, and shearwaters to name a few! On the whale side of things we had groups ranging from two to five individuals, with some of them lunge feeding on krill! What a way to wrap up another year.

Many thanks to all of our passengers this season. The ocean is a beautiful place with incredible creatures and our hopes are to share a snip-it of that with all of you. Thank you for making 2019 a success. See you in 2020!

October 5, 2019

Wow. October already. The season is quickly winding down. There is only one more week of the 2019 season. The weather cooperated quite nicely today. Unfortunately, we have already canceled our trip tomorrow because the wind is scheduled to crank right back up; a seemingly reoccurring theme this fall. Today we saw four humpback whales. We started with a pair: Littlespot and Fan. These two adults were slowly traveling along.

Fan

Rain-blow

Littlespot and Fan

To our astonishment, while spending time with these humpback whales, they breached. But not just one. Both! And simultaneously! Both whales launched themselves high into the air in the most serene synchrony you can imagine. The unexpectedness of the event unfortunately caused for no photographs taken but the memory of the beauty will last a long time. We ended the day with another pair of humpback whales: Ravine and her 2019 calf. These two were being mellow. The calf was even napping for a short time.

Ravine and calf (above and below)

Just before leaving the pair however, both mom and calf got interested in the boat! The calf lingered longer but both whales checked us out before continuing on with their day. Even a calf looks REALLY big as it meanders under and next to the boat!