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.
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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!
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Trio of humpback whales |
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Three, out of the five, humpback whales in our second group |
Identified individuals include Bungee, Infinity, Reaper, A-plus and Moonlight.
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Infinity the humpback whale |
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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!
This blog is very cool!
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Sunset Sail San Diego