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Wednesday, July 15, 2020

July 13-15, 2020

The continuous wacky weather only gave us whale watching windows on Monday and Tuesday morning. Such calm seas provided a pristine backdrop for spotting marine life on Monday morning. Harbor seals and harbor porpoise could be seen around us soon after leaving the harbor. Our first stop of the day was quite a special treat. A sea turtle; the first of the season! With a little patience we got some decent looks at a leatherback sea turtle!
Leatherback turtle!
As we continued out towards Jeffreys Ledge, and throughout the day, we saw a total of three minke whales and three ocean sunfish.
Minke whale
Ocean sunfish
We then were treated to three resting humpback whales. Pinball, Spoon and Bayou were mostly napping though we did see an occasional tail flick, roll, and tail breach from these whales. On top of an already abundant list of sightings, these three whales were surrounded by a small pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins being equally as mellow swimming around the trio.
Humpback whale
Tug and barge passing by the dolphins and humpback whales
Atlantic white-sided dolphins nearby humpback whales
As we ventured back offshore on Tuesday morning the expected wind was arriving earlier than planned. Whales still need to breathe so the wind and waves appeared to be of no notice to them. We came across Pinball, whom was traveling straight towards a pair of humpback whales. Soon enough Bayou, Spoon and Pinball were together again and still with dolphins, just as they all were yesterday! The humpback whales were mellow and the Atlantic white-sided dolphins surfed down the waves as they all remained associated together.
Humpback whale dorsal fin and dolphin dorsal fin
Humpback whale flipper
Leaping Atlantic white-sided dolphin
Diving whale

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