July 28, 2021

This morning, the cloudy skies and leftover north wind made for a chilly ride out in search of whales.  Throughout the trip, the sky cleared although the wind held on, making for a rocky ride. Fortunately, the ride wasn’t too long before we found our first whale. 

Humpbacks were the only species to be seen but they certainly did not disappoint. Clamp was our first whale, followed by the Sword and Tripod together. Wigwam was in the distance and we ended our trip with Owl. Sword stole the show when he decided to start breaching and then lob-tailing over and over!  

Owl, the humpback whale

The wind dropped for our afternoon trip making for a more comfortable ride. We tried to get some looks at a large pod of harbor porpoises, but as usual, they wanted nothing to do with us.  Next, we found a very cooperative pod of about 20 Atlantic white-sided dolphins. These animals were curious and friendly, spending a good amount of time with us before moving on. 

Atlantic white-sided dolphin

For whales, we saw the humpbacks Tripod and Sword, still together, Satula who was doing a bit of traveling, and Jawa and Frost. This pair was napping until suddenly Frost woke up and tail-breached twice before beginning to lob-tail! Fantastic views of whale behavior, for sure!  

A minke whale was spotted in the area, and we passed a small group of porpoises on our trip home.

For our birding friends, the avian presence left much to be desired. A manx shearwater and Wilson’s storm petrels were seen in the morning, and the afternoon trip saw a couple of northern gannets and more storm petrels. Hopefully, the birds will pick up soon!