Friday, August 6, 2021

The windy, rainy weather kept us in port yesterday, and after seeing a slight shift in the whales’ locations on Wednesday, we weren’t sure what to expect today.  We have been spoiled by having whales in the same general area for the past month, so today was a bit of a roll of the dice as to where to go.

We started the morning trip by heading to the last location we saw whales on Wednesday afternoon. Nothing was there. We pressed on, coordinating with another whale watch boat that was also approaching the area. We split up, going in different directions with the hope that one of us would find the whales. As luck had it, we both found whales! 

We located the humpback whale named Satula who is also one of Blue Ocean Society’s adoptable whales! At first, he was taking 10-14 minute dives, but then he changed up to take much shorter dives of 3-6 minutes!  

We radioed the other whale watching boat to inform them of our sighting, and they replied with a sighting of their own. They found a mother and calf pair of humpbacks! We left Satula and headed their way.

Once we got there, the boat left so we had the pair to ourselves. We really don’t like to crowd the whales with multiple boats, so the cooperation was appreciated. The mom was Jabiru who has been one of our regulars over the past few years. Her calf was seen severely entangled in early May, and rescue attempts by Center for Coastal Studies were not successful due to the nature of the calf’s entanglement. The rope was too deeply embedded to be able to cut and the team had to suspend their operations. In early July, we found the pair again and the rescue team was called immediately. Documentation suggested that the calf may have shed the gear but it was still unclear. Today we took plenty of photos of the injury, looking to see if the rope was still embedded. We believe the calf no longer has rope around it but will continue to monitor it closely.

 

Our Friday afternoon trip passed by two small groups of harbor porpoises before finding four humpback whales, three of which were different from the morning trip! We saw another adoptable humpback whale named Owl, who at one point decided to swim right for us! Even after being hit by a boat when she was young, Owl seems to have no fear of boats! 

During our time with Owl, while she was on a dive, we took the opportunity to “rescue” a mylar balloon from the ocean. Balloons, and other trash on the water, are major threats to marine life as they can be accidentally ingested. Please do not let balloons go! They eventually end up back here on Earth where they are not only litter but also can harm whales.

Pressing on, we found a pair of adult humpback whales, Frost and Diablo.  While watching them, we noticed a small sportfishing boat heading right for them at high speed. Diablo then lifted her large flipper out of the water and slapped it on the surface. Was this a signal to the boat that they were there? Maybe. Who knows.  

While waiting for the pair to breathe again, we saw a small blue shark right off the bow! We also “rescued” some more litter- another balloon. Ugh. Please do not let balloons go! We finished up with Frost and Diablo and started to make our way back home.

But on our return voyage, we saw another humpback whale. Satula was seen again!! We only spent a few minutes with him as we were out of time, but great to see him still hanging out in the area.