Thursday morning greeted us with a decent amount of swell and chop at the surface, but we gave it our all to head offshore and find some whales! We were able to do just that as we started our trip off with two single fin whales. While getting looks at one, we had a completely different pair of fin whales surface off of our port side.
Fin whale diving
These fin whales began traveling in an unfavorable direction, so we pressed a bit further offshore to get looks at a distant whale we had been seeing. Once we slowed the boat down again, it turns out there where two humpback whales spending time in close proximity to one another, Pinball and Satula! We were able to sit almost idle (if the wind and waves would have permitted that) while watching these whales, as they spent their time circling around the area.
Pinball diving
Before it was time to head for home, we saw another whale out in the distance, so we moved in that direction to see who it was. Once we got closer, we noticed a few small fins breaking the surface, before a trio of humpback whales slowly rose up to the surface on our starboard side. All at once, we were joined by three humpbacks and a small group of Atlantic white-sided dolphins!
White-sided dolphins
Trio of humpbacks
The humpback whales eventually revealed themselves to be Spoon, Chromosome, and Tripod. We were able to get really excellent looks at these sleepy whales as they rested near the surface, before ultimately turning for home.
With the swell increasing in addition to the wind, that meant no afternoon whale watch for us on Thursday.
Friday morning we were surprised to see that the offshore conditions were actually quite a bit nicer than we were anticipating, so this made our searching much easier as we eventually came across a pair of whales who were keeping a pretty low profile near the surface. These whales turned out to be one of the mom/calf fin whale pairs that we have been lucky enough to see several times this season.
Fin whale mom/calf at surface
Both of these whales were resting at the surface and occasionally actively nursing as we watched the calf switch which side of its mom it was surfacing next to. We never want to disturb these animals, only enjoy their presence, so we moved on pretty quickly from this pair to do some more exploring. Eventually, we came across a pair of humpbacks, Tripod and Chromosome. These whales were quite a bit more awake than the last as they were actively feeding near the surface.
Pair of humpbacks diving
After continuing along, we were able to spend time with another humpback, Clamp, before moving into an area that was boasting a lot of life near the surface. As we sat still watching, we were surrounded by 3 minke whales, one fin whale, and a distant humpback.
Minke whale diving
We began to slowly make our way out towards the humpback whale, before getting closer to see that it was Pinball. We were able to shut our engines off and wait, as this whale surfaced near our boat several times before we had to make our way back in towards home.
Friday afternoon began with the sea conditions improving more so than they already had, and an initial sighting of a fin whale to start off our trip.
Fin whale diving
This whale was doing a LOT of traveling, so we decided to press on. Eventually, we came across another fin whale, who also had travel on its mind, so we got quick looks before moving along. More searching lead us to an area containing several different humpback whales.
Humpback whale diving
In total, we spent time with three single humpbacks, Pinball, Ravine, and Satula, before coming across a pair on our travels home, Chromosome and Tripod.
Ravine diving
On our travels in, we were also able to get a few quick glimpses at two different minke whales. Definitely a lot of life spending time near the surface recently, we are excited to see what the weekend has in store!
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