We ran two trips today, one at 9 o'clock, and the other at 12 noon. Total sightings: 4 humpback whales, 50 long-beaked common dolphins and one Minke whale
The morning trip had gorgeous conditions. There was no wind, blue skies, and calm seas. Plus… It had a semi-tropical feel as it was a little bit warm. Captain Dave and the crew headed southeast towards Platform Habitat. West of the platform, we were greeted by a small pod of dolphins, about 50 of them. Nearby, there were two individual juvenile humpback whales that soon came together and formed a pair. They were spotted because one of them was on its back, rolling around and waving it's pectoral fins in the air. After we spent quite a bit of time with these 2 whales, a single Minke whale came through the zone and actually surfaced next to the boat at one point.
At noon conditions had changed. There were whitecaps on the water from a light wind, skies were cloudy, and it was a bit cooler . We ran back to the same spot as the morning trip, and this time we located a mother humpback whale with a calf. It was the same pair that we saw yesterday. As has been the case, mom spent a lot of time feeding, and the calf spent time on the surface, throwing its tail and rolling around. Today the calf made a couple of short dives , trying to keep up with mom. Mother was making longer dives, apparently feeding subsurface.
You never know what Mother Nature has in store.
Robert Perry
Condor Express, and
CondorExpressPhotos.com
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