June 10 Atlantic Queen

Half Moon and bubble cloud

What a spectacular day on the water!  Great weather, great people, and best of all, great whales!

Half Moon with patch of bait fish (in back left)

We started our trip with a male humpback named Half Moon, who was surrounded by masses of bait fish churning the water surface. I haven't seen bait like that at the surface in a long time!  We think these fish were mackerel and herring - both common prey fish for humpbacks.

Half Moon soon joined one of my favorite whales - a female named Owl!  Owl seemed pretty content to stay close to the surface while Half Moon took deeper dives - perhaps he was the one blowing all the bubble clouds we saw, while she patiently waited for him to round up the fish.  It's hard to say.  But we did get some great looks at them bubble feeding!

Owl, showing the distinctive scar on her back

Owl and Half Moon surfacing at the same time

Watching the fish was almost as fun as watching the whales!

Thanks again to everyone who joined us today, and to Ryan and Seamus from Small Town Pictures, who were shooting footage for an upcoming Blue Ocean Society video!

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