Grand Finale

Although I am sad to see the whale watch season come to an end, I am very pleased with our last trip's sightings. We began this beautiful day passing by what seemed to be endless pods of harbor porpoises. These little friends were everywhere! On southern Jeffreys, we had a few looks at Valley, a female humpback whale who was moving pretty slowly and surfaced pretty close to our motionless boat.

After that, we moved north a bit to find, to our happy surprise, three right whales! Two were together, rolling at the surface, and lifting their enormous heads and flukes out of the water. The third was just a little further away. We sat quietly and watched these endangered animals frolic for a bit, not seeming to have a care in the world. It is truly amazing to be in the presence of right whales as their population is so small, and to think that they may not be here in 50 years. We were all very thankful for the experience. As we were enjoying the sights, a sei whale cruised by and a dozen small land birds of various species were fluttering all around our boat much to the delight of the passengers.

As we headed for home, glowing from such a wonderful last trip, we encountered more whales! This was a pair of humpbacks and as soon as the larger one lifted her tail, we immediately knew who she was. Pinball and her new calf!!! Pinball is one of our 4 humpbacks available for adoption and she has only been seen once this summer by our staff. Pinball and her calf were moving south at a steady rate, and the calf, nearing its weaning time and showing some independence, was beginning to stray a bit from Pinball.


I can't imagine a better way to end the season. For all of you who came out with us this summer, thank you! And we hope to see you back with us (and the whales) next year!