Friday on the Prince of Whales

What an unexpected day! As we typically tell people, every trip is different. That was certainly the case today! We began our adventure with a few looks at some stray humpback and finback whales. Tigris surfaced and we got some great looks at him (above). We kept moving and found Trident into the west. As we looked through the binoculars, we saw a few more blows so we headed that way.

A few blows turned into several, and tons, literally, of birds! We began this second half of our trip by watching the humpback, Clipper, and her calf. Clipper was feeding, blowing bubble clouds and coming up in the middle of the bubbles, while her calf was gallivanting around the periphery.Clipper and calf

Clipper charging up through a bubble cloud

Then, the calf was playful and started flipper slapping while Clipper was feeding!

As we looked to the west, thinking about going home, we saw several more blows. We made our way up into that area and found an absolutely ridiculous amount of birds (yes, that is my professional opinion!) and several finback whales in the midst of the birds! The shearwaters (greater and sooty shearwaters) and common terns were making quite the ruckus! I've never seen birds this dense and numerous in all of my 15 years of whale watching! Obviously the fish were good! At times, we could barely see the whales through the screen of birds!

Can you see the finbacks- the 2nd largest animal on the planet???

Then, to our great surprise, 2 finbacks surfaced right next to the boat- one was on its side and we could see half of its tail above the surface as it rolled!

And check out this profile shot- see that white lower jaw?? Its only white on the right side. The left side is black!


Yes the fin whales were oblivious to our presence. The were just happy to be eating! We got some amazing looks like the one below!

What an awesome afternoon! Words really can't describe the amount of bird life and finback activty in the area! This was truely a once in a lifetime opportunity!

Thanks to all of the visitors from all over the world who made today a special day!

And I'd like to send a special thanks to our fabulous intern Kirstin, who is finishing up her intenship with us to return to school at Florida State University. Good luck Kirstin!




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