Seems there are "grand slams" all around! Four species today for us as well, although I must admit, our looks at the minkes were not fabulous. None the less, we had some very enthusiastic young passengers today who spent most of the trip on the bow of the boat, searching for whales all day!
We did get great looks at Atlantic white sided dolphins, finback whales and humpbacks whales! And even a few seals in the river!
Here is one of the dolphins we saw in a pod of about 100!
We also found at least 8 finback whales. The one above is still unidentified, but looks familiar. You can also see the entanglement scars behind the dorsal fin- entanglements are a huge problem for all whales! This one (above) was a lucky one...who managed to survive.
From the dolphins and finbacks, we ventured further offshore and found several humpbacks and a couple of stray minkes! Below is Skua, a new visitor to the Ledge this year!
Skua was bubble net feeding- blowing a ring of bubbles around the school of fish and coming up with a wide-open mouth! Check out that baleen! You can even see some tiny fish trying desperately to escape!
Another old friend, Quote, was in the area-
And then we saw a pair of humpbacks coming into the area. The bigger one tail-breached, the term for when a whale throws the lower half of its body out of the water. Turns out this was Basmati, a new mom!! Her calf was not far behind.
Basmati- an 11-year humpback whale with her first calfIt was time to leave, so we said goodbye to the whales and the ledge and headed for home. We passed by more finbacks, but then saw some action, fairly close to shore! Clipper, another mother, was bubble feeding with her new calf nearby! The calf decided to see what we were up to and was checking us out closely several times! I love curious young whales!
Clipper's "clipped" dorsal fin
Clipper's new calf!
Clipper's calf's nose!Another amazing and surprising day out there! Thanks for visiting!
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