Forecasted "scattered showers" turned into continuous rain for all of us aboard the boat today and while we had some very wet passengers and crew, the ocean itself was ideal for whale spotting. The surface of the water was calm as could be, and even later in the day when the wind began to pick up there was only a ripple on the water. Calm seas are great conditions for sighting whales as almost any disturbance seen on the water is an indication of some sort of marine life causing such effect on the surface. Not too long into the trip we had a single Minke whale surface close by and so we stopped to take a look. The whale remained on the surface for a couple of minutes and then disappeared into the depths of the ocean. We circled the area for a bit awaiting for the whale to resurface but to no avail, so we continued on towards Jeffreys Ledge. Morning reports from our fishermen friends had us traveling to an area where whales had been sighted just a short time ago so we knew that would be a good place to go and see if anything decided to stay around.
Our search brought us upon 3 Minke whales circling the area. Our passengers were great in pointing out the whales for at one point we had people all around the boat pointing in every which direction! Since these whales appeared to be circling around we got a chance to get some great looks as multiple Minke whales were cruising around both sides of the boat. With such great looks we decided to press on and see if other animals were around circling the area just as the Minke whales were, not going anywhere in a hurry.
Unfortunately our efforts came up shorthanded as we checked out a few other areas of recent whale activity but found no spouts in sight. As it is always the case when going in search of wildlife, critters can easily move in, or out, of an area any time they chose and we give our best efforts in every situation presented. At the end of the day we sighted 6 different Minke whales for our hardy passengers today. Thanks for everyone who joined us, even in the cool steady rain, and searched for cetaceans today. An extra thank you to our Blue Ocean Society interns Anna and Adriane who faced the elements and collected research data today even with soaking wet data sheets!
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2 comments:
Glad you saw so many minkes! Was thinking of you all today - it was miserable enough inside, never mind outside!
The weather turned out to be less than desirable but thankfully the whales aren't affected by rain since they are surrounded by, and swimming through, a vast amount larger than a rain shower here or there! Thanks for thinking of us as it was quite pleasant to warm up and dry off back on land :)
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