This morning's trip was highlighted with multiple sightings of Sei whales in pairs, trios, and even a quartet of these fast moving creatures surrounding the boat! The group of 4 whales we spent time with literally kept us hostage as they were circling so close to the boat you could watch them turn underneath the water with such speed and agility at a moment's notice! Footprints (or fluke-prints) from these animals kept surfacing in every direction as the whales continued to zip and dash around, under, and nearby the vessel! Absolutely incredible.
Sei whales surrounding the boat!
These whales were circling around an area where there was a good amount of fishing gear in the water. Thankfully none of the whales got too close to those lines in the water!
A Sei whale surfacing for a breath of air while signs of fishing gear lurk in the water nearby!
The sightings didn't stop there as we also found a couple of Fin whales passing through the area as we sat watching some of the other species out on Jeffreys Ledge this morning. We also came across a pod of 50 Atlantic white-sided dolphins making their way through the area.
There were lots of terns flying overhead these dolphins, and even a Manx shearwater in the mix, as many of these birds were searching for any signs of scraps of food left behind these whales. This particular pod of whales was quite active as many of them powered through our wake and waves with such force they ended up sky-rocketing out of the water, up and down, multiple times!
We also ended our trip with yet another baleen species, a Humpback whale. It was Striation still circling the area. This whale surfaced multiple time filtering lots of salt water out of its mouth, an indication of some feeding going on underneath the water!
With a handful of blue sharks to wrap up the trip we had quite the sightings for the day including a GRAND SLAM of baleen whales (4 different species of baleen whales in one trip: 1 Minke whale, 2 Fin whales, 1 Humpback whale, and 10 Sei whales!!!). Not a bad way to start the day.
This afternoon we ended up seeing even more Sei whales than what we had been treated to in the morning hours; 15 in total! Again, we saw more pairs, trios, and even another group of 4 circling all around the boat!
Sei whale dorsal fins
We also got a really quick glimpse of a Fin whale moving through the area before we eased our way over to where Striation could be seen out in the distance.
While spending time with Striation we continued to watch 2 other pairs of Sei whales zig and zag back and forth out in the distance, with even a couple swimming close by on our starboard side.
While the whales have been seen in droves of numbers the past few days who knows what tomorrow will bring. Did you know we can go entire seasons (May-October) and never see a single Sei whale during any trip??? Wildlife has its way of surprising us every day and we can only imagine what might be awaiting for us tomorrow. Hope you get a chance to come find out for yourself soon too!
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