Variety was the game today with 5 different species of whales as well as a quick look at a blue shark! A minke whale began the trip. This "small" 25 foot whale was surfacing frequently, showing us its pointed nose. Atlantic white sided dolphins were seen next. This small pod was busy feeding so we continued on.
Atlantic white sided dolphins
Soon we saw some more splashes. Pilot whales!! These whales used to be seen frequently in the late summer/fall, but have been MIA the past few years. Typically, pilot whales feed during the night and are a bit more lazy at the surface during the day but today was the exception. This pod of 15 was on the move and very difficult for us to keep up with!
Pilot whales
As we tried to keep up with the pilot whales, we saw a couple of spouts in the distance. These were fin whales! We tried to get a few looks but these large whales were also on a mission.
Fin whale
Soon, we ran out of time and began to head for home, but this was when our trip really started to get good- a familiar fin whale, Fjord, surfaced on our ride home!
Fin whale, Fjord
Again we decided to keep on to the west when a larger pod of dolphins appeared. These were much more social than the small pod we saw early in the trip. The dolphins were surfing the wake and even jumping out of the water!
Time to go home...again...and of course we spotted more spouts to the west! These were sei whales- another not-common species for Jeffreys Ledge! Though we have been seeing sei whales frequently for the past few weeks, they typically are only seen on about 5% of our trips!
Sei whale spout
Sei whale dorsal fin
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