July 27 Prince of Whales

Cool drizzly day on the ocean but the whales didn't seem to mind.

Just on the edge of the ledge, in about 500 feet of water, we found a small humpback whale. This youngster was a bit wiggly but we did manage to get a few good looks at it. A quick look at the flukes told us this was Mountain, a newly named 2-year-old humpback whale!

Mountain the 2 year old humpback whale

We left Mountain to see a fin whale that our colleagues on the Granite State had told us about. As we were waiting for it to resurface, we saw some splashing nearby. Dolphins!  These Atlantic white sided dolphins were rather active- chasing us around and playing in our wake.

Dolphins!

Finally we moved closer to the fin whale. As we waited for it yet again, I looked off the bow and saw a light green patch coming up nearby! The fin whale's white lower jaw was glowing green with all the phytoplankton in the water making it easy to spot even before she broke the surface. It didn't take long for us to ID this HUGE fin whale as #9904, a female fin whale who has a calf this year, but whose calf was wandering today and not seen by us!

Fin whale #9904

Even with a few sprinkles of rain, our excited campers from Joppa Flatts were energetic and happy to see whales and dolphins in their natural habitat today!


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