While we were watching the Dolphins there were a couple of Minke Whales off in the distance and a couple of Fin Whales as well. One of the Fin Whales actually traveled in towards us and surfaced right in the middle of the Dolphins. Seeing a 70 foot whale surfacing with 8 foot Dolphins is quite the sight. It really shows you how great the size difference really is!

We stayed with this pod of Dolphins and the Fin Whales for quite a while, but before we knew it, it was time to head back to the Harbor. On the way back in we found an individual Humpback Whale who was later identified as Gizmo. Gizmo was spending his time feeding and he actually came up to the surface with a mouthful on most of his surfacings. We waited patiently to see this whale's flukes for an ID shot, but it wasn't until our last sequence of looks that we got what we were waiting for. 

Overall, this was an amazing trip which was a good thing because it actually ended up being our last of 2005. There was one scheduled weekend of whale watching left, but because of stormy weather it was canceled. This season was definitely my best to date. It's going to be hard to beat it, but hopefully the 2006 season will!
 

The highlight of today's trip was when we found a pair of adult Humpback Whales who were traveling and feeding together. One of these whale's was immediately identified as Evolution and the other was later identified as Dynamite. These whales made several really close approaches to the boat and they stayed pretty close to the boat which made for a lot of nice looks!!

We also saw some great Fin Whales today including one that came really close to the boat and actually swam right under the bow. Seeing a 70 foot whale so close is so amazing. It's hard to believe their true size until you see it for yourself!
 

The afternoon trip started out the same. We headed north this time to follow up on some Humpback reports, but our first whale was another adult Fin Whale. We got some decent looks at this whale, but we didn't stay to long because the Humpback reports were much further offshore. We needed to save some of our time because we had to travel so far.

After what seemed like hours of traveling, we found a Humpback whale who was busy feeding. After a few dives we were finally able to see the underside of this whale's flukes to try to make an ID. The fluke pattern looked very familiar to me (I saw it's photo on the WCNE website) and I told the naturalist on board that I thought this was a whale named Kansas. Once I got home and compared photos, sure enough I was right! I was so happy that I was able to ID my first whale on the spot, especially considering that I had never seen this whale before!
 

A little while later we found a young Humpback Whale who was later identified as Thimble, a calf from the 2003 season. Thimble was busy feeding, but we were able to get some really nice looks before we headed off to find more whales again. 

As we were traveling we found some more Fin Whales who gave us some really nice looks. Before we knew it though, our time was up and it was time to return to the Harbor.

On the way back in we found another whale. At first it was thought it was another Fin Whale, but as we got closer we realized it was a Humpback Whale. We assumed we had just caught up with Thimble again, but this was larger so we waited patiently to see the underside of it's flukes. As it raised it's tail we saw that it as a type 5 (meaning almost completely black), but there were some white marks on it. My aunt and I both looked at each and said 'it's Hat-Trick'! We had just seen this whale yesterday so it was very easy to recognize it! Unfortunately, we didn't have much time so we could only stick around for a few short looks. Overall, it was time well spent with some really nice whales!
 

From there we found a Humpback Whale known as Hat-Trick. We had seen this whale back in 2004 traveling with another whale known as Cirri. This time Hat-Trick was displaying the same behavior. Spending it's time deep feeding and fluking frequently. What made this sighting a little bit more entertaining was that Hat-Trick was traveling with a small pod of North Atlantic White Sided Dolphins. Although, I'm not to sure that Hat-Trick was to crazy about having the Dolphins so close. At one point he tail breached and the captain on another vessel that was watching Hat-Trick said that they could see Hat-Trick using his flippers to try to steer the Dolphins away. Still, it was very exciting to see a tail breach!

Our time with Hat-Trick was time well spent, but unfortunately it was over before we knew it. We were running out of time and we had to head back to the Harbor. It was another great day to be out on the ocean with the whales!
 

Shortly after we left the dolphins we found a young Humpback Whale who was later identified as Bullett's yet to be named calf from 2002. This whale was spending it's time feeding. It surfaced a few times with a mouthful of food. We stayed with this whale for a little while waiting anxiously for it to lift it's flukes out of the water so we could get an ID shot, finally it did! It has some pretty unique markings which should make this whale pretty easy to recognize if I see it again.

After we parted ways with this whale we watched a pair of Fin Whales for a little while, but our time was running out and it was time to head back to the Harbor. Overall, it was another great trip!
 

The first Fin Whale that we came across gave us a couple of quick looks, but then it went for a deeper dive and we were never able to find it again. There were two more Fin Whales up ahead of us that were spending more time at the surface so we headed off in that direction to see if we could get some good looks. This was a very good move because there was one whale who gave us some incredible looks! This whale was sticking to short dives (approximate 4 minutes) and it was traveling slowly and staying pretty close to the boat. At one point it surfaced to the right of us and swam right under the pulpit (bow or front of the boat). I was up on the top deck so I didn't really see the whale that well under the water, but I'm sure the people up front had an awesome view!

We stayed with this whale for a little while before we headed a little further south to see what else we could find. Here we came across another pair of Fin Whales. One of these whales gave us really nice looks, especially when it surfaced to the right of us and swam along side of us for a few breaths and then it went for a deeper dive. It was another great day to be out there, but hopefully Wednesday will bring us some more variety! We're still holding out hope that we'll get to see our Pilot Whales!! Stay tuned...
 

Today's trip brought us several large Fin Whales, there were an estimated twelve that we saw throughout the trip. All of which were very good to us. They were relaxed and keeping to shorter dive times. They weren't traveling very far or very fast which is always a good thing as it gives us plenty of chances for some nice looks. While we watching the Fin Whales we also had several, an estimated four, Minke Whales that were also in the same area searching for food.

There were many seabirds out there today as well. There were several different groups of Common Terns and Shearwaters scattered all over the place. This is a very promising sign as the birds eat the same food that the whales do. Another neat sighting from today's trip was when we found several Sooty and Greater Shearwaters along with Common Terns that were hunting for fish. There were even some Blue Fin Tuna that could be seen splashing and leaping through the surface! 

It was a very exciting trip and hopefully it's just a preview of what the fall has in store for us! We're on vacation this week so we'll be going out on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and most likely over the weekend as well. There's lots of whale watching coming, be sure to come back for the updates!
 

On the morning trip we found a Minke Whale pretty early in the trip, but because the ocean was so choppy and the Minke Whale's are so small it was very hard to relocate. We got a couple of quick glimpses, but we couldn't find it again so we headed further off shore.

A little while later some splashing was noticed up ahead. It turned out to be a very large pod of North Atlantic White Sided Dolphins. Finding them on a day like today was pretty awesome because normally when the ocean is choppy they're very hard to find. This pod was great! They were active and several of them were breaching and bow riding. Many of them came very close to the boat and gave us some nice looks. There were also quite a few mother and calf pairs. They are easily identified because the calves are obviously much smaller than the adults and they swim right along side their mothers. There was one pair in particular that traveled right along the right side of the boat for several minutes before headed off to join some of the other individuals in the pod. We stayed with these dolphins for a little while before we headed off once again in search of more whales.

Shortly after we found a single Fin Whale who gave us some really nice looks! This whale was pretty calm and relaxed which is always nice. We really could've spent more time with this individual, but the blows of two other whales were seen in the distance so we wanted to go check them out to see what they were. 

It turned out to be two Fin Whales, a mother and calf pair. They were originally seen traveling side by side and they continued traveling like this for several minutes. The when they both went down for a deeper dive the calf actually swam over towards us and surfaced near the bow (front) of the boat. It was very curious as it slowly swam in a complete circle around us before it headed off to reunite with it's mom. Once it reached mom the calf began rolling at the surface. It was very nice to see such an up close look at this calf and then to see it rolling at the surface! It was quite the sight as it's pretty unusual for Fin Whale behavior. 

We weren't very far off shore when we found these whales so we got to spend quite a bit of time with them before our time was up with them and we had to head back to the harbor. It was a great trip and we were very hopeful that the afternoon would be just as good!

The wind had picked up quite a bit in the afternoon which really made it difficult to find whales. With the help of some other whale watching vessels we were able to relocate the same Fin Whale mother and calf pair. They were still traveling side by side most of the time. Because there were a few whale watching boats in the area waiting to get looks we tried to go a bit further off shore, but the ocean conditions were getting worst as we got further off. So we ended up heading back to the direction of the Fin Whales for some more looks. They were really good whales to watch as they spent quite a bit of time at the surface. Even though the ocean was pretty rough, everyone on the boat was very happy to have such a nice pair of whales to watch. A good time was had by all!
 

We started out with a single Fin Whale who was very calm and relaxed. It was spending a lot of time at the surface and wasn't diving for long periods of time. To make things even better, when it did dive it wasn't traveling very far. This allowed us to get several excellent looks! We stayed with this whale for a little while and then we headed a little further off shore to see what else we could find.

A little while later we came across our second Fin Whale. This whale was also great! It was following pretty much the same diving and traveling pattern as the first Fin Whale. It was feeding when we were watching it. As it was come up to the surface you could see that it's throat was expand under the water. This was the first time that I can remember ever seeing this so that was pretty cool. We got to see this a few times and then as it went down for another deep dive we headed off again in search of more whales.

Here we found our third Fin Whale of the day and there was yet another pair off in the distance. This whale had a very unique looking dorsal fin. Right at the base there was a huge chunk missing. I don't know for sure how it happened, but it definitely makes this whale very unique and very easy to recognize. If I ever see this whale again, it will definitely be very familiar. We found this last whale quite a ways off shore so we couldn't spend to much time with it. We got to see a few sequences and then we headed back for the harbor.
 

We got some really nice looks at this first whale before we headed further off shore in hopes of finding more whales. That's when we came across a mother and calf Fin Whale pair. They were traveling side by the side the whole time and they were also taking short dives and traveling very slowly. We were able to get a few really nice looks at these whales before our time was up and we had to head for home.

The afternoon trip started out the same way, with a single Fin Whale. This Fin Whale was also very relaxed and gave us some amazing looks! While we were waiting for this Fin Whale to resurface we got a cute little surprise sighting in the form of a young Harbor Seal. This little Seal was all alone about 20 miles off shore. It was very curious and actually swam a circle around the boat before it disappeared.

With all of the excitement over the Harbor Seal, we lost track of the Fin Whale and we were never able to find it again. We did however find a very large adult Humpback Whale known as Flask. Flask is an adult male and boy is he big! Our best look at him was on his first surfacing when we got into the area. He surfaced within feet of the left side of the boat. After taking a few breaths, he went down for a deeper dive. After that he began traveling a little bit and because our time was limited we were only able to get a couple more looks at him. It would've been nice to have found him a bit earlier so we could spend more time with him, but the trips overall were both successful so that's all that really mattered.
 

A little while after we left the Dolphins we found an area that several different Fin Whales were feeding in. We got some nice up close looks at a couple of them and there were more that we just didn't have time to get to. We spent as much time as we could with the Fin Whales before our time was up and we had to head back for home.

On the way back to the harbor it was becoming increasingly foggy and it was starting to rain a little bit. We got soaked and we were freezing, but it was well worth it!
 

The afternoon trip was another huge hit! We found a nice pod of North Atlantic White Sided Dolphins just 6 miles off shore. This pod was very active and very entertaining and because we found them so early in the trip we still had plenty of time to look for the larger whales!

After we left the Dolphins we found a pair of Fin Whales and some more Minke Whales. Among the Fin Whales was a whale known as 'Comet'. 'Comet' was named because of some bad scarring that is found on the right side of it's tailstock. This is my second time seeing Comet this year, the first being in June. It's always nice to see the same whale more than once, especially when you can recognize it right away!

We spent quite a bit of time with the Fin Whales before we headed further off shore to see if we could find any more whales. This turned out to be a very good move because we found an adult male Humpback Whale known as 'Hornbill'. This was my second time seeing Hornbill, the first being in June (the same day that I saw Comet - kind of weird that I saw them both on the same day again). When we first got there, Hornbill was being pretty boring (for lack of a better word). He wasn't lifting his tail up as much as Humpback's are known for and he wasn't spending very much time at the surface. Little did we know that he was about to give us the show of a lifetime!

A few minutes after he had gone for a deeper dive we picked up watch to find him when resurfaced again. All of a sudden he breached right in front of the bow of the boat!! Nobody was expecting it and everybody was screaming because of the excitement of what just happened!! Within seconds of breaching the first time, he breached again... and again... and again... he must've breached about 10 times in a row!! It was an absolutely amazing display to say the least!! Once he was done breaching, he went back to the same behavior as when we initially found him. Apparently we got there just in time!
 

While we were watching Freckles, there were several Minke Whales who were in the same area. It seemed as thought whenever one whale would go down for a deep dive another would come up. There was so much excitement! We stayed with Freckles and the Minke Whales for a little while and then we headed out of the area to explore new territories on the way back to the harbor.

About 45 minutes later we found a very special whale! Initially all that was seen was the whale's flukes from a distance. It was assumed that this was another Humpback Whale so we headed over in that direction to check it out. As we got closer and the whale surfaced again, it was announced that it was actually a Northern Right Whale! These whales are highly endangered and in real danger of going extinct so the whale watching regulations are much more strict. We had to keep a safe distance and we could not approach the whale. Even from far away seeing this whale was a real treat! There are only an estimated 300+ left in the world so seeing just one is a really big deal and it's another sighting that I will always remember! 
 

Luckily we did manage to get some good looks at a Fin Whale, but due to the weather conditions we just couldn't keep up with it. Although, we did get to see a whale the captain on the Granite State offered a rain check to all of the passengers so we could try our luck again... in better weather!

On the way back to the harbor we saw a spout from another large whale, we're guessing it was a Humpback Whale a little bit past the Isles of Shoals, but we couldn't stop to check it out due to the sea conditions. Hopefully, this weekend will bring us better weather!
 

A little while later we came across a single Humpback Whale. At first it wasn't be very cooperative. It was taking about 10 minute dives and traveling a good distance between surfacings. After playing catch up for a couple of looks, the whale finally slowed down and spent more time at the surface. We had a pretty easy time tracking it's swimming patterns as it traveled just below the surface forming 'fluke prints' as it swam along.

This Humpback Whale has yet to be identified so unfortunately I can't say for sure at this time who this was. I can tell you that aside from a few white spots, it's flukes were all black (also known as type 5). It also has a very unique looking dorsal fin. The shape of the fin itself resembled more of a Fin Whale's dorsal fin. If it weren't for the hump on it's back, it would very easily pass as a Fin Whale! Hopefully, soon I'll have a name to put to this whale.

Overall, it was yet another great day spent out on the ocean. This season has been one of the best so far since I began whale watching! Let's just hope it continues for the rest of the year!

Update: 7/27/05 - The Humpback seen on this trip has been identified as P.D.
 

After waiting several minutes we headed out of the area to see if we could find anything else. This is where we found our next whale... a Humpback. After I got my first ID photo of the underside of the whale's flukes, it looked really familiar to me. I was almost positive that it was Palette's 2004 calf, a whale we saw earlier this season. When I got home and compared photos, I found them to be a match! Needless to say I was very happy to have identified my first Humpback Whale based on my memory!

This whale gave us some excellent looks! The best sequence of looks was when it surfaced right behind the boat and actually fed right next to the boat. The sun was hitting the water just right so you could make out most of it's body as it came near the surface! 

We stayed with this whale for a little while and then we noticed some splashing up ahead. This turned out to be Bungee (an adult female Humpback Whale) and her calf. As we headed towards them, you could see the calf's flipper extending out of the water and the flukes as it rolled at the surface. As we got close enough to really get a good look the calf's behavior changed to the normal behavior. Unfortunately, we were pretty far offshore and we found these whales late in the trip so we couldn't stay with them for to long. We did get some nice looks though. Overall, it turned out to be another great trip!
 

As we were getting closer, it was identified as a Humpback Whale who was later identified as Tornado. We got some great looks at Tornado and then more Humpback whales were spotted a little further out. This time it was a mother and calf pair! The mother was identified as Scylla. We got some great looks at Scylla and her calf. The calf was spending a lot of time at the surface with mom nearby. 

After a few nice sequences of looks, it was time to head for home. It was very nice to see a mother and calf pair. The last mother and calf pair that I saw was Pinball and her calf in July of 2003. Pinball has returned this season with a new calf. I'm hopeful that I'll get to see them to before the season is over!
 

Shortly after leaving the first Minke Whale we found another. This whale was like the first one in that we only got a couple of quick looks before it went for a deep dive. Again, we tried our luck in waiting for it to resurface, but it never did. After sitting for a few minutes we were on our way again.

About fifteen minutes after we left the second Minke Whale, we ran into a very unique looking Ocean Sunfish. These fish are the largest known bony fish in the world! They can grow to be up to 6 feet (from nose to tail) and up to 10 feet (from fin to fin) and they can weigh up to a ton! Their diet consists mainly of jellyfish, but they've also been shown to eat squid, sponges, small fish, eel grass, and even deepwater eel larvae! They are definitely very unique and kind of scary looking fish, but they are gentle! We stayed with this fish for about 5 minutes before we were on our way once again.

About fifteen minutes later we found a large pod of North Atlantic White Sided Dolphins. This pod was very active and they were spread out over a pretty large area of water which was nice so everyone had a chance to see them. They treated us to some very nice looks and even some breaching! Dolphins are a lot of fun to watch and they're always a huge crowd pleaser so it was nice to see such a cooperative pod! We stayed with them for about fifteen minutes before we headed out again to explore further offshore. 

About a half hour later we came across three Fin Whales. We got some decent looks at a couple of them, but then we noticed some splashing up ahead of us. Since the whales that we were watching weren't spending to much of their time at the surface we headed out to check out the splashing. This was another Fin Whale. We got some nice looks at this whale before yet another whale was spotted up ahead of us. This time it was a Humpback Whale! After she raised her flukes, this Humpback Whale was identified as an adult female known as Clamp. We got some really nice looks at Clamp. At one point she showed us a little bit of lunge feeding just off to the left of the boat. Unfortunately, I wasn't ready for it so I was unable to get a photo. Still just being able to see it was really nice! After she lunged she went down for a deeper dive again. When she resurfaced she was still on the left side of us and she actually swam towards us and under the boat. It was a great view!

While we were keeping track of Clamp we had a Fin Whale lunge feeding just off to the right of us. This whale was pretty close to the boat so we could see quite a bit of it's body. We even got to see it's flukes which is pretty rare with Fin Whales. We were able to see this whale lunging quite a few times, but our time was running out and we had to slowly make our way out of the area to head back to Rye. 

On the way back into the harbor we saw a couple more Minke Whales, but we had no time to stop to look at them. Overall, today's trip was one of the best of the year so far. There was quite a bit of variety in today's sightings which is always nice. 
 

We started out with a pair of Fin Whales who were thought to be a mother and calf pair. The larger of the two was very slow moving and spent quite a bit of time at the surface with allowed us to get several amazing looks. At one point it surfaced just off to the left of us and came towards us before going on a deep dive. It was awesome to get such a great view!

We stayed with this whale for a little while and then we headed off to check out some other whales that were seen in the distance. This was when we caught up with another Fin Whale. This Fin Whale was less cooperative than the first one. It was going on longer dives and wasn't spending that much time at the surface. We got a couple of quick looks at it before it was announced that we would only get to see it once more because it was getting late in our trip. Just as that announcement was made the whale surfaced to the right of us. It traveled along side of the boat while coming to the surface to get a few breaths before it headed down for a deeper dive. It was a great look and a great way to end the trip!

Throughout the day we were treated to several species of birds including Greater Shearwaters, Northern Gannets (who were diving into the water looking for food), Common Terns, Common Loons, Wilson's Storm Petrel's, and of course Seagulls. 

On the way back to the harbor we got a quick look at a Minke Whale off in the distance.  Some passengers got the chance to see a single Harbor Seal as well, but unfortunately I wasn't one of them. It was also announced that a pair of Harbor Porpoise were spotted on the way past the Isles of Shoals on the way out, but I also missed these. It's ok thought, the Fin Whale's made up for that! 
 

Our trip got off to a great start with a very large Fin Whale who gave us some great looks. The Fin Whale was pretty cooperative which is always nice. One thing that stood out about this whale was it's badly scarred tail stock on the right side. It had two good sized marks on the side and one more up towards it's dorsal fin. I don't know what happened to it, but judging by the scars it looked like it was a pretty bad injury! Luckily it seems to have healed up pretty well and didn't have any effect on the whale!

As we were watching this Fin Whale we got a couple of great looks at a Minke Whale. It's always great to be able to get a good look at Minke Whales because they tend to be more shy around boats and they normally keep their distance. The Minke from today's trip came pretty close to the boat before it went down for a dive. 

We stayed with these two whales for a little while and then we headed off to follow up on some other whale reports. Along the way we came across a Basking Shark. It was swimming pretty slowly and came very close to the boat before it made it's way below the surface and swam out from behind us. Once we knew the Shark was out of the way we headed over to a pair of boats (Prince of Whales and Deborah Ann) in the distance. They were keeping track of a Humpback Whale.

This Humpback gave us some nice looks, but it seemed to be on a mission and stayed under the water and out of sight most of the time. It wasn't until our last look that I was finally able to get the tail shot that I always try to get! Hopefully, this whale will be identified soon. That's one of the things that I like the most about photographing Humpback Whales. I love being able to put a name to them and to learn about their sighting history.

Overall it was a great trip! Next weekend starts with the 8:30 trips which we're both pretty excited about. We love going on the earlier trips, we seem to have much better luck early in the morning. Hopefully the whales will still be out the for us!

Update: 6/19/05 - The Humpback seen on this trip has been identified as an adult male named Hornbill.
 

The trip started out on a great note with a single Minke Whale who was surprisingly cooperative and gave us some great looks. It wasn't traveling very far away from us so we were able to get quite a few decent looks. The best look was when it actually swam over towards us and passed right behind the boat. The water was pretty clear so we were able to see most of it as it swam along. After spending a few minutes with this whale, we were off to follow up on some other whale reports.

We traveled for a little while before we caught up with the Prince of Whales. They were keeping track of a Humpback Whale who unfortunately was entangled pretty good in some fishing gear. From what we could tell, it looked as though the fishing line was going throught the whale's mouth, over the top of the body, and down and around the flukes. Judging by the way the line went straight down into the water instead of trailing along behind the whale, it appeared that there was something weighing it down. This extra weight prevented the whale from being able to lift it's flukes out of the water and it clearly restricted it's ability to swim. At one point it swam a few circles around the boat as if it was looking for us to help it. Obviously being whale enthusiasts, this was very hard for us to watch. Especially because there was nothing that we could do! All we could do was stay by it and hope that the rescue team got out there soon!

Shortly after we got out there, the Prince of Whales left the area and it was our turn to stay and keep track of the whale. When entangled whales are found, the Coast Guard and the Center of Coastal Studies are both notified so they can dispatch a rescue team to try to disentangle it. While waiting for the rescue team to get out to the whale, it's asked that somebody stays with the whale to keep track of it. This helps the rescue team to locate the whale as soon as possible to assess the situation. After staying with the whale for about an hour and a half the Atlantic Queen, another whale watch vessel out of Rye, NH, came in to take over the watch until help arrived. We ended up heading back to the harbor. 

On the way back to the harbor we found another Humpback Whale, later identified as Palette's 04 calf, who was busy feeding. It was swimming in circles and help round of the fish and then it would lunge out of the water to take in a huge mouthful of food! It was a great way to end the trip to see a healthy Humpback doing what a healthy Humpback should be doing.

The last update that we got on the entangled whale came as we were getting close to the Harbor. Another boat was heading out to stay with the entangled whale so that the Atlantic Queen could head back to shore. An update should be posted within the next couple of days on the CCS (Center Coastal of Studies) website at http://coastalstudies.org. 

UPDATE: This whale was successfully disentangled Sunday afternoon. All of the details can be seen here..
http://coastalstudies.org (click on 'Whale Rescue' and 'Prvious Disentanglements' at the bottom.
 

We started out with a few Minke Whales, it's estimated that there were about five total. These whales were displaying typical Minke behavior as they didn't get to close to the boats and they didn't spend much time at the surface. However, we were able to get some decent looks at them before we headed out to see if we could find any more whales.

After traveling for a little while we met up with the Prince of Whales who was keeping track of a Humpback Whale. This whale was very cooperative as it was sticking with short dive times and was traveling slowly. It also gave us some excellent looks. It is believed that this was a juvenile as it was fairly small and didn't raise it's flukes when it was diving which prevented it from being identified. We were able to stay with this whale for a little while before we had to head back to the harbor.

Overall it was a great trip. The whales were great to us today and the birds were as well. We had the chance to see Northern Gannets who were very active and very hungry. There were quite a few of them who were diving into the ocean in search of fish. It was very cool to see! We also got to see several Common Terns, Wilson's Storm Petrel's, Double-crested Cormorants, Phalaropes, and we even a Common Yellowthroat who decided to catch a ride with us on the boat! It landed on the wire by the railings and eventually made it's way into the pilot house! It was the strangest thing!
 

We ended up finding at least two Humpback Whales and about five or six Fin Whales who were all very busy feeding. They were all lunge feeding and open mouth feeding the same area which is pretty rare in whale's of this size. It didn't matter which direction you looked in because the whales were all over the place! At one point a Fin Whale and a Humpback Whale surfaced almost side by side each with their mouths wide open to take in the food. It was an absolutely amazing display! This especially considering that it's a pretty rare find to see two large species traveling and feeding so close together.

Unfortunately, the longer we stayed out there the worst the weather got. It began to get windy and the ocean began to get choppy so our trip was cut shorter than usual. We weren't disappointed though because we definitely got a great show out there! We even got a quick look at a pair of Harbor Porpoise on the way back to the harbor. It was a great way to start the season. Hopefully, this is just a preview of what the rest of the season has in store for us!