21 September 2022

Species seen today: humpback whale, minke whales, white-beaked dolphins, harbour porpoises

Today was another wet day with rain showers scattered throughout both tours. This didn't stop us from heading out into the bay, however, and our bravery was rewarded! In the morning, we saw all four of the species we commonly encounter in the bay. We started the trip by watching the humpback whale called Mariupol feeding. Then when more boats arrived in the area, we headed away to some jumping dolphins that we could see in the distance. This pod gave us quite the show and jumped over and over again, sometimes right next to our boat! A few of them got curous of us and came up to give us a look and bow ride the boat as well. Again, more boats headed in our direction so to avoid overcrowding the pod, we left in search of other animals. It didn't take us long to find some minke whales and harbour porpoises. Both of these species came surprisingly close to the boat given their usual shy nature. In the afternoon, the rain continued but again we had an excellent tour. Mariupol was still feeding when we first arrived and he started feeding very actively. One time he lunged up vertically from the water right next to our boat! After a little while though, he got tired and started to nap so we decided to leave him to rest. We headed in the direction of a flock of birds that we could see feeding and we found three minke whales underneath the flock! These minkes were busy feeding as well so didn't really care about us but we were able to get really nice views of them from a little distance away. As the rain started again, we headed away to try and spot something else but couldn't find anything. We ended up visiting Mariupol again who was still resting and didn't mind us watching him as he repeatedly surfaced right next to our boat. We ended the tour with just us and a humpback whale, no other boats. What a day!