Whale Diary

10:00 - This morning with a little drizzle we set sail into the bay. We started out with our Atlantic puffins, they are entering the egg laying stage so getting settled down to truly start the breeding season. Then we headed out into the bay! Not far into the journey we spotted 2 harbor porpoises. They gave us a couple of surface sequences before they continued on and so we continued as well. Farther out into the bay, we spotted a pod of 10 white-beaked dolphins! This pod was very curious and gave us a bit of a boat inspection, swimming under and all around us. We are heading into their breeding season, and so we did see a bit of mating as well. It was wonderful to hear them surface for breath and also watch them swim through the water. After an incredible encounter, and endless dolphin views, we waved them goodbye and continued. We spotted a flock of birds diving down and went to see if anyone was below waiting to say hello. That was when we saw the back of one minke whale! This minke surfaced very close which allowed a great view of them. As we were looking around, we spotted two more solitary minke whales popping up in the distance. After a few surface sequences, it was time to head back to port. However, on our journey back the cetaceans were not through with us as we spotted one humpback whale! This individual gave us a beautiful fluke dive right as we pulled up to them, excellent timing! We could stay for one more surface sequence, before it was time to head back to port. With all of our common cetaceans spotted, we had a great start to our day!

Crew: Captain Gunni & Guide Emily, Captain Miquel & Guide Sam

14:00 - This afternoon was still pretty grey with some occasional rain but the bay provided! We split up on our two boats to cover as much area as possible. One of our boats spotted 2 minke whales feeding under a big flock of birds. It was a marvel to watch the minkes surface while plenty of Northern gannets plunge diving around them. Then both boats found the stars of the afternoon. A pair of humpback whales were calmly swimming together at the surface. All of a sudden one of them started to peduncle throw and tail slap over and over again! Every now and then the other humpback joined in with this active display! It was incredible to watch their huge tails coming out of the water. After a while, they finally calmed down and this is when they started to get a little curious. First they went right underneath one of the larger whale watching boats and then they turned and came right underneath one of our RIBs! We could see the whole body of the whale through the water with their glowing white pectoral fins giving away their location. They continued to swim very close to the surface and very close to one of our boats for a while. After this, we decided to move on and leave the pair in peace after a busy encounter. On our way back into the harbour, we caught a glimpse of a harbour porpoise but only once before it disappeared. An amazing afternoon in the bay.

Crew: Captain Gunni & Guide Emily, Captain Miquel & Guide Sam