We were thrilled to see the fog clearing and started looking for blows! Harbor and grey seals started appearing everywhere. Harbor porpoise came up all around the boat. The water was so calm with only a slight swell. Finally, one of our crew members spotted a blow in the distance! It was a finback whale! Myself and the crew were so thrilled and passengers cheered in excitement! Below is a picture of the whale's "footprint" or fluke print. This smooth patch of water at the surface is created by the up and down movements of the whale's large fluke or tail.
As the whale surfaced, Laura Kennedy, our bird researcher, spotted the large dorsal fin of a Basking Shark! It came right up next to the boat. This species is the second largest on the planet. They can reach lengths of 35 feet and weigh up to 8,000 pounds! But this shark eats some of the tiniest creatures in the ocean-plankton! They capture their prey on bristle-like structure called gill rakers. They will filter about 2,000 tons of water per hour!
Soon after spotting the first whale and basking shark another finback whale surfaced nearby. We decided to check out this whale since the other finback was taking 12-14 minute dives. This whale spent a great deal of time at the surface allowing us to get some great looks!
The water was like glass and we could see the whale's entire body as it came to the surface. It was awesome!It was hard to keep track of the numerous seabirds, seals, and porpoises.These photos were taken by one of our research assistants, Lauren Donnelly-Crocker. One of the finbacks(the photo above) seen on this trip was later identified as Bolshoi.
