It was nice having big holiday crowds today aboard the New Horizon and Pacifica. After giving our passengers our safety speech and rundown of the trip, we boarded the boats and took off. The weather was nice and sunny with a slight land breeze from the northwest that tapered off throughout the trip. Finding our first whales was all thanks to Captain Rod on the New Horizon. He’d spotted a pod of 4 active humpback whales! The Pacifica soon joined in to observe the action. We saw one of these whales do a big tail throw which is always nice! After a couple surfacings from this pod, 2 of them started becoming docile and approached the Pacifica. Captain Danny shut off the engines so the whales would feel comfortable around the boat and we waited as they approached. The next 45 minutes proceeded to be some of the best whale watching I’ve done in my 3 and a half years working on the water. This pair of humpbacks circled, dove under, and scratched their backs on the Pacifica for close to an hour! Many times they blew feet from the boat, covering all our delighted passengers in a healthy dose of whale snot and sea water. Several times, one of the whales, which was a 50 foot female, rolled on her back showing us her chin and belly! My personal favorite moment was one time when she rolled over and looked right up into the faces of our passengers. It was a magical experience I will certainly never forget and I hope our passengers feel the same way.
-Naturalist Fredo