This fall has been full of unbelievable sightings and today’s trip just continued our hot streak! Even though we had a decent swell in the bay area, the area around Pacific Grove was glassy. As we passed the beautiful coastline of Pacific Grove we spotted my favorite species of dolphin, the Risso’s dolphin. The small pod showed well between our 2 boats and even had a few youngsters in it.
A small pod of Risso’s dolphins appears along side the Pacifica.
Once we let our passengers enjoy the pod of Risso’s dolphins we ventured further offshore to look for some bigger animals. The ocean was bumpy but the amount of whales outside of the bay was astonishing! We unfortunately could not reach every blow we saw but did get great looks at 2 blue whales and 3 fin whales. We suspect the blows we could not reach to be more fin whales or blue whales. Our 2 blue whales took long dives but showed well at the surface as they swam side by side. The 3 fin whales we spotted made many close passes to our boat to the delight of our passengers. Every detail of these huge animals was clearly seen. Our passengers were able to hear and see the huge animals exhale creating a huge plume of water reaching 30 feet high. They also got to see the hazy white chevron pattern along the animals back. We were delighted to have this close encounter since fin whales are sometimes really quick and elusive.
A huge fin whale that swam along the New Horizon.
Another great day fall day on the water! Blue whale and fin whale sightings have been consistent for about 2 weeks now! Come join us soon at Discovery Whale Watch for a chance to see the largest living animal on the planet!
Naturalist Eric Austin Yee
