WHALES!! 24-28 JANUARY 2015 All Photos This Page Courtesy of Mike Weber
WHALE WATCHER'S LOG: Saturday night's crossing was rougher than anticipated; rougher than the trip down, but compared to the GALAPAGOS (call that a 10), then the crossing down was a 2 and the trip out a 4. My whale boat from the other whale boat SUNDAY, 24 JANUARY Long trip out as Capt. Amanda tried to gentle the route by tacking, which lengthened the ride also. So instead of arriving at 7 a.m., we were still not there at 10, but by 10:30 we had reached the mooring area. BUT WHALES HAVE BEEN SIGHTED! Spumes and backs seen on both port and starboard. At 10 a.m., I saw four in a couple of minutes, one was a group of three traveling together. Not close enough for me to photograph, but close enough not to need binoculars. Calf is breaching, while mom tail slaps Our first excursion will not occur until after lunch. The boat has to have a mooring set, and then a brief on procedures for getting into and out of the "mobile viewing platforms" (a/k/a chase boats). Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes . . . We are weathered out; no excursion this afternoon. High winds from the northeast make getting in and out of the chase boats too dangerous. We're hoping the wind will die down by tomorrow morning MONDAY, 25 JANUARY The weather did die down and we were treated to some wonderful displays of tail-slapping, fin-slapping, breaching, tail-lobbing and a calf head-lobbing (attempting to breach). The mothers teach all whale behaviors to the calves and they are great little mimics. So much so that one calf actually came out and joined the line of swimmers observing him and his mom. He lined up on each end of the group looking to see what everyone was lookin' at.
	Monday afternoon's run was not as exciting as was the morning's. We did not get in the water - all the whales we saw were moving. The other boat put people in the water five times, but they didn't get to see much.
TUESDAY, 26 JANUARY The wind has picked up quite a bit, but we again had a good morning of displays and mother and calf activities. The forecast is for winds most of the week. That won't bother the whales, but if the whales don't calm down, we can't get in the water with them. WEDNESDAY, 27 JANUARY We did not get in the water. We saw many examples of whale behavior up close and personal. Huge escort (male) whales under the boat and blocking mom and calf. Mom and calf doing pectoral slaps and tail slaps. Calf imitating mom doing breaches and tail slaps.

MORE WHALE ANTICS HERE