Tuesday 10th June

Today we saw a fin whale! This was on the two hour Bay Discovery and not particularly far from shore. We occasionally see fin whales in August, but we have never seen one this early before. I just caught sight of a blow in my peripheral vision, which seemed far too big for a minke whale, and not bushy enough for a humpback, but we weren’t expecting it to then surface right in front of us with a massive WHOOSH. Tall blow, huge blow holes, immensely long, sleek back, then an obliquely sloping dorsal fin….definitely a fin whale! Very exciting, and fortunately I pressed the shutter at the right moment. We waited for a while, but didn’t see it again – they’re not known as the greyhounds of the sea for nothing. We also saw a group of harbour porpoises earlier in the trip including a mum with tiny newborn calf, an ocean sunfish and a group of seals hauled out. Not bad for a two hour trip. The afternoon’s Discovery Voyage saw some more seals, in the water this time, and then we sailed all the way out to the Epson Shoal where another whale was spotted – a minke this time, and only seen by a couple of people. Still, it does show us there are now whales in the area.