Wednesday 26th June

It was a mega busy day today in beautiful conditions. The first of the three trips set off in mirror calm conditions so we were hopeful for some good sightings. We soon got those with some lovely views of harbour porpoises – these diminutive cetaceans are so much easier to spot in calm conditions and it was so quiet we could easily hear them “piffing” away. As we motored south we were surprised by a juvenile minke whale surfacing literally right next to us. As they sometimes do when they’re young, this then spent some time circling the boat investigating us, giving everyone on board some really unforgettable views. Later in the trip, we spotted it again and also another larger whale further away. There are a few in the area. On the next two Bay Discovery trips we had lovely views of snoozing seals, and Kelp obviously had a great day sleeping in the sun, because she really didn’t want to get back in as the tide rose at the end of the day! On trip two we also spotted an ocean sunfish, and on trip three we saw more harbour porpoises and a pomarine skua as well. Lots of photos to enjoy today, but it’s not often you can get such clear, close photos of minke whales.