Our first sighting of whales came much sooner than we expected. On our first full day at sea, June 2, we started seeing whale spouts off in the distance. It was a large group of humpback whales on their migration to Alaska from Hawaii. We were traveling faster than they and we saw water spouts for quite a ways…Melany guessed there might be a hundred, but we don't know for sure how many. I did manage to get photos of them spouting and then a couple of their backs and their dorsal fins. Here's a little information I looked up about the dorsal fins of humpback whales:
The humpback whale dorsal fin is a small, stubby fin situated atop a distinct "hump" on the lower half of the whale's back. Its unique size, shape, and surrounding scars act as key identifiers for researchers tracking individual whales.
Because it is relatively small, the dorsal fin provides little hydrodynamic stability compared to the whale's massive pectoral fins. Instead, it functions primarily as a thermal regulator, releasing excess body heat during intense physical activity.
We were pretty excited to find whales prior to our whale excursion! On the photo that shows the dorsal fins, you can see the water spouts for dissipating. We didn’t see any of these whales breach…so dudn't get to see much of their bodies at this time on our trip. On the whale and mammal watching boat trip we did see more of the humpback whales…I even got a photo of the pectoral fin out of the water…waving at me! Also got to witness them bubble-net fishing on the whale watching day…I will show more photos of that when I share that day with you.
Our first day at sea ended with a pretty pastel sunset…at 10pm!
To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!
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