The best days

are always on the ocean, with whales, fish, birds and great people. This week we had a treat to find a courting couple, this is quite late in the season for this behaviour normally that we see in August but this season has been full of surprises. The female was not a full adult but the first male was, she was later joined by 2 other males. The female was more interested in the boat and swimmers than the other male, but perhaps he was happy for the rest!. The guests that enjoyed this trip included Richard Hegarty and his fiancee Nadine.

The pictures below tell a tale both above and underwater of the fantastic encounters we had before passing them over to the film crew from Oceanic Preservation Society and the makers of The Cove.

All of the photos were shot by Richard, trying to decide between topside and underwater viewing. Luckily Rich had enough of both to get some great shots.

What an amazing week we have had, back out tomorrow for more whales....... The first two pictures are of an encounter we had with an unusual and shallow Sperm Whale,  Physeter macrocephalus, this was my first Sperm Whale here in 5 years and brought back many memories of Norway. See the wrinkled skin and the blow at a 45 degree angle to the left. We tried to get in the water but the whale was too shy, and so we enjoyed him from the surface. There was absolutely no excitement from me on this find

Below starts our encounter with an FF, frisky female, she spy hopped over 20 times both close to the guests and the boat. One of the best encounters I have had this year and a real adrenaline pumper.

All pictures © Richard Hegarty 2010