This week has been extremely busy from things such as lab practicals, research projects, and lectures. Today our transect reports was due, and many of us were up late finishing the papers for this morning. Once the papers were we had a late start and we had about a five hour whale watch which was interesting.
After we left the dock at ten we had a short boat ride out before we found the first whale, which was a Fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus). The way that we could tell it was a Balaenoptera physalus by the spray that came out of the whale’s spout. The whale had more of a thinner spray than some of the other species, and had a different body shape than the other species. The Fin whale can hold its breath for 20 minutes at a time and can dive up to 1800 meters. It is the second largest whale species and their dive sequence is usually between 5-8 blows (and about 70 seconds apart) before a long dive. This whale followed the same pattern by appearing a few times at the surface before disappearing below the water.
Fin whale above the surface
We saw several more Fin whales, and some were fairly close to to the boat but the most interesting whale in my opinion was the whale that appeared right next to the stern of the boat. The adult Fin whale appeared several times behind the stern and again on the port of the boat before disappearing. Besides Fin whales we also saw Minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) which has a wider spray and is smaller than the Fin whale.
Towards the end of the trip most of us were tired from staying up late and ended up falling asleep in the back of the boat for the hour ride back to Appledore Island. Overall, this trip was incredible and it was one of the most memorable experiences that I have had at Shoals so far.
Lindsay Russell
Image above: Fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus)
Adventures in Marine Science 