As we got closer we could see its smooth skin and swept back fin, this was no humpback, we were pretty sure this was a fin whale! Normally they live 30miles off the coast, but this curious beast had come only a kilometre or so off the shore. To get a proper identification we looked between the dorsal fin and the tail flukes. Another name for a fin whale is a razorback, because it has a prominent ridge in that area. When the fin whale arched its back to do a deep dive we saw this line clearly.

Yesterday we saw a beautiful humpback whale so it made sense to go to the same area to begin our search. That area is known to be a great feeding group, the waters are extremely rich and lots of species spawn there. It took us about 45minutes to get out to it, but we look all the way as we also have had whales in the harbour. Twice last year we had a curious humpback come and investigate where we moor the boat!

We found a humpback, it was gorgeous, with very clear scarring on its dorsal fine so we knew we’d seen it before. It wasn’t fussed by us, and carried on feeding, popping up for a minute to breath and then diving back down for another 10minutes. It remaining relaxed and continuing to feed is extremely important to us, the welfare of our ocean mammals has to be our top priority and we always make sure we are responsible around them, no fast turns or getting too close. By remaining predictable and calm these intelligent, curious giants know to trust us and so chose to approach us.