It seems as though every trip has a new star. Today was all about Valley and her calf – both of which were very surface active. Valley is a whale that we came dangerously close to losing forever when she had a life threatening entanglement, but thankfully she survived and her health rebounded quite nicely.

It was a nice surprise seeing her as a new mom this season and I must say that her spunky little calf is my favorite of the 2023 season.

This is a photo of our Valley girl breaching in some foggy conditions yesterday. The fog was a nuisance in many ways, but it still didn’t deter us or prevent us from having AMAZING whale sightings:

We were making our way out to the feeding grounds in dense fog. Feeling pretty confident we’d find whales, but man that fog sure does make it difficult! Thankfully it didn’t take long to find wildlife and what a treat we were in for! Both Valley and her calf alternated breaching and flipper slapping.

 Valley also started displaying a new behavior. She would arch her back as if she was going on a dive, but wouldn’t fluke. Moments later she would fling her tail WAY out of the water like this. She did it multiple times and it even became predictable.

-Mandy