A Cetacean Day

Hi All, I have been looking forward to this day because the weather forecast is perfect! Brilliant sunshine and flat water make for good sightings! We leave Leeward with a boat full of friends. On our way back from Beaches, JoJo joins us as we go past Seven Stars. He is looking for a ride to Pine Cay. Once we get there he branches but comes back to Spy Hop and stays around our boat. This is a nice opportunity for people to get in and swim with him. A few boats pull up and he visits each of them. Unfortunately, it's Melanie's last day on Provo and we need to bring her back to Ocean Club so she can catch her plane. JoJo doesn't choose to accompany us so we leave him with his admirers. After dropping off Melanie, we make a quick check to see if any other dolphins have joined JoJo. He was following a boat which means he's by himself. My other friends are real whale enthusiasts and toady is a perfect day to see them. Once over the reef we see a mother and calf. Unfortunately there are a number of other boats have seen them as well. We follow at a respectful distance but clearly the mom wanted no part of the humans. On the Silver Bank where most of these Humpback whales are headed there are only three boats allowed at a time. If you are trying to watch a mother and calf and they turn away from you three times you must leave the alone. There is actually a warden on board one of the boats that enforces these rules. Here however, I have seen a lot of pushy behavior from boats. I really think some of the whales are okay with humans getting in to swim with them however if they clearly are on the move then it's disrespectful. We leave these whales and head toward Northwest Point. I spot something in the water that I think might be trash and we go to pick it up. As we get near, we see it's a bird with a very long tail sitting on the water. As we turn to go it flys off showing it's beautiful long tail. I realize it's a Tropic Bird. They always show up at this time of year to nest and have their babies. The rest of the year they stay over the ocean.

As I'm looking out at the horizon, I see some black shapes that look like big dolphins. We have seen these before. They are actually Pilot whales. They are very shy and we don't get very close. Just as we are thinking we should start heading back there are two big blows right near our boat! Then two big Humpbacks swim past us and keep going. We decide it's time to head in. I'm sorry I didn't see Bo and Whizzer but, we certainly had a great day!