Paul Peluso brought a group of photographers on his boat to try to find the group of whales that were near the Coimbra wreck last week.  If you missed that be sure to check the incredible photos.  The whales had moved on but we still had a great day with the highlight a few Mola mola that gave us an opportunity for some underwater video.   You can’t say we didn’t try, covering over 100 miles between Moriches, the offshore wreck and Shinnecock Inlet.  We finally found our whale at the end of a long day.  Thanks to Paul for a great effort and for writing up his story below. 

 

By Paul Peluso 7-8-2019

We set sail on the Mama Mia with friends Asia Lee, Lynda Wagner and Mike Busch to look for some whales on Friday,  heading to the Coimbra Wreck about 30 miles SE of Moriches Inlet.

Upon getting there we saw 30 boats tuna fishing all around but no signs of whales.   Last week this area was thick with Humpbacks along with a few Minke and Fin Whales mixed in.
On the VHF Radio Captain Adrian Mason said he saw 2 early in the AM but that was it.

We spotted a few different pods of dolphins and got them to play alongside the boat and ride our wake.

Then about 9:30 AM we spotted  Mola mola aka Ocean Sunfish.  These big, strange looking fish usually are slow swimmers and curious about boats.

So we slowed down to get some underwater videos and Asia Lee decided to go swimming with the bizarre creature.

We cruised around for hours and decided to head back in to Shinnecock and ride the beach back to see if we could come across any whales 🐋 feeding on the massive bunker pods that stretched from Davis Park to Shinnecock.  We stopped on several different pods along the way trying the snag and drop method of trying to catch a cow Striped Bass but we struck out.

So now it’s 3:30 pm we were re all sunburnt, tired and ready to head in when we see what we believe was a whale right in front on Moriches inlet

We fly over to where she was and couldn’t find it, perhaps we were seeing things after traveling over 100 miles scanning the horizon all day.

Just as we were entering the inlet a call comes over the radio hey that Capt. Looking for that whale well she’s right here by Cupsouge.

We turned around and saw a small Finback Whale a few times but he was not cooperating for photos.  Mike Busch gets a few shots off before the whale disappeared again.    Even though we didn’t get up close and personal with the whales we all got to finally see one.  Just goes to show how 1 week can make the difference between 30 whales to 1.

Thanks for a good time I think we had a successful trip.  Asia, Lynda and Michael the next time I hear about a whales in the Moriches your welcome on my boat. We’ll get them on the fall Migration usually around Oct 22 😉🐋

Photos Below are from Lynda Wagner

Mola mola – Lynda Wagner

Short Beaked Common Dolphin – Lynda Wagner

Short Beaked Common Dolphin – Lynda Wagner

Short Beaked Common Dolphin – Lynda Wagner

More Photos and Video on Pages 2 and 3