40:30.48N 043:09.38W
A little excitement yesterday afternoon.
Two whales (not sure what kind) both larger than the yacht, came to check us
out. They were a bit sneeky really. I was sort of aware that something was
nearby because there were patches of flat water appearing quite close to us
but nothing was breaking the surface. Then Tom announced 'a whale, right in
front of us!'. We didn't see it again for a while and I was getting
disappointed.Then it broke the surface on our starboard side at about 100
metres away, swimming on a parallel course and then dived again. This it
repeated a few times and then it suddenly appeared right under our bow. Tom
turned the boat to avoid it, it was that close. We thought we were going to
hit it. A few minutes later it appeared again at 20 meters off our
starboard bow, this time with its friend...2 whales now. They both decided
to cut right in front of us...this was making us all nervous. I got
everyone to put lifejackets on, just in case. The final time a whale swam
across us it touched the keel. I think it had satisfied itself that we were
not another whale and we didn't see them again.
I've never had whales come this close before, not counting the time I ran
over a basking shark near Penzance and I'm not sure I want them to again.
Justin
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