October 11, 2025

The weather decided that today was our final day of the 2025 season. With a weather system coming up the coast, the wind will be cranking, and so we had to soak up every last moment on the water today. The day included humpback whales Spoon and Chromosome, and an uncommon sighting of Common dolphins! 

Pair of humpback whales

Spoon at the surface

Common dolphin

What a fun day wrapping up the season with two humpback whales we have sighted numerous times this year. Thanks, Spoon and Chromosome. 

Spoon

We were also delighted by a pod of approximately 35 Common dolphins zipping through the water. These toothed whales are masters moving through the water, and it was great watching them do just that!

Common dolphins!

Common dolphins have such beautiful shading

Thank you all for another memorable year. It's always special sharing our passion with all of you who are equally as excited as to see what we might come across. Have a wonderful winter, stay warm, and see you all again in 2026!

Friday, October 10, 2025

Crystal clear skies greeted us as we made our way offshore. Visibility was unlimited! As our captain pointed out, we could even see Mount Washington in the very far distance!

If you look reallllllyyyy closely, you can see the outline of Mt. Washington!

We found a humpback whale on our way offshore and watched it for several surfacings before continuing on.

Several small pods of harbor porpoises showed up nearby before we saw some large blows in the distance.

As we watched one humpback whale, suddenly two more showed up! The trio hung out for just a few minutes before one of them moved on, leaving the other two to swim off in a different direction.

As we explored a little more, we found another humpback whale. To our great surprise, this was the whale that left the trio, but it had moved significantly in the short time we left it! Wildlife always keeps us on our toes!

Heading for home, we saw yet another humpback whale! With just one quick look in passing, we could ID it as a whale we had last seen about a month ago!

For our birding friends, we saw several northern gannets, great shearwaters, and even a solitary red-necked phalarope! 

October 5, 2025

Another beautiful day on the ocean! Today, we started out looking at a humpback whale. As we waited for it to resurface, we noticed a pair of humpbacks in the distance. Then, the original whale surfaced and was heading toward the pair. Before we knew it, we had four humpback whales all together! Two even decided to fluke at the same time! Eventually, one of the whales moved on, and we left the trio to continue to search for more activity.

Two humpbacks

Two humpbacks diving

Soon, we encountered several blue sharks, followed by a thresher shark that jumped out of the water!! Only a few lucky people saw that, but apparently, it was incredible! Several harbor porpoises briefly appeared, as did a shy harbor seal hanging out in a group of great shearwaters!

Next, we saw a small group of dolphins nearby, but first we checked out an ocean sunfish! Sea conditions were glassy, so we got some amazing looks at this critter before spending a little time with the Atlantic white-sided dolphins.

Ocean sunfish

Common murre

Atlantic white-sided dolphins

Another pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins showed up—this one was a larger group of about 75 and included at least three common dolphins in the mix! Cool!! One of the dolphins repeatedly slapped its flukes, the reason for which we don’t know!

As we were about to head for home, more dolphins showed up! One of these was continually leaping out of the water and landing flat on its belly! Weirdo. Also, lots of great and Cory's shearwaters were hanging out with the dolphins! So much fun!

White-sided dolphin and great shearwater

Leaping white-sided dolphin!

We passed another ocean sunfish, and as we continued for home, a pair of humpback whales were snoozing at the surface. These two dove, and a few minutes later, one of the whales surfaced right off our bow—really close! The whale, named New Jersey, then took a nap right next to us for about five minutes!

Great day! I can’t believe our season ends in just a week!

 

 

October 4, 2025

You've heard it before. Every day is different. Every day, a new adventure. We may be into October, but the marine life continues with surprises, moments, and memories made on every trip. And what a trip it was today. We spent time watching THREE species of toothed whales!!! Our first sighting of the day was a pod of dolphins. Not just a pod, a mixed pod. We had approximately 12 Common dolphins amongst a pod of approximately 20 Atlantic white-sided dolphins! It was awesome watching these two species maneuver around each other and us! 

Hello Common dolphin!

Common dolphin zipping through the water

Atlantic white-sided dolphin

As we continued offshore, we were diverted by another pod of approximately 75 Atlantic white-sided dolphins. This pod had numerous gulls, Northern gannets, and shearwaters soaring and diving overhead. 

Cory's and Great shearwaters

It was a frenzy of activity from above and below. Next up, another large pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins. 

More Atlantic white-sided dolphins!

This pod was fully surrounded by Great and Cory's shearwaters. There was so much bird life today, it was fantastic. 

Great shearwater doing what it does best - shear!

This particular group of dolphins had us interested well before we got to them. There was something else nearby. PILOT WHALES!!!! We ended up checking out two different pods of these whales. 

Massive fin of an adult male pilot whale

Not only was today the first time all season we have seen Common dolphins, it was also our first time seeing pilot whales. Unbelievable. 

Pilot whales

This group of pilot whales was such a tight-knit group at times; they blended together when they surfaced

In this moment, these pilot whales are sleeping, but (as mentioned by those on the boat), they also looked like an offensive line ready for the next play. 😉🏈

As if our sightings weren't enough, we wrapped the day with a pair of humpback whales, Pylon and Quill. Wow. 

Humpback whale (above and below)

October 3, 2025

 October 3, 2025

Lots of whales are still in the area! We found six humpback whales just over an hour from the harbor!

Our first sighting was a pair of whales – one surfaced regularly while the other barely appeared.

Humpback diving

Next, we found a trio of whales moving slowly around the area, often changing directions.

Humpback whale trio

Then a solo humpback showed up, taking short dives.

Humpback diving

Humpback whales were identified as Pluma, Grommet, Partition, Quill, Pylon and GOM 1827.

As we headed home, we found another whale. This wasn’t a humpback, but instead was a very rare visitor- a North Atlantic right whale!!! North Atlantic right whales are critically endangered with only about 350 individuals in their population. We got one quick look at this rare whale and moved on to avoid disturbing it with our presence.

Such a fantastic day!

September 27-28, 2025

While Saturday's trip had plenty of whales once we found ourselves offshore, many of these whales were spending A LOT of time under the surface. The fun aspect was that most of the whales were in pairs when they eventually decided to show themselves. The day included eight humpback whales and two (brief looks at) ocean sunfish. 

Humpback whale surfacing

Ocean sunfish

Pair of humpback whales

Distant lobtail

Diving humpback whale

The whales we did identify included Satula, Fan, Victim, Solo, and Littlespot. Littlespot quickly became the fan-favorite when this whale breached (sorry, it was so unexpected, I didn't get a photo). For our birder friends, nothing like a Northern Flicker flying by to say hello. 😀

Northern Flicker!

On Sunday's trip, our first stop for wildlife was just past the Isles of Shoals. We spent time with a pod of approximately 55 Atlantic white-sided dolphins. 

Atlantic white-sided dolphins

This tight-knit pod was fun to watch moseying back and forth. Further offshore, we spent time with a pair of humpback whales: Littlespot and Pylon. 

Humpback whale

We attempted to check out a couple of other spouts we saw out in the distance, but these whales appeared and disappeared just as quickly. We ended up crossing paths with Littlespot and Pylon again, along with an ocean sunfish, during our travels home. 

Humpback whales

Ocea sunfish

Friday, September 26, 2025

Today felt more like a summer day on the water than one in late September. Clear skies, warm air, and a slight breeze made for optimal conditions. We started our trip by finding a group of about 75 Atlantic white-sided dolphins who appeared to be feeding—moving quickly at the surface and frequently changing directions. Several times, the dolphins approached our boat and swam right next to us! Beautiful!

Soon, we saw some spouts in the distance. A pair of humpback whales was moving slowly around the area. In the same spot, just 100 yards off our bow, we caught glimpses of a minke whale lunging through the surface waters!

We found another humpback whale by itself before finding another pair! Also in the area was an ocean sunfish, but it disappeared before most of us could admire it.

 

As we were thinking about heading in, we saw yet more blows not too far away. This was the third pair of humpbacks! All the humpbacks were pretty chill today, maybe starting to stockpile their energy for their upcoming migration later this fall.

Identified whales included Fan, Spoon, Pylon, Victim, and Littlespot!