What a day on Jeffreys Ledge! This morning the seas were as
calm as they could be so we decided to take advantage of the optimal conditions
and go exploring the northern region of the Ledge. After a quick stop on 4 amazing and circling
basking sharks, we kept going and going and going. Eventually we spotted a
minke whale, and then a second minke whale.
Then we spotted a dark spot on the horizon that quickly
disappeared. We headed that way and
found 3 humpback whales with a couple more in the area! The best part was that 2 of the whales were
Owl and her new calf! Owl is a favorite of the Granite State crew and she’s
even featured in our brochure, “spy-hopping” next to the boat! Humpback whale Owl and her calf were being
followed by a male humpback named Chromosome.
We watched these 3 for a bit before it was time to head home.
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| Chromosome |
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| Owl |
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| Owl's calf |
On our journey back to Rye Harbor, we passed by even more
activity including several minke whales and a fin whale!
The breeze picked up a bit for our afternoon trip as
tomorrow’s storm began its approach. We pointed the boat in the direction of
where we left Owl and her calf on the morning trip. On our trek up there, we
encountered a very curious fin whale calf, with its mother nearby. This young fin whale seem really interested in
the boat, and also appeared to be trying to get its mother’s attention by
rolling at the surface, partially breaching and even blowing bubbles! After we
reviewed our photos of the mom, who was a bit more elusive, we realize she was
Comet, who was first seen in 1997. This is Comet’s second calf that we know of
and it was certainly was putting on a show for us today!
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| Comet's calf |
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| Comet's calf |
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| Comet | | |
As 2 more boats came in to see Comet and her calf, we
decided to keep heading out to where we had whales on the morning trip. Our
journey paid off as we re-sighted Owl and her calf! This afternoon, her calf
was also being a bit curious, approaching the boat with Owl several times!
We got several close looks at them, but also
got close looks at their scars, the sad reality of life in our oceans. Owl has
a large scar on her back, likely from a ship strike when she was young. Her
calf, only about 6 months old, already has fresh injuries which are consistent with
an entanglement.
Both ship strikes and
entanglements can be lethal to whales so it was refreshing to see these two appearing
to be doing well.
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| Owl and calf |
Both Comet and Owl are adoptable whales through Blue Ocean
Society. For more information about whale adoptions, visit
www.blueoceansociety.org
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