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Thursday, July 5, 2018

Thursday, July 5, 2018


Southern Jeffreys Ledge is the place to be! The bait fish are here and so are the whales to eat them!  The morning trip found a small pod of about 12 Atlantic white sided dolphins to start the day.  After a couple of minke whale sightings, a fin whale was spotted.  
Minke whale

Fin whale
 Next, a harbor seal popped up nearby.  We continued to look around for more activity when we heard about some more whales just a few miles away. There, we found a humpback whale, Hornbill, along with another fin whale. 
Humpback whale, Hornbill

Humpback whale, Hornbill
 Hornbill was moving around a bit but we were able to get nice views of him as he surfaced to breathe.  On our way home, we passed by a minke whale.

The afternoon sea breeze was picking up but still we ventured to the southern part of the Ledge for our afternoon trip. Our first sighting was one of my favorite things to see: a trio of fin whales with a pod of Atlantic white sided dolphins.  As long as we kept track of the dolphins, we would get great looks at the fin whales. Perhaps the dolphins were following along behind the finners, hoping to snag a few fish the large whales missed while they were feeding! 
Fin whale with dolphin just beyond it!

Fin whale spout

Two fin whales and three dolphins!
 Dolphins are seen on about 20% of our trips, and to have dolphins with whales is much more rare! A minke was also in the area along with two other fin whales. A bit further out, we spotted another blow which turned out to be a humpback whale.  Although not a large as fin whales, humpback whales are impressive in that they tend to lift their flukes out of the water when diving.  As soon as we saw that distinctive tail, we knew who this whale was…..Pinball!  She is a favorite of the crew and certainly did not disappoint today. As we sat idle waiting for her to surface, she did so REALLY close to the boat multiple times!!   
Humpback whale, Pinball

Humpback whale, Pinball
 The wind was on our tail on the way home so anyone who might have experienced the “kiss from the ocean” quickly dried off. We passed by a harbor seal and small group of harbor porpoises on our way back to land. Great day!

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