August 28, 2025

 Thursday's whale watch began with a single hungry humpback whale, Repeat! There was definitely no predicting what this whale would do next as it kept us guessing whether or not it was going to surface right next to the boat, lunging upwards with its mouth wide open, or waaaaay out in the distance as it searched for more prey. 

Repeat diving

After pressing on to do some more searching, we were able to spend a majority of our time with a pair of humpbacks, Valley and Chromosome. As we first began watching these whales, we were given an excellent surprise as they surfaced right off of our port side!

Valley surfacing

Humpback whale pair

This pair of whales wasn't in a rush to go anywhere, as they spent much of the afternoon resting near the surface and occasionally diving down into the depths below. On one of their surfacing's, Chromosome decided it was time for a spa day and began lifting up some seaweed near the surface.

Chromosome pushing seaweed

Eventually, it was time to go home. On our travels in, we got a quick glimpse at Owl the humpback whale out in the distance, and there was even yet another humpback whale breaching a ways away near the Isles of Shoals. 

Rough seas and thunderstorms are keeping us on land for Friday, but this weekend is looking to provide us with some excellent offshore conditions for whale watching. 

August 26-27, 2025

Tuesday, August 26, 2025

Fall was in the air today! A crisp horizon with little humidity made for optimal sighting conditions. On our way out, we passed a harbor seal and a minke whale before seeing a large whale in the distance. Just before we approached the whale, an ocean sunfish was seen nearby. We checked out this huge, lounging fish and then moved into the area where the whale was seen.

The distant blows we had seen were a pair of humpback whales! Valley and Chromosome were still in the area! As the pair dove, we patiently waited for them to resurface- usually 5-10 minutes. But soon after the dive, Chromosome launched out of the water three times! He then did a few flipper-slaps before calming down.

Chromosome and Valley

Chromosome diving

Chromosome

A third humpback whale was seen in the area. It was slowly approaching the pair and eventually met up with them, forming a trio! Although we didn’t get great looks at this whale’s flukes, we eventually ID’ed it as Solo!

Solo diving

We then moved on to a different area and found a pair of humpbacks—Satula and Repeat! Repeat has been seen in our area most years, but not often. And even though we didn’t get a great look at its flukes, this whale has unique scratch marks on its dorsal fin, making the ID pretty easy once we zoomed in.

Satula and Repeat

Satula

Wednesday, August 27, 2025

Another beautiful day on the ocean! The seas were calm with just a gentle roll left over from last week's passing storm. Our first sighting was of an old friend, a humpback whale named Owl. This whale is a favorite of the captain and crew, as she is seen every year and is not shy of boats! Today, she was initially seen doing a quick bout of feeding and then traveling towards the west. She would stop here and there to catch some more fish- pogies were her feed of choice today. She lunged through a school of pogies, also under attack by some bluefin tuna! (Not a good day to be a pogie!) Then she turned toward our boat. We waited for about a minute and then saw a large bubble cloud right next to the boat! Humpbacks blow bubble clouds to keep the schools of fish in a tight ball. She surfaced within feet of the cloud and the boat! Wow!

Owl, above and below

As we moved on, we got some looks at a blue shark, about 4-5 feet long, and then a large ocean sunfish! 

In the distance, we saw some more blows. Here we found a pair of humpbacks, Fan and Victim! These two were moving slowly, but at one point, Fan lifted her flukes really high out of the water while Victim barely lifted her flukes above the surface. Whales....

Fan diving (with muddy streaks on her flukes)

Victim diving

More tuna were seen splashing in the distance, and we had a lovely ride home, just on the edge of an approaching weather front.

August 25, 2025

It's been soooooooo long (last Wednesday!) since we went out searching for wildlife. We were eager to see what we would find offshore. Our "thrill" of finding fog wasn't exactly what we had in mind. We meandered along, seeing the tuna fleet eerily appear and disappear on the edge of the fog. While searching, we found three ocean sunfish, three blue sharks, a few grey seals, and even four Atlantic puffins!

Ocean sunfish

Grey seal snout in the air

Blue shark dorsal fin

Atlantic puffins (not usually seen this far south)!!!

Then finally, we found a spout. Our patience and persistence had paid off! First up, Satula the humpback whale. 

Satula diving. And do you see? There is another whale in this image (see below).

The eerie outline of a minke whale at the surface. Nothing like the camera capturing this sneaky find in the background!

The next time a whale surfaced, it wasn't Satula. It was Valley. Then Valley dove, and the next whale to surface was Pinball! The fog had us on the edge of seeing just how much whale activity was around. As the fog slowly dissipated, we spent time with a trio of humpback whales - Valley, Pinball, and Solo.

Hello Pinball

Valley and Pinball at the surface

Who knows where Satula disappeared into the wall of fog? We have started the transition into our fall schedule, so we'll see what is in store for us when we are back out there (hopefully with less fog) this week!

Valley and Solo diving

More whale, less fog 😊

August 18-19, 2025

Strong winds kept us on land on Monday, so we were ready to head offshore on Tuesday. In the morning, we had a variety of marine life. We spent time with four humpback whales (Chromosome, Grommet, Owl, and Clamp), a small pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins hanging out with a pair of our humpback whales, a quick look at a blue shark, and a distant look at a pair of fin whales. 

Owl, the humpback whale

Humpback whales (above and below)

Fin whale

We love sharing sightings of all sorts of marine life with our passengers, and those sightings continued in the afternoon. We watched humpback whales Satula, Owl, and Valley independently moving around the same area. One whale would dive and another would surface. 

Satula at the surface

Valley, the humpback whale

Additionally, a couple of grey seals popped up. We also saw Sigma, the humpback whale, before heading home.

Grey seal

Humpback whales diving (above and below)

August 16-17, 2025

Our weekend adventures started on Saturday morning with a pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins. There were a few calves in this pod of approximately 50. Dolphins always put a smile on our faces, so this sighting was a great way to start the trip.

Atlantic white-sided dolphins (above and below)

Further offshore, we found numerous humpback whales. We saw a total of seven. These whales included Clamp, Spoon, Fan, Patches, Satula, and Owl. 

Trio of humpback whales!

Humpback whale flipper

On our travels home, we found another humpback whale inside the Isles of Shoals (thanks, Captain Pete on the UO!). This whale was a reality check of what all whales are susceptible to daily. This whale had a recent propeller injury across its back. If you ever find yourself on the water, is it sooooooooo important to be vigilant of all the marine life that lives in the ocean. Remember, we are just visitors to their watery world. 

Humpback whale with a propeller injury around its dorsal fin

Saturday afternoon, we once again found our whale of concern, miles from where we had seen it just a few hours ago. When whales want to move, they move. This whale was continuously flipper-slapping, allowing for photo-documentation of as much of this whale's body as we could capture. 

Humpback whale flipper

After thorough documentation, we continued offshore and spent time with eight other humpback whales. Individuals included Pitcher, Valley, Chromosome, Spoon, Grommet, Owl, Fan, and Jabiru. 

Pair of humpback whales

More humpback whales

Valley diving

It's so fun seeing some whales still residing in the area, others returning after a few months' hiatus, and first-time visitors to the Jeffreys Ledge region this year. Thank you, whales, for being yourselves, being a reminder of your threats, and being a hopeful sign of what wildlife is capable of.

On Sunday morning, we spent time with five humpback whales and a pod of 100 Atlantic white-sided dolphins. Humpback whales included Pitcher, Satula, Spoon, Chromosome, and Fan. Our dolphin pod included numerous calves. There were so many whales to look at! 

Atlantic white-sided dolphins (above and below)

Trio of humpback whales

We also had a quick look at a grey seal and even a porbeagle shark. On Sunday afternoon, we spent time watching humpback whales Sigma, Grommet, Valley, Chromosome, and Satula. These whales were keeping us on our toes. They shifted their associations, coming together, separating, and pairing up again. 

Whale tails in the air!

Grommet was active lobtailing and flipper slapping amongst all the whale spouts surrounding us. What another wonderful weekend full of moments in the Gulf of Maine!

Humpback tail (left) and flipper (right) in the air

SUPER high fluking dive!