Monday was a day when all the stars aligned. The ocean was stunning, and the whales left us speechless. Our first sighting of the day was a fin whale charging (literally!) through the water. When we say these fin whales can move, rarely do we actually see them showcase their speed. This whale was on a mission, creating whitewater at every surfacing.
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| Our fin whale ON THE MOVE! (above and below) |
Eventually, this whale slowed down, but wow, what a sight. Further offshore, we briefly checked out humpback whales Satula and Pinball before exploring more.
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| Satula the humpback whale (above and below) |
Conditions were so calm that any disturbance at the surface caught our eyes. As we travelled along, we saw a few minke whales. Next, we came across a pod of approximately 75 Atlantic white-sided dolphins.
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| Atlantic white-sided dolphin! |
These toothed whales were on the move, and it was awesome to watch them glide through the water.
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| Atlantic white-sided dolphins |
The morning wrapped up with us spending time with a trio of humpback whales - Milkyway, Valley, and Ravine.
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| Trio of humpback whales |
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| Diving humpback whale |
Additionally, humpback whales Tripod and Chromosome were seen out in the distance, along with another fin whale. How could the day get any better??? Conditions continued to be breath-takingly stunning for our afternoon trip, so once again, any disturbance caught our eyes. Ultimately, it seemed as though everything was out there to look at. We first started whale watching inside the Isles of Shoals!
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Inshore humpback whale
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This humpback whale breached for us once. While impressive, it was unexpected, and only a handful of folks witnessed the breach. As we continued offshore, we spotted a blue shark, a basking shark, multiple minke whales, seals... oh my!
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Blue shark tail (left) and dorsal fin (right)
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| Basking shark dorsal fin |
We next spent some time watching humpback whales, Clamp, Pinball, and Satula, as well as a fin whale out in the distance. We even had a sighting of an ocean sunfish.
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| Humpback whale (above and below) |
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| Ocean sunfish |
The icing on the cake, however, was another sighting of toothed whales. But it wasn't what we were expecting. A pod of offshore bottlenose dolphins was coming in towards us!
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| Bottlenose dolphins (above and below) |
Oh my gosh. The pod of approximately 20 whales was incredible to watch. They zigged and zagged all around us. There was even a lone Atlantic white-sided dolphin in the pod. What a totally unexpected kind of sighting. We were in awe.
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Bottlenose dolphins are so much bigger than our normally sighted tooth whales (white-sided dolphins)!
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| "I can fly!" |
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| In, and above, the water. :) |
For our birder friends, we even passed by a fun bird on our travels home. The weather, the sea conditions, the whales. What a day full of pure perfection.
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| Common Murre |
Tuesday was a reminder of how quickly things can change. The wind started cranking, and the ocean reacted. Many thanks to our fishing friend Captain Pete K. (not Granite State Pete; we always thank him!). We headed for a whale report and found it! The humpback whale we found is the same one we saw on July 22, off the coast of Maine. It is great to know it is still moseying around the local area.
While this whale was surfacing at random intervals, some of those surfacings were VERY impressive. This whale breached (aka jumped out of the water) at least five times! While all whales can breach, it is a behavior we rarely encounter. What an impressive sight, multiple times!
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| Humpback whale breaching! |
We stayed on land for the afternoon, so we'll wait to see what the whales and ocean have in store for us tomorrow.
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