Thursday morning we made our way offshore to some unexpectedly rougher seas than were anticipated. Luckily for us, there were several whales in close proximity to one another once we made our way out towards Jeffreys Ledge. We started our trip with some quick looks at a pair of fin whales, as well as another single fin whale, before seeing some distant splashing. This splashing turned out to be a humpback whale repeatedly breaching, so we began to make our way over to that area. By the time we arrived, this whale switched its behavior from breaching, to tail breaching, to tail lobbing at the surface.
Humpback, belly-up tail lobbing
This whale continued this behavior for quite some time, before being joined by another humpback whale. This pair turned out to be Milky Way (the active whale) and Valley. These whales began swimming side by side, Milky Way occasionally rolling on its side and slapping its flippers against the surface.
Humpback whale flipper
Humpbacks diving
We eventually moved on from this pair to see who else was spending time nearby. Other humpbacks in the area that we got looks at included Pinball, Satula, and Ravine. After spending a good amount of time with Ravine, we started our journey back towards home. Along the way, we got excellent looks at another fin whale that surfaced off of our starboard side.
Fin whale diving
Thursday afternoon was a no go due to heavy rain and rough seas, while also keeping our eye on the forecast for Friday.
Friday morning's whale watch was also cancelled, but we decided to give it a shot in the afternoon. Unfortunately, after making our way offshore, the surface conditions were too rough to continue, so we made the decision to turn back towards Rye. Hopefully the weekend is looking to improve our sea conditions!
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