August 8-9, 2026

While Saturday didn't provide much of any reprieve in the way of cooling off offshore, it did provide PLENTY of marine life! On Saturday morning, we spent time with a large pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins, saw two ocean sunfish, and 11 humpback whales! 

Ocean sunfish

Some of the humpback whales were swimming around on their own. Others were in pairs. We even had separate groups of three and four humpback whales. Wow. 

Flipper-slapping humpback whale and dolphins!

Trio of humpback whales

A group of four humpback whales!

Individuals included Alligator, Thistle, Spika, Zodiac, Spoon, Chromosome, Stance, Quote, Fan, Valley, and Pinball! 

Flipper-slapping humpback whale and a great shearwater!

Atlantic white-sided dolphin

Numerous sightings continued on Saturday afternoon, but that was only after we spent time watching a LEATHERBACK SEA TURTLE!!! This is now the second sea turtle we have sighted all season. We patiently waited and got some awesome looks at such an infrequent sighting.

Leatherback sea turtle!!! 😍

This leatherback sea turtle spent a good amount of time at the surface. Lucky us!

 We also saw nine humpback whales, with more out in the distance, a grey seal, and an ocean sunfish. 

Trio of humpback whales

Humpback whale flipper

Afternoon humpback whale individuals included all three Blue Ocean Society adoptable whales - Satula, Owl, and Pinball. Additionally, we saw Spika, Quote, Spoon, Chromosome, Valley, and Fan. What a day.

Afternoon ocean sunfish

With the ocean teeming with life recently, Sunday's sightings continued right on track. Sunday morning started with another incredible find. THREE DAYS IN A ROW WE CAME ACROSS A LEATHERBACK SEA TURTLE!!! Leatherbacks can be individually identified (like so much wildlife!), and with each new day, a new turtle. Truly speechless. 

Turtle power; another leatherback sea turtle!

So much fun to see this leatherback sea turtle surface with each breath!

We then spent time with nine humpback whales (Satula, Thistle, Stance, Alligator, Orion, Fan, Chromosome, Spoon, and Clamp), a distant grey seal, and a pod of approximately 25 Atlantic white-sided dolphins. 

Humpback on the move

Diving humpback whale

Atlantic white-sided dolphin

Dolphins associated with a humpback whale

Sunday afternoon was equally as exciting. This time there were four ocean sunfish, nine humpback whales, and a slightly smaller pod of approximately 20 Atlantic white-sided dolphins. 

Ocean sunfish (above and below)

Our afternoon humpback whales included Pinball, Satula, Alligator, Zodiac, Orion, Quote, Grommet, and Spika. So much to look at in all directions!

Humpback whale and dolphins

August 6-7, 2026

 Thursday morning's whale watch began with a pair of humpback whales, Grommet and Valley. As we watched these whales, we could see distant spouts that we eventually moved to go investigate.

Pair of humpbacks

There was quite a bit of life in this direction, as we came across two solo humpback whales, Orion and Pinball, before also stopping to check out another pair, consisting of Alligator and Zodiac. Our pair of whales was doing a great job sleeping at the surface when they were joined by a small pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins!

Humpback diving

Humpback with dolphins

After pressing on, we got quick looks at an ocean sunfish before seeing a very active humpback out in the distance. This turned out to be Pinball doing a whole lot of flipper slapping at the surface! We got some amazing looks at this whale before finally turning back towards Rye. On our journey in, we also passed by several more humpbacks, including Thistle, Stance, Detritus, and Bayou.

Pinball flipper slapping

Thursday afternoon started off in an exciting way! We first happened upon a single humpback whale, Detritus, before getting eyes on a very splashy humpback out in the distance. As we got closer, this whale, Patches, began breaching, flipper slapping, and tail breaching for an extended period of time. 

Humpback flipper

Breach!

After getting to spend some amazing time with Patches, we moved just a bit further offshore. Once we did, we were able to turn our engines off and watch as we were surrounded by humpback whales. These whales included Satula, Pinball, Spika, Chromosome, Spoon and Clamp! We were also able to get a couple of quick glimpses at two different minke whales passing through.

Trio of humpback whales

Humpback diving

Friday morning was glassy calm and beautiful! Our trip got off to a quick start as we were able to get some quick looks at an ocean sunfish.

Ocean sunfish

Not long after that we came upon our first pair of humpback whales, Grommet and Chromosome. Both of these whales were fairly mellow as they travelled at the surface. Out in the distance we could see more whale activity very close to the Isles of Shoals. Once there, we spent time with two more humpbacks, Detritus and Thistle, before they were also joined by Grommet and Chromosome who decided to do some surface feeding near the islands. 

Pair of humpbacks

Humpback with White Island Lighthouse

Once we left our whales behind at the islands, we pressed further offshore until we came across another large gathering of humpback whales. These whales consisted of Pinball, Alligator, Zodiac, Satula, Cacophony, and Stance. Eventually it was time to head home. On our way in we passed a trio of sleepy humpbacks, Clamp, Spoon, and Patches. Even closer to home we were stopped yet again by a very surface active humpback. This whale continuously flipper slapping, as well as breaching and tail lobbing. Such an incredible way to end an amazing morning!

Flipper slapping humpback

Friday afternoon's whale watch is very difficult to justify with words. It is not often that our afternoon trips have glassy calm sea conditions, but we were fortunate enough to have as much as we ventured offshore. We first happened upon a travelling trio of humpbacks, Grommet, Chromosome, and Thistle.

Chromosome tail breaching

These whales were making good pace as they travelled towards the east. As we were tracking with them. Captain Jonathan noticed something out off of our starboard side. After confirming it was exactly what we were hoping it was, we moved off in that direction. As we slowly approached, we were able to get some incredible looks at this LEATHERBACK SEA TURTLE!!!

BEAUTIFUL TURTLE

What an absolute privilege it was for us to happen upon this turtle! It had been two years since we had seen a sea turtle aboard the Granite State, so our crew is ALWAYS on the hunt for them when we have conditions as nice as we did this afternoon. Unfortunately, this turtle decided to stay down in the depths after our first few minutes with it, but a truly unforgettable encounter for both crew and passengers alike. Now, you might be thinking the trip couldn't get much better after that, but you would be wrong. We spent almost the next two hours sitting idle with our engines off as we were completely surrounded by a wide variety of marine life. To give you the "play-by-play" would be like writing a novel, so I'll sum it up as best I can. The vast majority of the animals we had surrounding us were humpback whales, including Fan, Valley, Orion, Clamp, Zodiac, Spika, Spoon, Stance, Patches, Satula, Cacophony, and several more that we never had the time to make it to. At any point during the evening, these whales were either sleeping, flipper slapping, or surface feeding. We had a pod of white-sided dolphins move through the area, as well as several harbor seals, a grey seal, and a couple of ocean sunfish. 

Sunfish chasing shearwaters

Surface feeding humpback

Fan diving

We really never know what is awaiting us anytime we leave the harbor. The density and diversity of life that we encountered this trip was staggering, but more than that, humbling. Gatherings such as these have everything to do with the abundance of food beneath the surface for these animals. This trip will almost certainly have a special place in all our hearts for the years to come.

August 5, 2026

We had two beautiful trips today! The weather was absolutely fantastic and the whales were pretty good, too 😉

This morning, we started with a shy group of about 5 harbor porpoises before finding a pile of humpback whales! Our first sighting was of a pair traveling slowly together. Only one of the two were showing their flukes (Bayou), but we knew who the other was due to the distinct dorsal fin shape and the barnacles near its blowholes (Patches)!

We then found another pair of humpback whales before spotting our familiar friend, Pinball!

In the distance, yet another pair of humpbacks were seen! Spoon and Chromosome were taking a nap at the surface, barely moving at all!

A humpback whale breached in the distance, while another one tail-lobbed nearby.

We found another sleepy humpback before heading back in. To our surprise, we saw Pinball once again!

This afternoon, we headed to the general area where we had seen whales in the morning. We got a quick look in passing at a minke whale, and then found a couple of solitary whales- Satula and Owl!!  All three of Blue Ocean Society’s adoptable whales were seen on the same day! Amazing!

Next, a trio of humpback whales showed up! So cool to see three whales swimming side by side!

An ocean sunfish was seen close by so we took a look at that while the whales were down.

Before we knew it, a pair of humpbacks came up. One was Owl, again, but this time she was joined by Spika!

Patches was seen again this afternoon, but this time by himself.  And then we ended our trip watching Spoon and Chromosome, still together, but this time joined by Orion!

It’s so interesting to watch the fluidity of humpback whale associations, since they are typically solitary. I really wonder what they are thinking, who they know, if they know us, and more!  And more importantly, where are the fin whales? We often have a variety of whale species around Jeffreys Ledge, but lately it’s just been predominantly humpbacks. I’m not complaining, but I miss our fin whale friends.

August 4, 2026

With the wind keeping us on land on Monday, we were eager to get back offshore on Tuesday. It was a whale-ful day. On our morning trip, we watched six humpback whales. Most of them were moving around independently, while spouts could be continuously seen in different directions. 

We spent time with Orion, Fan, Cacophony, Zodiac, Pinball, and Alligator. Initially, Zodiac was spending the majority of its time subsurface, but to our astonishment, it changed. Our morning trip ended with Zodiac becoming extremely active. This whale breached multiple times and was doing numerous flipper slaps. Nothing like being in the right place at the right time. So perfectly, unexpectedly stunning. 

Mid tail breach!

Full body breach!

Love the pigmentation on this flipper 

On Tuesday afternoon, we first came across a pod of approximately 40 Atlantic white-sided dolphins. Dolphins are not a common sight, so it was a great way to start our trip.

Atlantic white-sided dolphins (above and below)

Further offshore, we saw nine different humpback whales! Some whales were grouped up, others moving around on their own. It's mesmerizing watching these whales maneuver through the area.

Pair of humpback whales

Humpback whale spout

Individuals included Quote, Valley, Zodiac, Fan, Cacophony, Orion, Alligator, Pinball, and Satula. Oh, and we had two ocean sunfish and a harbor seal, too. What a day!

Subsurface ocean sunfish