July 25-26, 2026

Saturday's surprise (on both trips!) was finding a mother-calf whale pair! Searching for and finding whales is fantastic. Coming across a mother-calf pair takes it to a whole other level! On Saturday morning, we first spent time with a minke whale before coming across Pixar, the humpback whale. 

Humpback whale

The extra surprise came later when we found a mother-calf minke whale pair! Seeing this species as a mother-calf pair is rare in our area. Completely remarkable. 

Minke whale mom

Minke whale mother-calf!!! 😍

On Saturday afternoon, we first started with a pair of humpback whales - Pixar and Orion. These whales were occasionally lunging at the surface, enjoying an afternoon meal. 

Humpback whales

Diving humpback whale

We then checked out two ocean sunfish before coming across our second mother-calf pair of the day. This time, it was a humpback whale pair. We wrapped up the day with some stunning looks at Ravine and her 2026 calf. 💙

Ocean sunfish

Ravine and her calf

On Sunday, sightings continued to be seen well inshore of Jeffreys Ledge. Sunday morning, we spent time watching two ocean sunfish, four fin whales (including a pair!), a pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins, and Pixar, the humpback whale. Such a variety of marine life! 

Ocean sunfish

Pair of fin whales

Atlantic white-sided dolphin

Fin whale

Diving humpback whale

Pixar continued to make itself known as we also spotted this whale during our afternoon trip. This whale was seen creating a couple of bubble clouds. Additionally, we checked out an ocean sunfish and two more humpback whales - Alligator and Seasmoke! 

Subsurface ocean sunfish

Pair of humpback whales

We haven't seen Alligator in a few weeks, and Seasmoke is a new visitor to the Jeffreys Ledge area this season. 

Can you find the pair of humpback whales cruising past Anderson's Ledge buoy?

Such a high vertical lunge from this humpback whale!

Grey seal on our travels home through the Isles of Shoals

Amazingly, in just a few short hours, we get the chance to see where whales are, what they are up to, and who is being seen. Wild animals certainly are mysterious and captivating, all wrapped up in pure awe.

July 23-24, 2026

Thursday morning began with our now typical turn towards the south as we searched for whales spending some time near shore. After an hour of travelling we came across our first humpback whale of the trip, Pinball!

Pinball diving

Pinball was doing a bit of travelling and some occasional surface feeding. After pressing on in search of more whales, we eventually happened upon a pair of humpbacks, Pitcher and Downsweep. 

Pair of humpbacks

Both of these whales were moving at quite the pace, and eventually ended up back to where we had left Pinball a while earlier. We chose to say goodbye to our pair of whales and did just a bit more searching. We were able to end our trip with a final humpback whale, Thistle!

Humpback diving

Thursday afternoon started on a high note as we kicked off our trip with a pair of surface feeding humpback whales! This pair consisted of Pitcher and Downsweep. 

Surface feeding humpback

Pair of humpbacks

Not long after leaving our pair of whales, we happened across an ocean sunfish and got some excellent looks! As we pressed further north, we were able to see a very familiar friend, Satula the humpback!

Ocean Sunfish

As we spent time with Satula, we could see another whale a ways off in the distance. We eventually said goodbye to Satula as we moved back towards shore to investigate the distant spout. In an unexpected turn of events, we never made it to that whales as we were quickly distracted by a group of close to one hundred Atlantic white-sided dolphins! These toothed whales were so much fun to hang out with, especially since they had at least ten calves travelling with them. A truly spectacular way to end our day!

Dolphin calf

Friday morning began with beautiful, glassy calm seas, making it very easy for us to come across our first sighting of the day, Spoon the humpback whale. For much of our time spent with Spoon, she rested idle at the surface, bobbing up and down for brief periods of time, before waking herself up and going down on a deeper dive. 

Humpback diving

After leaving Spoon to continue napping, we did a whole lot of searching before eventually stopping on a minke whale. This whale was quite elusive, but we were able to get great looks whenever it did surface, as it was often just alongside the boat! Unfortunately, this whale was too quick for me to get my camera ready, but it was a fun sighting for all those onboard! Pressing on from our minke, we eventually came across an amazing pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins. We had such a blast watching these dolphins as there were several playful calves spending time near the surface.

Dolphin calf

Calf with its mother!

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and we started to make our way back towards Rye Harbor.

Friday afternoon was spent with several different humpback whales. After making our way offshore, we were first able to spend time with a pair of humpback whales, Bayou and Jawa. These two whales were working together to corral fish into tighter shoals, making them easier to grab all at once. We were treated to several bouts of surface feeding as we followed along with them. We even got a surprise tail lob from Bayou as they were travelling alongside Jawa!

Pair of humpback whales

Tail lob!

We eventually did some more searching before coming across our last sighting of the day, a single humpback named Pixar. This whale was spending its afternoon similarly to our earlier pair as it fed near the surface on several occasions.

Humpback whale diving

July 22, 2026

 We stayed in the harbor this morning to let the strong winds and rough seas from overnight simmer down before heading out for our afternoon trip. To make things even more fun, a thunderstorm passed through right before we boarded, but I think most people camped out in the ticket office while the bulk of the rain came down.

We found a total of five humpback whales today! Two pairs and one single, and everyone was feeding!

Our first pair was Grommet and Cacophony. These two were using bubble clouds to concentrate their lunch into tight schools of fish and were surfacing close to where the bubbles were seen!

Then we found Satula nearby, and also using the bubble cloud technique! Although we didn’t get a great look at Satula’s tail until we were about to leave, we knew this whale simply from that distinctive saddle-shape on his back where the dorsal fin used to be. Satula is a frequent visitor to the Jeffreys Ledge area and we always love to see our regulars return!

Next, a second pair of humpback whales was seen in the distance. Pitcher and Downsweep were also feeding using bubble clouds. At one point, Downsweep rolled at the surface so we could see the huge white flipper! Later this same whale slapped its flukes on the surface, then blew a bubble cloud. Pitcher came up charging vertically out of the water through the bubble cloud while Downsweep was a little more calm approaching the surface. 

As we were getting ready to head for home, the pair surfaced right next to us! I really love knowing that these wild animals could go anywhere they want, and still, they chose to surface close by as we sat idly waiting for them to return to the surface. Hearing that loud exhalation, followed by the deeply hollow sounding inhalation always takes my breath away! (Sorry, I couldn’t help it!)

July 20-21, 2026

On Monday, among our other sightings, we witnessed some unexpected behaviors from a couple of our humpback whales on both trips. In the morning, we found humpback whales Satula and Viola. We got some great looks at both, including Viola randomly breaching! 

Second half of a breaching whale (above and below)

Post-breach. So much white-water!

We also checked out a minke whale and an ocean sunfish. 

Minke whale

Ocean sunfish fin

On Monday afternoon, sightings included a minke whale, a fin whale, and multiple humpback whales. Fin whales have been few and far between this season, so we are always elated when one is sighted. 

A gull attempting to photo-bomb this fin whale image 😄

We also spent time with humpback whales Satula, Dross, GOM-2434, and one we are still working to identify. 

See that red-brown color? Whale poop!

Our unknown friend decided to go bonkers at the end of our trip when this whale repeatedly lobtailed, along with a few tail breaches. 

Start of a lob-tail (above and below). So much water being flung in the air!

You never know what these wild animals are going to do when, making watching wildlife so special.

Our friend still lobtailing

We were able to sneak in a trip on Tuesday morning before the wind kicked up the ocean in the afternoon. We came across five different humpback whales during our travels. 

Along with a few regulars, it was another day with another new visitor to the area this season. Long time no see, old friend Orion! Others included Patches, Satula, Grommet, and Quote. 

Our bonus sighting of the trip was a few bluefin tunas crashing at the surface. They were likely chasing down small schooling fish; the same small schooling fish the whales eat!

Bluefin tunas creating a ruckus at the surface