July 18-19, 2026

We were able to get Saturday morning's trip in before the wind started to whip up the ocean. Conditions were as calm as calm could be, and the variety of marine life was waiting for us. We spent time with a small pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins, two humpback whales (Patches and Pinball), two ocean fish, and even a minke whale that swam by.

It's not raining. It's that calm you can see the water droplets surrounding this Atlantic white-sided dolphin as it surfaces!

Dolphin above, and more below, the surface

Ocean sunfish

Humpback whale

Humpback whale tail

Ocean sunfish #2!

On Sunday, the skies were clear, but the wind decided it wanted to hang on longer than expected. Luckily, the whales seem unfazed by the whitecaps. On Sunday morning, we saw two minke whales and spent time with two humpback whales. We first found Pinball, still meandering around the area. We also found a newcomer. As the ocean currents shift and the fish swim, we witness the whales' movements, and today we were privileged to come across a humpback whale named Viola. 

Humpback whale (above and below)

On Sunday afternoon, our first sighting was shortly after leaving the harbor. Many thanks to our sister ship, the Uncle Oscar, running ferry services to the Isles of Shoals, which passed along their sighting of a pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins. 

Atlantic white-sided dolphin

This pod of approximately 40 whales was a treat to start the trip with. Thanks, crew! We then had the opportunity to check out seven humpback whales! Some were moving through. Some were circling. Individuals included Pinball, Dross, GOM-2434, Downsweep, Grommet, Pitcher, and Anglerfish. What a way to wrap up the weekend!

Humpback whale spouting

July 17, 2026

This morning, our first sighting was a humpback whale who was new to us this year! As much as we love seeing our regulars, we always love seeing new faces (or flukes) to the area!

We moved on and found a fin whale that has been seen several times over the past week or so. This is a fin whale we have nicknamed Goldengate for a scar on its right side.  We believe that Goldengate has been seen near Jeffreys Ledge since at least 2012!

After searching the area, we found our first humpback once again, and this time it tail-breached once! Amazing!

Next we found three humpback whales- a pair and a single, but before we knew it, all three surfaced right behind the boat and began logging (sleeping, not cutting down trees!).

Another highlight of this morning’s trip was an ocean sunfish which was super cooperative and stayed at the surface while we maneuvered to get nice looks of it on both sides of the boat.

 

This afternoon, we started our trip with a pair of huge fin whales! One of these whales was seen on Wednesday afternoon’s trip while the other may have been most recently seen on Tuesday.

fin whale chevron

fin whale dorsal fin

We have seen such a variety of individual whales lately- we really never know what we will see from day to day or even from trip to trip!

A minke whale darted around us, and then we continued on our search for more marine life.

We saw some blows in the distance, and then some flipper slapping! While one humpback was busy flipper slapping, the other was pretty chill, just slowly traveling NW.

Another humpback whale was seen and doing typical humpback behavior- breathing and diving!

We headed for home but saw a breach in the distance! We headed over there and found a familiar humpback whale that we assume did the breach, but there’s really no telling. Other humpbacks were spread out in the area including the one who was flipper slapping earlier, but now it was lob-tailing!

Bluefin tuna were charging around, and we even spotted an osprey carrying a large fish back to the mainland!

Trips lately have been extremely variable as far as species and behaviors which is part of why we love what we do! Every trip is different, keeping us on our toes!

 

July 16, 2026

 Thursday morning began with calm seas and a very quick search leading up to our steady stream of encounters throughout the trip! As we made our way down south of Rye Harbor, we could see LOTS of menhaden schooling near the surface, which our first humpback whale of the day was taking full advantage of. This whale, a juvenile currently known as GOM-2434 repeatedly lunged at the surface as it circled around the bait nearby.

Lunge feeding humpback

This would be a common occurrence throughout our trip as every humpback whale we encountered was lunge feeding at the ocean's surface. After leaving this whale behind, we quickly happened upon another humpback, Grommet. As we followed along with this whale, we could see distant splashing that we eventually moved to investigate. This turned out to be a very spread out pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins. These dolphins were so spread out that it was fairly difficult to get close looks at any one of them. After some persistence we were able to get incredible looks at a few of these dolphins as they travelled along the side of our boat. As we tracked these dolphins, we also saw a very distant fin whale passing through the area.

White-sided dolphins

Fin whale diving

After saying goodbye to our dolphins, we came across our third humpback of the morning, Spoon. Spoon is quite often, a sleepy whale. So imagine the surprise that our crew received when she unexpectedly began lunging on menhaden at the surface!

Spoon, feeding 

After leaving Spoon to continue with her day, we came across our final pair of humpback whales for the morning, Pitcher and Downsweep. 

Pair of humpbacks

Thursday afternoon began with an immense breeze up from the morning. White caps were plenty, and the swell was beginning to pick up. That didn't stop us from time well spent with whales, however! After travelling back down in a southerly direction, we came across a pair of humpback whales, Spoon and Owl. These whales, despite the surface conditions, were sleeping/resting often near the surface, only occasionally waking themselves up to head down into the depths below. 

Humpbacks diving

We had been watching these whales for a good while as they remained resting. Then, in an instant, Owl kicked herself awake, pushing forwards. All eyes were on this whale as she began tail breaching and lobbing repeatedly!

Tail breach!

As Owl continued this behavior, Spoon also woke up and began flipper slapping.

Spoon rolling on side

These whales kept these behaviors up for a few minutes before ultimately settling down, and then heading off in their own separate directions. After saying goodbye to our humpback whales, we did quite a bit more searching before we were hit with an intense squall. Just as this weather hit us, we got eyes on a fin whale nearby, getting a few brief looks before ultimately making our way back home.

Fin whale diving

July 15, 2026

The smokey haze from the Canadian wildfires lingered again today, making for some interesting lighting offshore. Although I knew it was mid-morning, it felt like 7:30 at night. Maybe that’s why I felt so tired today!

This morning, we found three humpback whales. The first was taking short dives and slowly traveling to the west. 

Next, we found our familiar friend, Owl. She was doing a bit of feeding at the surface, and soon, another humpback whale joined her! At first, Owl didn’t seem to enjoy the company. She began to pick up speed while the other whale seemed to keep following her. But eventually they began surfacing together without the fast movements.

We passed by a couple of blows on our way home. One was likely another humpback whale. The other was too far to determine the species.

This afternoon, we started by visiting the area where we had passed by whales on the way home from our morning trip. Our first sighting was that of a pair of huge fin whales!! Seeing just one fin whale alongside the boat is amazing, but to have a pair was incredible! At least one of the pair had been seen in the past few days so it’s nice to know they are still in the area!

Next we found the first of five humpback whales seen throughout the trip. We hung out with this for a bit and soon it was joined by another humpback- Downsweep again! Apparently Downsweep likes to hang out with other whales as it was seen with a different whale on our morning trip!

In the distance, we saw Owl again! She was alternating feeding bouts with cat naps! After she dove near us, we shut down our engines and just floated along waiting for her to reappear. This was a magical moment. Several minutes of complete silence. I wasn’t babbling on the microphone, our guests onboard were quietly awaiting Owl’s return to the surface. Several more minutes….and then WOOSH! Owl surfaced within 20 meters of our stern! And then she took another nap. Whale behavior truly intrigues me, especially when it involves one of our regulars choosing to hang out with us.

On our way home, we saw a couple more spouts to the west of us. One of them did a short stint of surface feeding, and to my happy surprise, this was another humpback whale - Spoon!  But unlike Spoon’s notorious behavior of being slow-moving, she was charging all over and lunged out of the water several times! Beautiful!

We got a quick look at a minke whale while we headed home, and finally that thick haze from the wildfires blew through and the sun was shining brightly, just as it should.

July 13-14, 2026

Monday was all about humpback whales. On both trips, we were treated to a few feeding bouts. Some surprising, some predictable. All incredible. In the morning, we spent time with five different humpback whales - Kraken, Quote, Grommet, Fan, and Scylla. 

Hungry hungry humpback!

Kraken the humpback whale, please meet the fishing vessel named Kraken (seriously, that's the name of this vessel)! 😲

It has been very interesting in the past few days to see which whales are being seen, which whales are associated (briefly) with whom, and yet still be surprised to see new visitors regularly.

Pair of humpback whales

In the afternoon, the sightings continued. We first started with Quote the humpback whale. 

Quote diving after a bubble cloud

We then came across a new visitor to the area this season. This whale is not yet named but has been matched to GOM (Gulf of Maine)-2434. So cool! 

Whale spout

While Tuesday had plenty of exciting looks at humpback whales, perhaps the most impressive sights were from the fin whales. On both trips, we spotted three fin whales and four humpback whales. 

Fin whale moving through the water

Want to know something even more fascinating? Most of the whales we saw were different between the morning and the afternoon! LOVE the fluidity of wildlife's movements, even in a few hours. On Tuesday morning, the trip started with a pair of fin whales. But wait. A third one surfaced, briefly formed a trio of fin whales, before separating again. Such valuable data was collected and witnessed. Awesome. We then spent time with humpback whales Pinball, Pitcher, Chromosome, and GOM-2434 (identified but not yet named). 

Chromosome

Feeding sessions continued, and catching a glimpse of these whales in action was nothing short of spectacular.

Whale + fish = oh my!

Look at that vertical lunging whale!

On Tuesday afternoon's trip, we were watching a pair of fin whales when, in reality, it was a trio of them! 

Fin whale chevron

However, this grouping included mostly different individuals from the ones we had sighted during the morning's trip. How do we know? Each fin whale has a unique dorsal fin and chevron pattern, which are used to individually identify them. 

Fin whale chevron

It gets better. We watched one of these fin whales bring its tail to the surface. This RARELY happens for fin whales. What a sight! 

Fin whale with its fluke at the surface; CRAZY AWESOME!

The rest of the trip was spent watching humpback whales, including Grommet, Quote, Spoon, and Pitcher. These whales were busy moving and eating. Exactly what they should be doing on their feeding grounds, and impressive when these behaviors occur near the surface!

Humpback whale diving

Lunge-feeding humpback whale