September 5-7, 2026

The weather may have started windy for the holiday weekend; it at least ended on the other end of the spectrum. Saturday morning, the wind arrived earlier than expected. Our travels took us through many miles of searching, but whale luck was not on our side. We look forward to having our passengers join us another day. No trips ran on Sunday because of the strong winds. Monday, finally, had conditions on our side. Offshore, we spent time with seven humpback whales. We started with a pair: Clamp and Jawa. Not far away was Satula, followed by Patches. We watched Satula create a few bubble clouds, a feeding mechanism humpback whales use on occasion. The day wrapped up with a trio of humpback whales, including Fan, Buzzard, and Partition. 

Pair of humpback whales

Satula

Remnant of a bubble cloud

September 4, 2026

 The weather has definitely been touch and go as we have entered our fall whale watching schedule, but Friday presented us with the most amazingly gorgeous sea conditions as we made our way offshore, and we intended to make the most of it! Our trip began with brief looks at a very mobile ocean sunfish as it was moving at a very brisk pace at the surface. We pressed further offshore, eventually coming across a very small rounded shape at the surface, which turned out to be an endangered KEMP'S RIDLEY SEA TURTLE resting along the surface!!!

Kemp's Ridley turtle

Coming up for air AHHHHH!!!!

This species is that smallest of all the sea turtles on Earth, reaching lengths of 1-2ft as adults. Our crew was absolutely amazed as this turtle spent close to twenty minutes at the surface, occasionally coming up for a breath of air. What an amazing summer it has been for sea turtles! Unfortunately, we couldn't stick around forever, so we eventually moved on in search of whales. Before coming across whales however, we were able to get better views at another ocean sunfish near the surface.

Ocean Sunfish

It took a bit more searching, but finally, we were able to find whales on our whale watch. Whale sightings began with a pair of humpback whales, Grommet and Victim, as they travelled near the surface. 

Pair of humpbacks

While watching them, a third humpback whale was seen spending time in the area. Before getting looks at that whale, we went to investigate some distant splashing. This splashing was revealed to be an amazingly active pod of about one hundred Atlantic white-sided dolphins!

Dolphin mom/calf

This was a very tight-knit group of dolphins that were so much fun to watch! After saying goodbye, we picked our search back up for the single humpback whale. Finally getting looks at this whale, it was a familiar friend, Satula. After spending time with this whale, it was time to head home. Such an unforgettable Friday!

September 2, 2026

 With poor weather keeping us on land on Wednesday, Thursday marked our first outing of September! Our sightings for the day began quickly with brief looks at an ocean sunfish before we pressed on through the Isles of Shoals.

Passing by Star Island

After making our way offshore, we were able to spend time with three different pairs of humpback whales! Our first pair consisted of Quill and Cacophony.

Humpback whale

We didn't have to travel far at all before getting looks at our second pair, Patches and Prongs.

Humpback diving

After leaving behind our second pair, we came across our third, Pina and Jawa!

Humpback surfacing

Eventually, it was time to head home. As we did so, we passed by a small pod of harbor porpoise and even another ocean sunfish right before we entered the harbor. 

Poor weather is keeping us on the dock again for Thursday, so we shall see you all again on Friday!

August 31, 2026

Monday marked the initial shift from our summer season schedule to fall whale watching. Our trip included two pairs of humpback whales and a spread-out group of Atlantic white-sided dolphins. 

We first spent time with humpback whales Fan and Valley before checking out Clamp and Bungee. There were even more spouts in the distance as we bounced between the subpods of our toothed whales.

Dolphin

Tuesday's trip has been canceled due to the weather, so stay tuned for our next update once we are back on the water.

August 29-30, 2026

On Saturday morning, we spent time with three humpback whales, while another pair passed by. 

Pair of humpback whales

Humpback whale surfacing

The whales we checked out included Piña, Thistle, and Orion. We also came across a pair of ocean sunfish, quite an unusual sighting! 

Ocean sunfish

Two ocean sunfish!

On Saturday afternoon, we started the trip with guess what? Another ocean sunfish! Wow, these fish have been out in full force this season. 

Afternoon ocean sunfish

We then checked out Piña and Thistle, still in the area, and still being quite mellow. 

Humpback whale

After some searching, we spent time with a pod of approximately 75 Atlantic white-sided dolphins. These toothed whales were cruising through the water! Goodness gracious, it was almost all white water when they surfaced. Impressive!

Atlantic white-sided dolphins on the move (above and below)

More water than whale can be seen as our dolphins sped through the ocean!

As we headed offshore on Sunday morning, we stopped to check out an ocean sunfish. 

Ocean sunfish

Further along, we came across a large pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins. These whales were on the move. It was fun keeping up with their pace. We then got a chance to enjoy watching humpback whales Grommet and Alligator. 

Atlantic white-sided dolphin

On Sunday afternoon, we found ourselves surrounded by humpback whales. We saw spouts off either side of the boat. Whales were moving around as we watched individuals form and fizzle different associations. At times, whales were in groups of three, four, and five. 

Identified individuals include Satula, Decimal, Whirlwind, Dross, Downsweep, Chablis, Partition, Fan, Spika, Quote, Chromosome, and Dross.

August 27-28, 2026

 Thursday morning began with a bit of swell and a decent sea breeze as we made our way offshore. Eventually, we entered an area where we had found luck with whales in recent days. As we slowly navigated through the area, we were able to get distant looks at two single humpback whales. As we did so, we could see a pair of humpback whales out in the distance, breaching and flipper slapping repeatedly. We moved over in that direction and found this pair of whales to be Thistle and Pina. 

Pair of humpback whales

Flipper slapping whale!

After spending time with this pair of whales, we were able to get a few looks at another humpback whale, Cacophony, as they made their way through the area. Later, as we were beginning to start our journey back towards home, we were able to finish off our morning with great looks at a trio of humpback whales, Spoon, Fan, and Quill.

Humpback diving

Spoon rolling on side

Thursday afternoon greeted us with some fairly intense sea conditions. The wind and waves were substantial, but that didn’t stop us from finding life offshore! As we travelled out to where we spent time with whales in the morning, we were able to stop and get quick looks at a humpback whale named Ebony. After that, we pressed on a bit further and came into an area with a number of whales at the surface. We spent time with a trio of humpback whales, Pina, Stance, and Thistle.

Trio of whales surfacing

humpbacks at surface

Not long later, these three whales were joined by two more humpbacks, Cacophony and Whirlwind. It was amazing to see these five whales travelling next to each other amidst high seas! At one point as our whales were down on a deeper dive, Stance unexpectedly jumped clear out of the water. On our travels back in, we also passed by two other humpback whales.

Humpbacks diving

Friday morning, we made our way offshore while navigating through thick fog. Once we made it to the area where we had found luck with whales the day prior, a pocket of visibility opened up for us to find a pair of Atlantic white-sided dolphins.

White-sided dolphin

We were able to get excellent looks at these two dolphins while the visibility kept getting better and better all around us. After pressing on, we were quickly able to locate a single humpback whale, Patches, before moving on to a group of four humpback whales out in the distance. We were only able to get looks at three of these whales as one of them was quick to disappear. These three whales were Fan, Partition, and Whirlwind.

Huge flipper!

Humpback whale diving

A while later we did a bit more exploring while time allowed, coming across two different pairs of humpback whales, with both pairs being quite sleepy along the ocean’s surface. Our first pair consisted of Cygnus and Spika, the second contained Pina and Thistle. While watching these whales there had also been a slightly larger group of white-sided dolphins circling around the area.

Humpback at surface

Friday afternoon began in a very exciting way! As we made our way offshore, we found our first sightings of the trip in the form of a mother/calf pair of humpback whales! Ravine, the mother, was resting along the surface as her calf would occasionally roll on its side.

Mom/calf humpbacks resting

We eventually carried on and were able to come across a single humpback as well as a nearby pair. The single whale, Patches, spent much time out in the distance, while we spent time with our pair, Thistle and Pina. While watching the pair, another single humpback, Gunslinger, surfaced and then dove out to our right. Pressing further along we could see another humpback whale being active out in the distance as it breached and flipper slapped several times. This whale, Orion, displayed a spectacular spinning head breach after we approached.

Flipper slapping humpback

All the while, more humpback whales began making their way into the area including Zodiac, as well as a trio of whales, Fan, Whirlwind, and Partition. As we spent time with this trio, we were also granted looks at a passing minke whale and some Atlantic white-sided dolphins nearby. Eventually, it was time to head home. On our travels in, we passed by another two pairs of humpback whales, as well as a larger pod of about thirty or so white-sided dolphins. So much life out on the ledge today!

Minke whale diving

Fan diving