It was another beautiful morning on Jeffreys Ledge today. The whales
and weather were working hand in hand as the ocean looked like a lake
and the whales were out and about! Our trip started with a couple Minke
whales perusing the area and after a few looks we knew we had to keep
going and utilize the gorgeous conditions we were surrounded by to
search for more marine life.
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Minke whale
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Next stop a Fin whale. Can you guess who
it was??? Low and behold we had found Fjord once again. This animal
was in a completely different location than where we had seen it just
yesterday, but there it was moving through the area.
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Hello again Fjord!
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What a pleasant surprise. With some nice
looks at such a familiar Fin whale we were off again to see what else
was lurking on Jeffreys Ledge.
One familiar whale lead to
another. It was Halfmoon the Humpback whale. Another animal we had
seen less than 24hrs before in a section of Jeffreys Ledge miles away!
Halfmoon kept us keyed in on its movements as this whale created a few
bubble clouds (something we have been seeing from this animal multiple
days in a row no matter where on the Ledge we keep seeing this whale)
all while meandering around the ocean for a bit.
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| Halfmoon |
More Minke whales topped off this morning's
adventure and before we knew it we were off again for our afternoon
trip. Sea conditions were still enjoyable as a light sea breeze picked
up, cooling everyone down a few degrees as we ventured offshore.
Our
first whales this afternoon were Pinball the Humpback whale and her
calf. Both animals were slowly moving around as we got some great looks
as these two whales effortlessly swam in synchrony together.
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| Pinball |
With such great quality time spent with these two mammals we decided
to move on to other areas of Jeffreys Ledge to search for more life.
Apparently Pinball and her calf had other plans...
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With a flick of her tail, Pinball creates quite the saltwater disturbance
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Pinball's calf showcasing the underside of it's tail for us
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Within minutes of us leaving suddenly a
frantic of activity occurred on the upper deck. Our passengers informed
us a whale was breaching out behind us. With a quick turn of the head
(and boat!) we all soon saw that Pinball's calf was jumping clear out of
the water! While the calf decided to go "aerial" Mom had her own plans
as she started rolling over bringing her massive flippers above the
surface and smacking them on the water!
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Half of Pinball's tail (left) and her large white flipper (right)
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| Pinball's calf breaches |
What
a sight. Clearly we headed back to the area and got the chance to see
these two whales continue to flipper slap the water (Pinball) and jump
out of the salty sea multiple times (Pinball's calf).
The
behaviors of these two whales changed in a matter of moments and we had
no idea how long any of it would last. The thrill of all whales is the
unpredicted nature these massive creatures exhibit and understanding
the full luck and appreciation of any such movements these animals
make. Our time had been very much enjoyable before this pair started
becoming active, making the whole experience that much more special as I
hope you realize it was all luck to see such remarkable moments to
begin with.
Many thanks to Pinball and her calf for
permanently embedding quite the memory into so many of our passengers
today as we also got to add to this trip 2 Fin whales and a couple of
Minke whales as well into our afternoon outing.
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| Pinball's calf |
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Before making it back to the harbor we did get a nice fresh water
rinse as the rain came down but had stopped before we even got back to
the harbor. Fact is, this was just the icing on the cake with all that
we experienced today. Nothing like Mother Nature showing her beauty is
all kinds of ways today on the water.
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| Rainbow at Rye Harbor |
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