After days of wind and rain, the weather finally cooperated and we were rewarded for our patience! The whales on Jeffreys Ledge were a bit elusive but thanks to our eagle-eyed crew, we found a total of 3 minke whales and 2 fin whales!
Our first minke was incredibly cooperative, at first anyway. We followed it for multiple breaths and got to see its pointed rostrum and white flipper patches! Then it dove, and disappeared! Minkes sometimes give us the slip and that was the case today.
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| Minke Whale |
Next we meandered over to an area where our crew had spotted a larger whale while we were spending time with our 2nd minke. Before we knew it, we had 2 fin whales with us! One fin whale head off to the east, but the other stuck around. I'm always impressed by a fin whale's size and grace. This one was being "low-profile", or only showing a little bit of its back when coming up for a breath.
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| Stealthy fin whale |
But then the whale surprised us and came up really close by!
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| Spout! |
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| Diving fin whale |
Before we knew it, it was time to head for home. We passed another minke whale and had a nice calm trip back to Rye Harbor. For our birding friends, the pelagic birds were the best of the year so far with lots of fulmars (including some dark morphs!), several great shearwaters, gannets and Wilson's storm petrels! Thanks for joining us today!
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