This morning’s trip started out well with just a little bit
of a sea from the NE wind. We found 2 minke whales, both of which were amazing
and staying at the surface for a long time.
Sometimes in wavy conditions, the minkes are difficult to see, but these
two were very good!
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| Morning minke whale |
As we traveled around the area just inshore of Jeffreys
Ledge, we stopped at a few hotspots but didn’t see much besides some cool birds
(Corys and Great shearwaters). But then our intern, Hannah, spotted a little
fin moving up and down close to us. An ocean sunfish appeared and swam all
around the boat! Although not a whale,
the sunfish was a nice added bonus to our trip.
This afternoon the sun came out and the seas calmed down.
After trying to get looks at a couple of elusive minke whales just behind the
Isles of Shoals, we found several very cooperative minkes a bit further out.
One was the adoptable minke named Scar!! Scar was seen as far back as 1995 so
it’s always great to see this visitor back in the area! As some other whale watch boats ventured in
to see Scar, we continued on to find 4 more minke whales, including 3 all in
one small area! Minkes were everywhere!!
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| Scar Minke |
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| Minke whale with 2 notched in fin |
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| Minke whale |
Although these speedy little whales are really cool to see,
we decided to press our luck and head up towards Boon Island off the coast of
Maine on a hunch. We actually passed by another minke whale just to seek out
new territory. Our searching paid off as we soon found ourselves in the
presence of 3 huge fin whales! The first one was Dingle, who has been seen in
the area frequently this summer. As we waited for him to resurface, a second
fin whale appeared close by. This one was “Flower”, a whale yet to be cataloged
but is going by this nickname.
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| Fin whale, Dingle |
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| Dingle spouting |
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| Fin whale, Flower |
Before we knew it, these 2 whales got together and were
synchronizing their breaths and dives!
It was so great to see these enormous whales moving next to each other
especially after seeing so many smaller and solitary whales. Then we saw the 3rd spout a bit out
in the distance. We passed by this whale on our way home but don’t have an ID
yet. Such a great end to busy day!
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