Thursday, August 7

Today was full of surprises. Whales and weather had us on our toes all day long. This morning we were surrounded by beautiful conditions and some very nice whales. We started our day with a Fin whale circling around the area, even creating a couple of clouds of bubbles.

First whale of the day, a very large Fin whale

With some great quality time with this whale we were off to do some searching when we got word of whale activity on Jeffreys Ledge. We were on our way and soon we found a pair of whales. It was 2 Humpback whales, a mother and her calf! Scylla and her calf were traveling along.

Scylla and her calf at the surface

This is the first time Scylla has been seen on the Ledge this season but it appeared as if they wouldn't be there for long.

Scylla's tail as her calf swims alongside mom

Scylla

These whales were on the move and moving further and further from home. We got some great looks and can only imagine where they must have ended up after we left them still traveling along.

This afternoon the weather was once again gorgeous. The glass calm ocean conditions made spotting whales ideal. Soon we saw a spout. It was a Fin whale. After a few looks we quickly realized it was a different whale than the one we had seen in the morning.

Fin whale

Afternoon Fin whale dorsal fin

We were getting some very nice looks at this animal. After a while suddenly we were surprised to have two whales surface side by side. Out of the blue another Fin whale had suddenly come into the area and was now swimming around with our whale!

Two Fin whales suddenly on the move together!

This second whale turned out to be the same one we had spent time with in the morning. What a great surprise!

Close up look at the two Fin whale dorsal fins (above and below) moving around the area together

As we were watching these whales, continuing to get some nice looks, we watched a storm cloud begin to roll out over the ocean. We got a few more looks and decided to try to move along and avoid the storm for as long as possible.

Clouds on the move

Clouds getting closer!

Just before the rain started to fall

We got quite the bit of rain and even a bit of hail as we made our way around maneuvering around the outskirts of the storm. We had a bit more time and ended up back in the area where we had originally spent time with our pair of Fin whales. We once again found 2 whales but surprise surprise it was not who you thought it might be! Granted one of these whales was still one of the original whales we had seen at the start of our trip but the other whale it was moving around with was a whale completely different. It was Dingle!

Dingle the Fin whale

Our other Fin whale moving around with Dingle

What a way to end the day: the rain showers stopped, the sun came out and we had a different whale now spending time with this other Fin whale. Mother Nature certainly has a way of keeping things interesting out on the water, whales and weather wise!

Whales continue to be close to land as this Fin whale swims inshore of the Isles of Shoals