Tuesday, September 15

Today we took kids from Vermont out on a whale watch and not only were the whales great but the kids enthusiasm for each and every one of our sightings was impressive! We can only hope these future generations continue to possess so much joy and awe for wildlife for years to come. There was so much marine life to look at as we saw 7 Humpback whales, including two trios(!), a Fin whale, a Minke whale, an Ocean sunfish and a pod of 250 Atlantic white-sided dolphins! We started with what we thought was a pair of whales but after our pair took a few breaths at the surface there was suddenly a third whale that appeared out of the depths of the ocean. We had 3 Humpback whales on the move together!

Large Humpback whale tail

These whales even swam towards us and kept us hostage for a few minutes as they situated themselves literally just behind the boat. Everyone got some really up close and personal looks at these mammals! This trio included Spoon, her calf and Churn.

Spoon and her calf

This is the first time we have seen any of these whales in our small section of the Gulf of Maine this season so it was an extremely pleasant surprise and a great group to start our trip on today!

Churn and Spoon

We eventually moved on and went to investigate some of the other spouts we were seeing. We saw a passing Fin whale before getting a quick look at Mogul the Humpback whale. A little more exploring and we stopped on ANOTHER trio of Humpback whales. This time it was Vulture, Nine and Highlighter.

Humpback whale spouts

Nine and Highlighter

During our travels back to the mainland we saw a Minke whale, Ocean sunfish and then only a few miles from home a large pod of toothed-whales.

Ocean sunfish

A nursery pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins were busy feeding before moving on. What a super exciting surprise to end our trip with today with our eagerly excited passengers from start to finish!

Dolphins spotted inshore of the Isles of Shoals!

Dolphins on the move

Atlantic white-sided dolphins