The day arrived! Our 2016 whale watching season began today and we could not have been more pleased with the day. The sun was shining (but still cool out there as the ocean's surface is only in the low 50s!), the wind was minimal and we were off with a great crowd to see what might be in the Jeffreys Ledge area. We passed a couple of seals and some harbor porpoise before a whale spout was seen out in the distance. Our first large whale of the year... What kind of whale was in front of us? Would we recognize this particular animal? Turns out it was a Fin whale but not just any old Fin whale. This particular whale is a well-known visitor to the waters off of Bar Harbor, Maine but here it was in our section of the ocean! This whale is known as Lunch and was taking a lot of breaths at the surface allowing for some phenomenal looks at the second largest animal on earth!
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| Lunch the Fin whale |
Soon we pressed on and came across activity from a different species of baleen whale. This time we saw at least 4 Sei whales all lunge feeding around the boat!
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| Top portion of a Sei whale's head as this whale feeds at the surface |
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| Sei whale dorsal fin |
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| Baleen hanging down from the upper jaw of this feeding Sei whale |
These sleek maneuvering creatures (they are THE fastest baleen whale in the ocean!) were easing through the water constantly changing direction and lunging at the surface; all munching down on plenty of food! Side-ways looks, open mouths, extending lower jaws and flippers high in the area were the views we were constantly seeing and fortunate enough to experience.
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| Sideways Sei whale lunging through the water |
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| Open-mouth Sei whale heading in towards the boat! |
What a way to ring in a new season! We are currently whale watching weekends at 11am so stay tuned for more trip recaps.
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