Saturday, August 12

This morning, we were treated to a big pod of 150 Atlantic white sided dolphins just behind the Isles of Shoals! Seeing dolphins in that close was pretty unusual and fun!   

We also saw 2 minke whales that were a bit elusive before seeing one of our favorite minke whales, one named Scar! Scar was great and came up several times in the few minutes we spent with him. 

Scar Minke, from a distance

Then we got a report of some other whales so we headed out there. We found a fin whale, a humpback whale (who was staying under water for 16 minutes!) and 3-4 minke whales!  All sorts of variety!

Minke whale

Fin whale

Fin whale

Humpback whale

This afternoon, the pod of dolphins was in front of the Isles of Shoals! It’s really cool to see dolphins with land in the background! Lots of calves were in the pod too.   

We continued out towards Jeffreys Ledge, following a report of some humpback whales. We found 2 female humpbacks, Sickle and Tornado! Sickle tail-breached several times and then began to flipper-slap! We always love seeing active whales!  

Humpback whale

Humpback whale flipper

 We spent some time with this pair before heading home. But on the way home, we found a pair of fin whales, a minke whale, and a small pod of dolphins! The wind and seas were picking up so we didn’t spend much time with this last group, but still pretty awesome to see so much today!