Southern Jeffreys Ledge is the place to be! The bait fish
are here and so are the whales to eat them!
The morning trip found a small pod of about 12 Atlantic white sided
dolphins to start the day. After a
couple of minke whale sightings, a fin whale was spotted.
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| Minke whale |
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| Fin whale |
Next, a harbor seal popped up nearby. We continued to look around for more activity
when we heard about some more whales just a few miles away. There, we found a
humpback whale, Hornbill, along with another fin whale.
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| Humpback whale, Hornbill |
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| Humpback whale, Hornbill |
Hornbill was moving
around a bit but we were able to get nice views of him as he surfaced to
breathe. On our way home, we passed by a
minke whale.
The afternoon sea breeze was picking up but still we
ventured to the southern part of the Ledge for our afternoon trip. Our first
sighting was one of my favorite things to see: a trio of fin whales with a pod
of Atlantic white sided dolphins. As
long as we kept track of the dolphins, we would get great looks at the fin
whales. Perhaps the dolphins were following along behind the finners, hoping to
snag a few fish the large whales missed while they were feeding!
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| Fin whale with dolphin just beyond it! |
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| Fin whale spout |
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| Two fin whales and three dolphins! |
Dolphins are
seen on about 20% of our trips, and to have dolphins with whales is much more
rare! A minke was also in the area along with two other fin whales. A bit
further out, we spotted another blow which turned out to be a humpback
whale. Although not a large as fin
whales, humpback whales are impressive in that they tend to lift their flukes
out of the water when diving. As soon as
we saw that distinctive tail, we knew who this whale was…..Pinball! She is a favorite of the crew and certainly
did not disappoint today. As we sat idle waiting for her to surface, she did so
REALLY close to the boat multiple times!!
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| Humpback whale, Pinball |
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| Humpback whale, Pinball |
The wind was on our tail on the way home so anyone who might have
experienced the “kiss from the ocean” quickly dried off. We passed by a harbor
seal and small group of harbor porpoises on our way back to land. Great day!
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