July 14-15, 2022

Thursday, July 14, 2022

On Thursday it was quite humid at the harbor, and we were relieved by the cooler ocean breeze as we headed out to Jeffreys Ledge. The water was glass calm for most of the trip! We spotted an ocean sunfish and a couple of gray seals before arriving at the ledge. This sunfish retreated to deeper water after giving our passengers some close-up views.

After traveling for about 90 minutes, we came across our first whale: a female humpback named Clamp. It was great to see Clamp again this year; she was our most frequently sighted whale in 2021. We have also been seeing a lot of her 2016 calf this year. After leaving Clamp we came across another female humpback: Diablo. It was great for passengers to see these two whales in the same trip, as they perfectly show the differences in humpback fluke patterns. While Clamp’s fluke has equal amounts of black and white, Diablo’s fluke is solid black.

We then found a third female humpback named Ravine. Ravine is one of many humpback whales in the Gulf of Maine that has signs of previous entanglement in fishing gear. She has visible trauma near her fluke, but thankfully it is healing. We also got some quick, distant looks at a fourth female humpback named Dyad. She was being a little sneaky and spending her time farther away from the boat.

The beautiful conditions changed rapidly in the afternoon, with the wind increasing and reports of thunderstorms inland. We were grateful for the smooth sailing out to the Ledge, and we were able to find Diablo, Dyad, and Clamp again. We also saw yet another gray seal. There were lots of Wilson’s storm petrels throughout the trip as well. On our travels back home, we encountered a bit of rain, but our passengers took it in stride!

Friday, July 15, 2022 

This morning, the glassy calm seas welcomed us to her scene. After a bit of traveling, we found several humpback whales, a minke whale and a very quick look at a blue shark! The humpbacks were familiar friends that have been hanging out in the area for a week or two now! We identified Diablo, Dyad and Clamp and there may have been one more in the area that eluded our cameras. 

Friday afternoon was breezy with lots of whitecaps and sea spray. We found a total of three humpback whales. We first spent time with Clamp. She gave passengers some great looks close to the boat. It is always so wonderful when this happens, as you can really appreciate the size and power of these animals as you listen to them exhale and inhale.

We moved away from Clamp, and then spent time with Dyad and Diablo, who were very close by. Even though these three whales were in the same area, they never came close together, and were each busy making bubble clouds and feeding on the plentiful fish below us. There were fish on our fish finder pretty much the entire time we were on Jeffreys Ledge. What an exciting way to start the weekend!