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| Uniquely shaped dorsal fin of one of our fin whales |
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| Humpback whale diving |
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| Fin whale |
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| Basking shark (tail fin is on the left, dorsal fin on the right)! |
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| Humpback whales surface feeding |
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| Two humpback whales lunging on their sides |
Sunday, June 30, 2024
June 29-30, 2024
Our only trip of the weekend was Saturday morning, as the weather kept us on land the rest of the weekend. Just as it has been in recent days, the ocean was full of wildlife. On Saturday, our sightings included at least nine fin whales, one minke whale, a pod of 75 Atlantic white-sided dolphins, four humpback whales, and four basking sharks.
There was so much to check out! Fin whale spouts could be seen in the distance, dolphins were occasionally associated with fin whales, basking sharks were feeding, and humpback whales were lunging through the surface.
Stay tuned as we roll into the holiday week and see what the ocean has in store for us next!
Saturday, June 29, 2024
June 27-28, 2024
Thursday afternoon, after making our way towards Jeffrey's ledge, we began our trip by spending time with a single humpback whale, before pressing on to what I can only describe as whale soup!
Humpback whale diving
After pressing on a short while further, we spent the rest of our whale watch with our engines turned off as we were circled by at least eight different humpback whales, constantly bubble-feeding in all directions around the boat. Some whales working together to corral schools of fish together before lunging upwards with their mouths wide open, others utilizing kick-feeding, a method of feeding utilized only by humpbacks within the northwest Atlantic population!
Two humpbacks cooperatively feeding
Multiple whales surfacing after feeding
Humpback surfacing with mouth wide open!
After careful investigation of our research photos collected during this trip, we were able to pick out all three of the Blue Ocean Society's adoptable humpback whales, Satula, Pinball, and Owl, as well as Ravine, Clamp + '24 calf, and Mudskipper + '24 calf.
Friday morning's whale watch started with a small pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins! The first group was only a few individuals, but as the morning progressed we would eventually pass by several more pods of these white-sided dolphins. After spending time with our first group of dolphins, we didn't have to press on much further before coming across the first of two fin whales we were able to observe, before pressing on further south.
Mother and calf white-sided dolphins
Fin Whale arching back before diving
Once we arrived at the southern tip of Jeffrey's Ledge, we spent time watching two different humpback whales before ending our trip with a humpback mother/calf pair. Right before we departed the area, the calf decided it was time to go vertical! We were witness to several spinning head breaches by this calf while mom was busy down in the depths of the ocean searching for food.
Humpback diving
Humpback calf breaching!
Friday afternoon we decided to start our journey by crossing over more inshore areas as we made our way south towards the ledge. In doing so, we were able to spend time with a pair of fin whales. Those whales on one occasion surfacing quickly, filtering out saltwater between their baleen after lunging through bait.
Pair of fin whales
After saying goodbye to our fin whales and pressing on, we eventually came across a pair of humpback whales, one of those whales being an individual known as Evolution and the other having yet to be identified.
Humpback whale surfacing
To finish off our day we made our way out towards a nearby mother/calf pair of humpbacks. We were treated to excellent looks at the calf repeatedly tail breaching at the surface, before eventually mellowing out and reuniting with mom.
Mother/calf travelling together
Tuesday, June 25, 2024
June 24-25, 2024
We only had an afternoon trip on Monday and there was plenty to look at. We ended up checking out six different fin whales!
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| Fin whale |
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| Fin whale surfacing |
A few more fin whales were in the distance, seeing spouts out towards the horizon. Many of these whales were not moving far or fast, allowing for some beautiful looks at some of the second largest animals on Earth!
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| Fin whale |
We also got a chance to spend time with Pitcher the humpback whale. This whale was filtering multiple times, fully enjoying some afternoon food!
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| Pitcher filtering (above and below) |
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| Look at that lunge!!! |
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| Fin whale |
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| Morning pair of fin whales (which turned into a trio!) |
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| Pipette and Elephant |
Tuesday afternoon was just as fin-tastic! This time, NINE fin whales were sighted during our travels. These whales were crossing paths with each other, and us, throughout the trip.
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| Fin whale in stunning ocean conditions! |
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| Pair of fin whales |
We also got a chance to check out humpback whales Pipette and Elephant, still moving around the area together.
A few times we had a fin whale on one side of the boat and our humpback whale pair on the other side. No shortage of wildlife to look at!
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| Humpback whale pair |
Sunday, June 23, 2024
June 22-23, 2024
On Saturday morning, our first stop was to check out a large fin whale. At one point it lunged through the water, just below the surface, a good representation of a feeding bout. After some beautiful looks at this sleek species, we were off to look for more spouts.
Our next whales were humpback whales, five in total. These whales included Clamp and her 2024 calf, Diablo, Pinball, and Satula. Such familiar tails and yet each experience always provide unique moments and memories.
The rest of the trip was spent with two mother-calf humpback whale pairs. Clamp and her 2024 calf were in the area, along with Mudskipper and her 2024 calf.
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| Fin whale |
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| Clamp and her calf |
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| Pinball |
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| Satula |
On our afternoon travels to the same region of Jeffreys Ledge we first stopped on a minke whale. It was breaching! This whale jumped out of the water multiple times creating a good amount of whitewater.
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| Minke whale breaching towards us |
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| Whitewater created by the minke whale returning to the sea, after its aerial activity! |
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| Mother-calf humpback whale pairs (above and below) |
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Both calves were sporadically active - breaching, lob-tailing and generally just "wiggling" around.
Both trips on Sunday have been canceled so more updates to come another day.
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| Breaching calf! |
June 20-21, 2024
Thursday Afternoon, after making our way out towards Jeffrey's Ledge, we were quickly greeted by several humpback whales including Pinball and Picket, as well as Clamp and her 2024 calf! We started our whale watching with the calf who was very active near the surface displaying behaviors such as tail lobbing and tail breaching, all while mom was very busy down in the depths of the ocean searching for food.
We would soon find out just how much food was just underneath the surface as we continued along, eventually coming across at least five different fin whales darting in all directions around us, some of which began surface feeding!
As we sat motionless watching our afternoon fin whale fiesta, we were also joined by another humpback whale, Whirlwind, who began surface feeding as well. An amazing way to end the day!
Friday morning began with several humpbacks spending time in close proximity of one another. We first began with getting looks at Satula, before pressing a little further and coming across two mother/calf pairs, Mudskipper and calf, as well as Clamp and calf! Both calves getting a little wiggly at the surface while their mothers when down on deeper dives.
Incredibly, our attention was taken away from these humpback whales as we noticed four basking sharks spending time near the surface not too far away! Sightings of these sharks have been few and far between in recent years, so to have so many in one trip put our crew at a loss for words. As we began to depart the area we noticed a large amount of splashing off in the distance that we moved to investigate. Moving in closer revealed a humpback whale repeatedly smacking its tail against the surface, which revealed itself to be a whale known as Evolution.
After saying goodbye to Evolution, we started making our way back towards Rye Harbor. About half of the way back we got very quick looks at another humpback, Sawtooth.
Friday Afternoon was kicked off with really quick looks at Sawtooth as we made our way down towards the southern tip of Jeffrey's Ledge. Once there, we spent time watching two humpback whales, Whirlwind and one unidentified individual, cooperatively feeding near the surface! These whales repeatedly coming up to the surface filtering water between their baleen plates. They were briefly joined by another whale, Satula, before he ultimately pressed further west on his own.
Humpback whale filtering saltwater
Satula joining pair of whales
After spending time with our first three whales, we noticed some splashing off of our starboard side, which turned out to be the 2024 calf of Clamp! Clamp's calf approached us and showed off an impressive display of tail breaches before crossing our bow to go meet up with mom who appeared a little ways away off of our port side.
Tail breach from Clamp '24 calf
As we waited for the calf to move away from our vessel we were treated to a small group of Atlantic white-sided dolphins that quickly pressed on out of the area. A fun way to end an excellent day out on the ledge!
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