Thursday morning was off to a great start with glassy, calm conditions. As we made our way offshore, we began our trip with quick looks at a fin whale and a minke whale, both of which were being fairly elusive. After continuing along, we eventually moved into an area where several humpback whales were spending time, most definitely capitalizing on the huge amounts of baitfish that we (at the very least) could see near the surface. We spent much of our time following one particularly surface active humpback, Gremlin.
Surface feeding humpback
While watching this whale, we were also able to get quick looks as other humpback whales passed us by, including Quote and Clamp. There were other whales in the area that we were looking to document, so we said goodbye to Gremlin and continued slowly through the area. As we were approaching a distant pair of whales, Captain Pete noticed something creating a wake near the surface off our starboard side. We slowed down and let it approach us...
GREAT WHITE SHARK
We couldn't contain our excitement as this fish approached us and revealed itself to be a white shark! I had initial doubts based off the size of the shark, which was only about 5-6 feet long. White sharks are born at 4-5 feet long, so this shark is most definitely a juvenile. It stayed near the surface for a long time before we had to continue along towards our pair of whales. Eventually, we made our way closer, these humpbacks revealing themselves to be Tripod and Chromosome.
Humpback whale pair
We spent a few surfacing's with these whales before we had to make our way back towards Rye. Looking forward to whatever the afternoon had to offer.
We always tell people that no two whale watches are the same, and that was especially true Thursday afternoon. We made our way back out towards where we had found success in the morning, but the area was almost entirely deprived of life near the surface. Other whale watching vessels searched to our south and east, nothing turning up. So we considered ourselves lucky that our friends from Newburyport had a whale nearby that we were able to view once they pressed on.
Humpback whale diving
Now, let me tell you, that whatever we may have lacked in quantity of whales, we most certainly did not lack in quality! We spent a vast majority of our afternoon getting looks at a humpback whale known as Cupid. For almost the entirety of the time we spent with this whale, it put in an impressive display of feeding behaviors at the surface for all to see.
Cupid lunging at surface
Cupid, upside down, filtering out saltwater
This whale did not let up with its feeding frenzy until it was time for us to continue along. We found ourselves doing a bit more searching, but ultimately ending up with our single sighting to finish the afternoon.
Friday morning began with a fairly significant breeze which we weren't expecting. No matter though, we had whales to see. On our way out towards the ledge, we got our first sighting in the form of an ocean sunfish!
Ocean sunfish
After some quick looks, we pressed on further until we came across a fin whale. This whale was initially fairly predictable in its surfacing's, but quickly became more elusive.
Fin whale diving
We eventually decided to let our fin whale continue on with its day. We did a whole lot more travelling after that. Ultimately, ending up just off the coast of Cape Ann, where we found more whales in the form of two humpbacks, Yurt and Cupid.
Humpback whale diving
These whales were swimming independently of one another, but both displaying similar surface feeding behaviors. After getting some excellent looks, we started our long journey back towards home.
Friday afternoon began with us heading to where we had found luck with humpbacks in the morning, but ending up stopping that journey short, due to a sighting of a humpback whale on our way. This whale was Clamp, mother of one of our humpbacks in the morning, Cupid (Cupid was born almost a decade ago, so no longer a calf).
Clamp diving
We spent a majority of the afternoon with Clamp. There were several occasions where we had to turn off our engines as this whale would make a turn in towards us before diving right off of either side of the boat.
Clamp diving next to boat
After a good while, we said our goodbyes to Clamp. We did a bit more searching, but were unable to locate any more whales. We are ready to give the weekend our all!
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