Thursday morning began with our now typical turn towards the south as we searched for whales spending some time near shore. After an hour of travelling we came across our first humpback whale of the trip, Pinball!
Pinball diving
Pinball was doing a bit of travelling and some occasional surface feeding. After pressing on in search of more whales, we eventually happened upon a pair of humpbacks, Pitcher and Downsweep.
Pair of humpbacks
Both of these whales were moving at quite the pace, and eventually ended up back to where we had left Pinball a while earlier. We chose to say goodbye to our pair of whales and did just a bit more searching. We were able to end our trip with a final humpback whale, Thistle!
Humpback diving
Thursday afternoon started on a high note as we kicked off our trip with a pair of surface feeding humpback whales! This pair consisted of Pitcher and Downsweep.
Surface feeding humpback
Pair of humpbacks
Not long after leaving our pair of whales, we happened across an ocean sunfish and got some excellent looks! As we pressed further north, we were able to see a very familiar friend, Satula the humpback!
Ocean Sunfish
As we spent time with Satula, we could see another whale a ways off in the distance. We eventually said goodbye to Satula as we moved back towards shore to investigate the distant spout. In an unexpected turn of events, we never made it to that whales as we were quickly distracted by a group of close to one hundred Atlantic white-sided dolphins! These toothed whales were so much fun to hang out with, especially since they had at least ten calves travelling with them. A truly spectacular way to end our day!
Dolphin calf
Friday morning began with beautiful, glassy calm seas, making it very easy for us to come across our first sighting of the day, Spoon the humpback whale. For much of our time spent with Spoon, she rested idle at the surface, bobbing up and down for brief periods of time, before waking herself up and going down on a deeper dive.
Humpback diving
After leaving Spoon to continue napping, we did a whole lot of searching before eventually stopping on a minke whale. This whale was quite elusive, but we were able to get great looks whenever it did surface, as it was often just alongside the boat! Unfortunately, this whale was too quick for me to get my camera ready, but it was a fun sighting for all those onboard! Pressing on from our minke, we eventually came across an amazing pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins. We had such a blast watching these dolphins as there were several playful calves spending time near the surface.
Dolphin calf
Calf with its mother!
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and we started to make our way back towards Rye Harbor.
Friday afternoon was spent with several different humpback whales. After making our way offshore, we were first able to spend time with a pair of humpback whales, Bayou and Jawa. These two whales were working together to corral fish into tighter shoals, making them easier to grab all at once. We were treated to several bouts of surface feeding as we followed along with them. We even got a surprise tail lob from Bayou as they were travelling alongside Jawa!
Pair of humpback whales
Tail lob!
We eventually did some more searching before coming across our last sighting of the day, a single humpback named Pixar. This whale was spending its afternoon similarly to our earlier pair as it fed near the surface on several occasions.
Humpback whale diving
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