Today was a glassy, gray Thursday as we ventured offshore with a school field trip. Day two of being back on the water after the recent nor'easter was nothing short of exceptional! Our trip began with a juvenile humpback whale that held us hostage for a long while as it repeatedly circled around our boat as we sat idle with the engines turned off.
Curious humpback whale
Eventually, this whale continued on with its day. As we sat waiting to make sure our humpback had moved on, we were able to get distant looks at a minke whale and a fin whale!
Distant finback diving
Once we relocated our humpback, we were able to slowly meander towards another pair of humpbacks that had moved into the area. This was the beginning of another exciting encounter as this was a mother/calf pair!
Mom/calf diving
These two humpbacks spent much of their time circling the area, giving us amazing looks at the pair. As we followed along with these whales, we were able to see a distant spout with quite a bit of splashing following it, so we said goodbye to our whales, and ventured over. After making our way closer, our day of amazing sightings didn't let up as we were now getting looks at a humpback whale being followed by a mixed pod of Atlantic white-sided and common dolphins!!!
Humpback and dolphins
Now, I say that this humpback was being followed and not in association with these dolphins. That's because this whale repeatedly slashed its tail and flippers at the surface, likely trying to get the dolphins to make some space around it. This humpback began to pick up quite a bit of speed, but it did little to send a message to the dolphins.
White-sided and common dolphins
Unfortunately, we couldn't ignore the clocks any longer, and it was time to head back to Rye Harbor. See you all this weekend!
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