Wednesday June 20

Fin whales and Minke whales were the talk of the ocean as both trips provided some great looks at each of these species today.  We got a chance to watch some of the second largest animals on the planet (yep we are talking about a Fin whale!) make some very tight turns as it was constantly changing direction and making it sometimes even challenging for us to figure out where these animals might decide to surface next. 

The head of one a Fin whale as it surfaced right alongside the boat!

Off the left side, then out in the distance, then right off the stern, Fin whales and even a couple Minke whales were popping up in every which direction.  What a great size comparison to witness Minke whales that at maximum can be about 1/2 the length of a single Fin whale!

Fin whale body and dorsal fin

Minke whale body and dorsal fin

Not only were the whales around but we couldn't help but be impressed with just how much food we were picking up on the Fish Finder on board.  While searching for whales this device does nothing in the way of finding whales as at any point in time this machine is only picking up what is directly underneath the vessel.  Many times once we have found whales (thanks to our eyes and sometimes other fishing/whale watching vessels in the area!) we start to notice small patches of bait fish on the Fish Finder.  The whales are going after the fish and typically where there are whales there is some food in the water.  Today there was certainly a lot of food near the whales. We kept going over different patches of food throughout the day including a few instances of having almost the entire screen lit up with scaly fish schools under the boat! Below are a sampling of a few spots we floated over during our trips today.

A few hints to decoding the Fish Finder screen:
The number on the bottom left is how deep the water currently is.
The numbers going down the right side is the surface of the ocean (0) leading down to the ocean bottom usually marking every 100ft.
The closer the color is to red (red= most concentrated vs. black/blue= least concentration of bait/fish) the more food in the water. 

165ft of water and a good grouping of fish within the first 100ft below the ocean surface

Some fish in the depths of the ocean below 100ft

 

Almost the entire water column filled with fish starting just below the surface down to the bottom of the ocean 186ft below the boat!

The ocean provided some great whale sightings and a perfect way to avoid the sweltering heat on land today. Thanks to our returning passengers and to all our first time whale watchers as it was another good day to be on Jeffreys Ledge!

Fin whale

Friday June 15

Our morning whale watch yesterday was once again faced with a bit of wind but our school group was energized and excited all morning long. We did a fair amount of searching and our luck paid off as we were able to spend some time with a squirmy Minke whale (surfacing this way and that, constantly moving around the area!), and a Fin whale that was doing some filtering while surfacing. 

Fin whale

The fact that our Fin whale was actively filtering out lots of salt water from its mouth is a good indication that this animal was actively feeding in the area.  We like hungry whales and Jeffreys Ledge is a good place to find lots of whale food!

The ocean conditions for our afternoon trip was drastically different.  Instead of the constant wave motion we had a mellow swell and barely a breath of air to contend with.  More Minke whales were sighted throughout our travels and we even got the chance to spend some time with a familiar Fin whale.  Prong the Fin whale was sighted!  She was first documented on Jeffreys Ledge in 2000 as she was swimming along with her calf, verifying her gender as a female!

Prong

Thanks for the nice looks Prong and we hope to see you again soon!

Thursday June 14

Today was a day of ups and downs...literally.  The wind decided to surprise us all with a bit more force than anyone was expecting for the day.  Luckily our group of kids were a hardy bunch and soon we were in search of whales.  We had found a whale and unfortunately when we tried to spend some time with the animal it was off.  It was off like a Fin whale on a mission.  This whale was only surfacing a few times, each time moving further and further away.  Did you know that a Fin whale can reach bursts of speeds traveling over 25mph? While this whale wasn't at top speed, it was definitely on the move and so we decided to press on in search of other mammals.  Our luck changed when our friends aboard the Prince of Whales called to report they had a cooperative Fin whale in their area.  Of course "cooperative" can be a very loose term sometimes as just when one starts to recognize a whale's travel patterns and dive times, the whale can easily change its behaviors with a snap and leave us all wondering what happened; a typical response when you are dealing with wild animals!  Luckily this Fin whale was doing a great job spending only ~5-7 minutes under the water at a time and sometimes not even moving great distances at all!  We were in luck.  To make things even more special it was a whale we recognized.  Comet the Fin whale is back!  Comet has been MIA on Jeffreys Ledge for a few years but did make an appearance in 2007 with calf as we quickly learned that year that Comet was indeed a female and caring for her recently born calf! 

Comet and her scars from a previous entanglement.  Thankfully she survived the ordeal as she swims freely today but a sad reminder of what once occurred.  Today these scars help us to positively identify her from other Fin whales and is the basis for how she got the name, "Comet"

The left side of Comet bares no sign as to what she looks like from the other side

Thanks to our school group for maneuvering the ocean with us as a few times it felt a bit more like a roller coaster ride than a boat ride, and to Comet for letting us spend some time with another familiar fin on Jeffreys Ledge.

Comet on the move as she surfaces for a breath against the ocean waves

June 12th

It was my first trip back aboard the Granite State for the season and I was very excited to be back.   The sky was grey and it was a bit windy on land, but that did not deter our passengers from coming aboard to join us for yet another adventure.  As we made it further off shore in search of whales, the wind did not let up. It made for a bumpy ride, but the whales did not disappoint.  Our first whales of the day were 2 Fin whales and it wasn't long before we realized how special these two whales were.  One of the Fin whales appeared to be much smaller than the other and we were happy to see that it was a mother and her new baby!  This is the first cow, calf Fin whale pair to be discovered this season and it's always a great sign to see new life on Jeffrey's Ledge.  Our cow, calf pair stayed along the surface for quite awhile and mom never let her baby out of her sight. 

After spending quality tme with this pair, we decided to do a little more exploring while we still had some time to spend off shore. We did not have to travel to far away before finding more whales to spend time with. We found an adult Humpback whale named Halfmoon, an adult male born in 1979! Halfmoon was busy creating lots of bubble clouds, a feeding behavior specific to Humpback whales, where the bubbles help corral food to make it easier for the whales to eat large quantities of food.

Another Humpback whale moved into the area, but we decided to stay with Halfmoon for the rest of our time offshore. We were able to identify this whale by photo-identification and it turned out to be an adult female named Pregunta, born in 1990!

A big thank you to all our hearty passengers on board and to 2 boys who shared their 6th birthday with us.  It was great to have everyone aboard and we hope to see you again soon. 

Sunday June 10

This season continues to be a rotating door as far as sightings go.  With almost every trip we end up seeing a new individual whale that graces us with its presence.  Today we were thrilled to spend some time with Owl the Humpback whale.  Not only is this whale a long time visitor to Jeffreys Ledge, this animal is one of our favorites aboard the boat!  Owl was most definitely doing some feeding below the ocean's surface as she created a few bubble clouds and even pooped at one point!  Typically when we spot whale poop you quickly catch a glimpse at the leftover remnants of food before a defecation cloud will dissipate in the water.  Based on the color we know Owl has recently been munching on some fish for the color of the defecation is a good indication as to what was recently undigested and passed through the whale's system!  Now you know whales poop too!

Owl with a brown patch (aka. poop!) just at the base of the tail on the ocean surface

We also spent time a few Minke whales, Clamp and her calf, and perhaps the most exciting sighting of the day for our passengers were the 2 Basking sharks we watched feeding.

Clamp with her calf nearby

Once we slowly made our way to the sharks we could see them with their mouths wide open as Basking sharks are filter feeders just like the whales!  A Basking shark will basically swim through the water with an open mouth allowing ocean water to constantly be pushed in to the mouth and out through the gills. 

The front half of a Basking shark with the nose on the left and dorsal fin breaking the surface of the water

Found on the gills are small hooks that end up capturing any plankton that attempts to pass by, whether it be plant plankton or animal plankton, and this is what the second largest shark in the world eats!  Did you know that Basking sharks do not even have teeth in their mouths?  It is sometimes shocking to realize that these large fish eat nothing other than some of the smallest creatures on Earth!

Saturday June 9

There was a bit of excitement in the air as we headed out of Rye Harbor today. The skies were clear and the wind was minimal making for great conditions to spot whales.  The trip was a success as we headed for home after spotting and spending time with just about all of the 4 Minkes, 8 Fin whales, 5 Humpback whales, and 1 Basking shark we saw today.

While we saw lots of Fin whales throughout our travels today it was the trio of Fin whales that probably stole the show.  All three whales remained associated with each other the entire time we watched them synchronizing their activities.  Surfacing together and going on deeper dives together these animals had quite the choreographed movements about them.  A few times we had this group just alongside the boat making it quite impressive to see 3 of the second largest animals in the world cruising along. 

The interesting blotch on this whale helps to distinguish it from the other two whales of the group

A bright whale lower jaw and the chevron patterns of these two Fin whales

On top of the fact that we had three of these mammals together, we were equally excited to learn one of these whales was a well known visitor to Jeffreys Ledge.  Low and behold we had Ladder the Fin whale. 

Ladder

While this was the first time for the 2012 season to come across Ladder we really should not have been surprised to see one of the trio be this specific whale.  Fin whales tend to be solitary in their movements so typically we see these animals on their own during our whale watches.  Every now and then a couple, or few, Fin whales may join together for a time being, but more often than not a Fin whale will maneuver through the water on its own.  Over the years though this does not appear to be the case for one particular Fin whale: Ladder.  Ladder has a tendency to be seen almost ALWAYS associated with at least one other Fin whale.  The Blue Ocean Society has been tracking Fin whales on Jeffreys Ledge for the past 10 years and it is amazing that this animal certainly appears to enjoy moving through the water with a friend!  With a whale friend or not we are happy to see Ladder back again for another season!

Ladder and friend going on a dive

Through the Fin whale movement, and Minke whales popping up almost every time we stopped to watch whales, we also got a chance to see another species; Humpback whales.  Turns out we ended up spending time with a solitary Humpback whale along with two mother/calf pairs.  Our first Humpback whale of the day was Pregunta.  This whale spent a lot of time zigging and zagging around the area.

Pregunta the Humpback whale

As for our pairs we spent time with Pinball and calf, and Clamp and calf today.  We saw Pinball yesterday but it has been a couple of weeks since we last saw Clamp and her calf, all of which were in different portions of Jeffreys Ledge from their previous sightings.  Both calves were being active. Pinball's calf was doing tight circles, surfacing with its mouth open, and even keeping us hostage for a few minutes as this whale decided to hang out right next to the boat! 

Pinball

Pinball's calf poking its head out with its mouth open

Pinball's calf deciding to show us its unique black and white pattern

Clamp's calf on the other hand did a few tail slashes, rolled upside-down a few times, appeared to be nursing, and then decided to take a quick nap!  Lots of behaviors and lots of great looks at both pairs of whales.

Clamp and her calf

On our way home we even saw one other species of marine life.  It was a Basking shark.  This large fish at one point decided to come directly in towards the boat.  I guess when you are the second largest shark in the ocean maybe you do not get scared by much! 

Many thanks to our eager passengers as everyone was doing a great job spotting so many whales!  We'll see what tomorrow has in store for us as we look forward to heading back out in the morning.

Friday June 8

On Friday we had our annual all-day NH Audubon Pelagic trip.  While we spent the majority of the day in search of birds we also got a chance to sneak in a few whales sightings too! Foggy conditions made finding any life out on the water challenging but at the end of the day we saw quite the variety of marine life including an Ocean sunfish, Minke whales, at least 4 Fin whales, 2 Humpback whales, and 7 large (and sometimes a little crazy) Basking sharks.  Think it is challenging finding whales in the fog, try the task of finding birds in it!  As always our friends with NH Audubon were hardy folks as we ended up with some good pelagic species of the feathery variety.  Feel free to check out http://groups.google.com/group/nhbirds?hl=en&pli=1 for the full listing of birds!  As for the whales, we got to spend some time with them while we were "searching" for birds nearby (to keep the birders happy so we could enjoy the whales for a moment!).  As it seems to be the case both the crew and the passengers have fun with all the birds and whales we encounter.  Even in the fog, and thanks to the R/V Gulf Challenger, we spent a bit of time with a familiar friend to Jeffreys Ledge.  The exciting part was that she had a calf with her. Welcome back to the Ledge Pinball and her calf! 

Pinball and her calf

Pinball

With the internet being such a hub for people everywhere, we learned that Pinball herself had been seen off the Dominican Republic this winter with a calf and were thrilled to see that both whales made the long journey back to the feeding grounds of the Gulf of Maine safe and sound!

Pinball's flipper

Even with all the fog we had a great day with all our friends from NH Audubon; thanks again!