Saturday August 4

What a beautiful day to be out on the ocean!  Wind was almost non-existent and other than a slight swell we were surrounded by calm, calm seas!  Our first stops on marine life this morning wasn't even whales, they were fish!  We certainly enjoy taking a look at anything interesting we spot throughout our travels and today was no different.  We got some great looks at an Ocean sunfish that spent time swimming around us and floating just beyond the back of the boat. 

Ocean sunfish

We love finding these fish and seeing the reactions of our passengers as they realize just how weird looking these creatures really are.  Soon we were heading further offshore and as we made our way towards some whale spouts we were seeing we stopped to look at another fish, this time a Blue shark. 

Blue shark blending in with its surrounding environment

A few whips of its tail and it sank down below our eyesight and so we moved over to the whales we were seeing.  Two Humpback whales were just "bobbing" up and down at the ocean's surface.  These two whales were napping.  Eventually they woke up just long enough to raise their tails and give us a brief look at their tails before once again returning to their napping behavior.  It was Cajun and a new visitor to Jeffreys Ledge this season; Crystal. 

Cajun

These whales were going strong resting so after a while we decided to ease our way from this pair and check out another spout we were seeing in the distance. 


We made our way over to what ended up being two more Humpback whales.  While these animals were much more lively, as in not sleeping, and instead circling around the area we spent some time with this pair as we noticed a tag visible off of one of these whales.  It was a satellite tag that the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies is currently doing a project with.  Check out Humpback whale 2012 Tagging Project for more information.  Thanks to PCCS we found out our tagged whale, even though it never fluked, is a whale named Tectonic.  Our other whale swimming along with Tectonic was Bat. 

Bat raising its tail high into the air

As we spent time with this pair out in the distance we saw whale bodies above the surface.  Our original pair had most definitely woken up as they were now jumping clear out of the water!  We made our way back over to Cajun and Crystal who ended up tail-lobbing, flipper slapping, and rolling all over the place all of a sudden.  What a spectacle. 

Cajun's tail and Crystal's flipper out for all to see

Two very large whales showcasing their flippers!

Water being tossed everywhere as Cajun smacks its flipper back onto the surface!

More flippering for Crystal as Cajun surfaces for a breath of air

However, a good chuckle must be included for as soon as Cajun and Crystal stopped all their aerial activity, the next time both whales surface they were once again sleeping!



As if that activity wasn't enough we also got the chance to see an Atlantic Puffin, a group of 50 Atlantic white-sided dolphins on our way home and even a few people saw a Loggerhead turtle only 5 miles from home!

Atlantic white-sided dolphin

Life was plentiful and with the great weather we couldn't wait to get back out to Jeffreys Ledge for our afternoon trip.


This afternoon's first stop was on a group of 75 Atlantic white-sided dolphins.  These whales were definitely chasing after some food for at one point many of them started circling almost on top of each other charging down into the water each time they took a quick breath.

More dolphins!

Our friends aboard the Prince of Whales had found a few of our morning whales and with some time to venture in that direction we made our way towards the reported activity.  Once we got into the area we surveyed around to figure out just where all the whales were before we started to make our way towards any of them.  Turns out there were 5 Humpback whales in the area.  Two pairs were present and a single out in the distance.  We ended up spending time with Tectonic (still not fluking) and a very scarred-tailed whale.  This scarring is not natural and is a result of a prior entanglement in fishing gear.  Luckily this whale survived such the ordeal but clearly is a reminder of a unfortunate event and potentially tragic event in this whale's life.  This whale is Banyan and another newcomer to Jeffreys Ledge this season.

Banyan's dorsal fin (above) and tail scarring below

With a few looks at this pair we made our way to the other pair since the single Humpback whale was moving further and further offshore.  It was Cajun and Crystal again.  And guess what?  Cajun was still napping.

Crystal and Cajun "hover" just at the surface

Cajun

Crystal was a bit more awake but still not moving terribly far or fast for a Humpback whale.  What a nice way to wrap up a wonderful day out with wildlife.

Crystal

Friday August 3

This morning we dealt with quite an unexpected guest... a grand swell out on the open ocean.  The wind was minimal so other than the constant up and down motion (for some: fun, for others: not so much fun) we rocked up and down as we headed toward Jeffreys Ledge.  With a bit of hazy conditions to deal with we ventured to areas we've recently been seeing whales and slowed the boat down.  We took our time searching for signs of whales as we eased our way around.  Soon there was a spout!  It was a Fin whale.  As we came into the area we could tell this whale was filtering out lots of salt water.  This whale was doing some morning feeding.  Almost each time it surfaced after a dive this whale was coming up with its lower jaw maxed out to capacity holding lots of ocean water and food inside! 

The white lower jaw (green sheen) of this Fin whale as this whale continues filtering out water this morning

A few times we were convinced the whale preferred the stern of our boat as it kept surfacing just beyond us.  Lots of circling, lots of filtering, and lots of incredible looks at this animal! 

This whale is HUGE! You can see the tip of its head(right) all the way to its dorsal fin (left) but keep in mind we still are missing the tailstock and tail of this whale!

We were even able to match it to our Fin whale catalog as a whale first sighted on Jeffreys Ledge in 2009, it was #0931. 

Fin whale #0931 surfacing for a breath of air and filtering out lots of salt water all at the same time

After our great looks we continued further offshore and ended up coming across a few more Fin whales.  One stop was on a pair of whales as they moved through the water together.  We spent some time with these Fin whales, spotted a few more, and even got the chance to take a look at a Blue shark before it was time to head for home.

Blue shark swimming from right to left

We knew we had gotten some wonderful looks at some of the second largest animals in the world this morning so we knew it would be hard-pressed to top that this afternoon.  Only the ocean knew what was in store for us.  This afternoon was spotted a spout from a whale and began to make our way into the area only to start seeing more and more spouts in all directions.  We were making our way to the closest whale, a Humpback whales, when we began to try to count just how many other whales were in the vicinity.  We got a chance to spend time with Ballpark the Humpback whale who was moseying on through the area while also seeing a single Fin whale out in the distance.

Ballpark

However, the other excitement was coming from out in the distance and heading our way.  A group of at least 5 Fin whales (perhaps a few more!) were moving through the water together.  The spouts keep rising from the surface as we couldn't even tell which animal was breathing when because so many tall column-like blows keeps appearing.  It was incredible.  The group passed just beyond Ballpark and at one point anywhere you may have been aboard the boat, there was a whale spouting near by!

Ballpark off on another dive

Ballpark began to move in the opposite direction and we stayed with this whale one last time before making our way in the opposite direction to get some looks at our moving mass of Fin whales.  The group began to separate before getting to the area as we saw at least 3 whales off our left side and two more Fin whales off our right side.  Even with our whales venturing off in different directions it was great seeing so many of these animals off either side of the boat!  We were about to decide which group to stay closer to when we got word on the radio that one of the other boats had some dolphins.  They weren't Atlantic white-sided though which are typically the type of dolphins we see.  No, our friends aboard the Atlantic Queen had found a pod of Risso's dolphins!!!!!

Such the unique looking animal known as a Risso's dolphin!

Risso's dolphin as a Wilson's Storm Petrel flys by

It has been 5 years since someone on the crew of the Granite State has seen this type of marine mammal and we all spend a lot of time on the ocean.  What an incredible opportunity!!!  As much as we wanted to stay near our Fin whales we knew we couldn't pass up the chance to head over to the rare sighting!!!  There were around 15 Risso's in this pod and as they circled around you could watch their lighter colored bodies under the water as they moved like green clouds before rising to the surface for a breath of air. 

Circling around the area moving around together

Lighter colored Risso's dolphin in the group

Such a completely unexpected sighting and truly elated to see these most interesting whales in our part of the ocean!

Dark eyeball from one of our dolphins!

Even after having left the group of Fin whales we were not done with that species as we even got a nice look at another Fin whale moving through the area as we spent time with the Risso's.  Life was everywhere. 

One of the many Fin whales seen this afternoon

All in all we ended up seeing at least 10 Fin whales this afternoon along with Ballpark and our toothed-whale visitors the Risso's dolphins. 

Scars along this whales body (unfortunately due to human interactions at some point during its life) does help us to tell this particular Fin whale apart from others of its kind

Do I dare ask what will tomorrow bring?

Thursday August 2

Still can't believe the month of August is already here!  The whales continue to be on Jeffreys Ledge but each time we venture offshore not even each day, it is seriously each trip, is so vastly different than the previous and soon-to-be next!  There seems to be no rhyme or reason to what we see.  Whales move in and move out.  Animals from one trip disappear during the next and new ones move in without having been seen just hours prior.  It is insane and yet spectacular all at the same time.  Different whales different behaviors; it is wildlife at its finest.

This morning we began our day with some very impressive whales holding their breaths.  Our first Fin whale was under the water for 16 minutes and even as we eased our way out of the area we still never saw it return up for a few breaths of air.  Definitely doing a great job spending time, and probably great distances, over the region under the water.  Next even a Minke whale was being elusive.  It seemed everything we were seeing wanted nothing to do with us.  With a few more spouts out in the distance maybe the third time would be the charm.  It worked!  We ended up spending time with two Fin whales.  It was Ladder (again!) moving through the water with another identified whale, #0926.  While this animal does not have a name, it was still fun to see both these large Fin whales circle around before taking off and ultimately splitting apart.  We got some great looks at these whales and then pressed on to explore some more areas of Jeffreys Ledge.

Fin whale #0926

Ladder

Our next whale was another species.  A Humpback whale surfaced just out in the distance.  We maneuvered over, watched this whale go on a deeper dive, and 18 minutes later we were still waiting!  More whales were holding their breaths...  Sometimes the whales we see spend only a couple minutes under the water and today we had the complete opposite.  But honestly that's okay.  We all go out in search of wild animals.  There is no training, no feeding, no planned behaviors from any whale we see.  Instead we just catch a glimpse into the lives of such incredible creatures and sometimes we come across whales that spend a good bit of time under the water.  The whales choose their behaviors, not us, we only get the lucky chance to see any of them to begin with.


With more time we continued on and soon spotted another spout.  One turned into two and then more.  We ended up in an area where we had 3 Fin whales and 1 Humpback whale.  Two of the Fin whales were moving in tandem together while the 3rd moved into the area on its own. 

Fin whale pair moving effortlessly along

Our Humpback whale was Ballpark and was just circling close by.  This is a two year old whale and just got its name last month!

Ballpark the Humpback whale

At one point as we sat with our engines shut off as we had a Humpback whale off our right side, a Fin whale off our left side, and a pair of Fin whales swim by the stern.  It was awesome!  Nothing beats sitting in silence, floating on the surface, just watching and hearing the whales move around.

This Fin whale swam just in front of the boat!

This afternoon our first sighting came up unexpectedly.  A small pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins appeared just ahead of us.  We got a few look at these 5 whales before we lost track of them as they swam through the area.  Since we were still inshore of the Ledge we decided to continue on in search of more whale-life.

Our next stop was on a Fin whale.  This animal was just circling around so we got some great looks at the whale on each side of the boat. 

Fin whale taking a good breath of air

Fin whale dorsal fin

There were a few more Fin whales around but all the whales started to cross paths with each other and with another whale watching boat in the area and multiple whales around we didn't want to interfere with the whales' movements so we eased our way out of the area and made our way over to a few other spouts not far away.  We saw two Humpback whales, both heading in different directions, so decided to start with the whale a bit closer to us.  Turns out it was Ballpark again.  We enjoyed watching this whale move through the area when suddenly it decided to change up its behavior.  This whale decided to lift the entire back half of its body out of the water.  34 lob-tails and 1 tail breach later (thanks to Katie, one of the Blue Ocean Society's summer interns for recording all the behaviors!) Ballpark went back to just swimming through the water.  This whale put on quite the display for everyone on board. It was incredible. 

Tail breach!

Not only seeing this whale constantly launch part of its body into the air but hearing the sound as the tail smacks back down on the surface is something unlike any other. 

Ballpark lob-tailing high into the sky

Still going strong!

We attempted to relocate the other Humpback whale in the area after leaving Ballpark but this whale was moving further offshore and we were running short on time.  It was another great day out on the ocean.  I wonder what we will encounter come tomorrow for another day of whale watching on Jeffreys Ledge...

Wednesday August 1

Happy August everyone!  This morning was a bit of an unexpected surprise.  Whales have been around and we have been enjoying spending time with anything we encounter.  Today however, was a little bit different.  After leaving Rye Harbor and traveling to Jeffreys Ledge we ended up coming into an area where there were a few spouts around.  As we got closer, the spouts became more plentiful.  Whales were literally EVERYWHERE!  Within a matter of minutes we were seeing 12+ animals in every which direction.  It was a bit chaotic as we attempted to watch whatever was around, figuring out just which whales were moving, which were staying put, and what species was nearby.  Before all the whale action we actually stopped on a Blue shark swimming amongst the whale frenzy and then eased our way toward 3 Fin whales near by.  These whales were on the move, which we ended up encountering later on in our trip, and continued to ease our way to another trio of whales.  This time it was 3 Humpback whales.  All three whales were circling around spending only minutes under the water.  A few minutes later we knew who we were watching.  It was Ebony, Cajun, and Bat. 

Ebony and Cajun surface alongside the boat

These three animals continued to circle around the boat and got some incredible looks before making our way to some of the other whales we were seeing.

Bat

Cajun

Further out more Fin whales were surfacing in so many directions.  Taking our time and attempting to get looks at any whale that surfaced in our general vicinity, we continued to watch pairs, and singles, move around the area. 

Two extremely large Fin whale barely creating any disturbance on the ocean's surface

More spouts further away intrigued our curiosity as we continued stopping, looking, and seeing more whales.  At one point we found another trio of Fin whales moving through the water together and a single surfacing just off our port side.  Whoa, what a fantastic look at one of these creatures!

Fin whale at the surface allowing us to see it's flipper!

We began running short on time and turned towards home only to cross paths with 4 Humpback whales.  These whales were on the move as three of the four were actually the ones we had spent time with earlier in the morning.  However, this time another "friend" had joined them.  We were able to identify this fourth whale as Sundown.  All in all we sighted 6 Humpback whales and 16 Fin whales throughout our morning travels.  Wow.

Sundown joins in on the fun

This afternoon we were off to see if some, or any, of the whales were still near by.  Turns out we got the chance to see 5 different Fin whales.  Like this morning, the Fin whales in the area were being a bit sporadic in their surfacings.  These whales were spending a bit of time under the water and changing direction, but with some patience we got the chance to get some great looks at this species.  Our first Fin whale this afternoon was one we had seen from this morning.  Great that this particular whale was still going strong on Jeffreys Ledge. 

One of the same whales seen during our morning and afternoon trip!

Later we moved onto other area where we had had luck in the morning and found more Fin whales.  A few were being elusive, coming up for a couple breaths and disappearing for a while, so we headed towards a spout we kept seeing quite frequently.  Turns out that single spout, and whale once we got into the area, turned into two whales!  This pair of Fin whales while moving, were providing some great looks as they continued swimming through the water at a relatively slow pace.  One of the whales in this pair is a whale that continues to show itself over the past few days.  #0813 is still around.

Fin whale #0813

Our Fin whale pair

Who knows what tomorrow will bring as even we have no idea what to expect but it certainly provides us quite the anticipation of the unknown!

Tuesday, July 31

We started the day offshore close to Jeffrey's Ledge where several whales have been feeding over the last couple of days.  We were lucky enought to start with not one, but two Fin whales! One of the fin whales looked much smaller than the other and we soon realized that we had a mother, calf pair.

We spent quality time with this pair and it is always so nice to see new life on the ledge.  As we were watching the pair, a third fin whale surfaced right next to us! It turned out to be Dingle.  Dingle surfaced 2 times then disappeaered underneath the water and continued traveling.  Even though it was for a short period of time, it was so nice to see Dingle again.

Before long, we were surrounded by about 7 different fin whales and we were able to get great looks at 5 of them throughout the morning.

 We ended our morning trip with a different species  on the ledge.  We found a juvenile Humpback whale.  This whale was taking long dives, but we were able to get great looks at this whale and it's another new humpback whale to the ledge this season.  We are still in the process of trying to identify this whale and will keep you posted once we get a positive ID.

We travelled to the same area in the afternoon in hopes that we would have luck in finding a few whales that may have stuck around.  Whales are constantly moving to different areas to feed, but we were hopeful that we would be able to relocate a few whales perhaps that we're seen in the morning.
Our first stop was slightly inshore of the ledge with a single adult fin whale.  this whale has a small notch in the tip of the dorsal fin and prominent peduncle scars, and we were able to identify it as #9724!  This whale was first sighted by the Blue Ocean Society in 1997 and we were so happy to see this whale once again.

We then travelled to an area where we found the same mother, calf fin whale pair from the morning trip!  This afternoon however, the calf  was quite active rolling around perhaps learning feeding behaviors from mom!

The pair were accompanied by a third individual and it was such a spectacular sight to see 3 of the second largest animal in the world close by.

As we were watching the trio of fin whales, we got a report from our friends on the Prince of Whales that they had found a humpback whale.  We waited for the trio of fin whales to resurface to get a last looks at them before trying to relocate the humpback whale that was a couple miles away from our location.   As we started slowly moving away the captain noticed something else along the surface.  What he first thought was an ocean sunfish, turned out to be a Leatherback turtle!! Yep, a turtle!  It is a rare sighting, but what was more shocking was that it surfaced several times right next to the boat!  To actually get a good look at one from a boat is very difficult, and this was by far one of the highlights of the day.  In my thirteen years of whale research, I have never seen a leatherback turtle in the wild!!  A fantastic sighting for everyone aboard!!

We ended our day with the same juvenile Humpback whale seen earlier in the day.  This whale created a few bubble clouds to corral food and was busy feeding!

It was a fabulous day overall and we look forward to what tomorrow may bring!