Thursday, July 10

What we all love about our job is how drastically different one trip can be from another. Whales move in, whales move out, and the unknown for any given trip is what keeps us all coming back for more. Today was just like that. We never truly know what we are going to find, see and experience. While we have a good sense as to where whales may be that only goes so far for the whales are the utmost decision makers. They are the ones to decide to stay in an area and potentially what they may be doing when we get there. This morning we saw between 15-20 Humpback whales and this afternoon 10, along with 10 Minke whales as well. These whales were far from home and moved quite a good distance even just between our morning and afternoon trips. The last time we had such high numbers of Humpback whales close enough by they remained around for ~72hrs before venturing off in some unknown direction. Who knows if these whales will stay put, move closer, or once again move further away but until then we certainly were lucky enough to see some incredible feeding behaviors from so many animals.

This morning we got a chance to watch whales create bubble clouds, kick feed, and even a few distance breaches out of the water. With so many whales around we eased our way around getting looks at plenty of the whales close by us. We have been able to identify most of the whales that were close to us which included Stub, Level, Glyph, Wyoming, Nimbus, Bisou and Treasure.

Stub creating quite the disturbance on the water

Kicking feeding being done by this Humpback whale

One of the pairs of whales we saw feeding

Birds and whales trying to eat lots of fish!

Definitely sightings unusual to see especially when almost all the whales we saw were partaking in the same behaviors of actively feeding. Can you even begin to imagine how much food must be around to keep these whales doing what they are doing?

This afternoon we traveled miles from where we had been this morning only to come across a few of the exact same whales we had spent time with during our morning trip. Whales have tails and they certainly have no problem using them to venture off in any direction they so desire! We got some amazing looks as Bisou, Level and Jumanji who were cooperatively feeding by creating bubble nets and making tail slashes through the water. 

This is actually 3 Humpback whales as a couple of them surface with their mouths open

Bisou the Humpback whale

The bubble net created by this Humpback whale while its mouth is open and then closed (above and below) trapping in all the fish in its mouth while then spitting all the ocean water back out!

Jumanji

To top off an already incredible time spent with wild animals today we ended our trip with Anvil and her calf.

Anvil

Anvil filtering out plenty of salt water while her calf swims alongside her

This is the first time all season we have seen a mother/calf Humpback whale pair so it was certainly a special treat. Mom alternated doing some feeding herself before her and her calf would nurse for a bit only to then return to doing some more feeding behaviors.

Some kick feeding being done by Mom

These behaviors from so many whales is something you do not get a chance to see everyday or for that matter each and every time you go out whale watching. Who knows what may happen in the next few days as for now these incredible moments are certainly memorable.

Quite the beautiful day

Wednesday, July 9

We saw three species of whales today. Our first sighting was a familiar Fin whale still spending time so close to home.

This Fin whale is just off the coast of NH!

We got some great looks at this whale especially once it slowed down and circled around the area for a bit.

Fin whale #1008 swimming just passed our boat

You can see the white lower jaw as this Fin whale exhales at the surface

After some great quality time spent with this animal we ventured further offshore. Our next sighting was a Minke whale moving about. This whale was spending a bit less time at the surface and darting around, just as many Minke whales are known to do. Little did we know we had one more type of whale to check out before it was time to go home. Thanks to Captain Bradley Cook we headed over to an area where there was a bit of activity. A small pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins were making their way through the area.

Atlantic white-sided dolphin

While these whales were steadily traveling through the area they apparently enjoyed swimming almost directly under our pulpit as this group of 7-10 whales zigged and zagged from one side of the boat to the other as we all idled along. What a great end to our trip especially knowing this is only the third time all season we have gotten a chance to see Atlantic white-sided dolphins on one of our trips!

Such a great group of toothed-whales to spend time with this afternoon!

Tuesday, July 8

We were once again fortunate enough to have plenty of whales close to home again today. This morning we saw 8 Minke whales and 3 Fin whales. Perhaps our best sighting of the day was our first whale of the day (at least that's what our crew would unanimously agree with). It was our fin-less scarred-up Minke whale we have been seeing every year for the past 3 years. While this whale may only be seen once a year we were thrilled to have this whale back in the area.

What is this you ask? A Minke whale without a dorsal fin and instead has a large white scar (above and below). This whale is swimming from right to left in these images

The scar on this whale is around where there should be a dorsal fin. This whale has definitely encountered some human interactions over its lifetime (potentially multiple instances with both fishing gear and boat propellers) based on some of the scars visible on this whale's body. Luckily this whale managed to survive these events and is once again back in our area for another season. What was even more exciting to see is that this whale looks good. Dark coloration and a plump body helps to visually see that this whale looks like many of our other "normal" looking Minke whales. In addition this whale's scar has appeared to heal especially considering the first time we saw this whale the center region of that large mass was still slightly pink in color, meaning it was much more of a fresh wound. We spent just a bit of time with this whale to make sure we documented the progression of this whale's healing process before we ventured in the opposite direction to not overstay our welcome. Our next sighting was a Fin whale surrounded by plenty of Minke whales circling around on the outskirts of this area.

Morning sighting of Fin whale #1008

We spent some time with this whale before we soon spotted another Fin whale in the distance. Since our first whale was on the move inshore we decided to go check out the other Fin whale further offshore. Once we got to this other area we watched this second Fin whale suddenly pick up speed and appear to head directly towards the other Fin whale we had just left. In a matter of moments both whales were swimming directly towards one another!

Two Fin whales at the surface appearing to be on a collision course towards each other! That is a lot of whale tonnage coming very close in contact with each other!

We very rarely see any believed to be "aggressive" behavior from any type of whale (same or multiple species) at the surface. While we don't actually know what may happen below the waterline when we see multiple whales in the same general area they all tend to maneuver pretty easily around each other. Not these two whales though. In an instant one whale took a breath and a second later the second one surfaced as if it had just swam over the other whale before both of them took a major turn in direction and just as quickly travelled off in their own different directions. Who knows what these two whales had on their mind or may have even "said" to each other under the water but it was certainly an unexpected sight.

Fin whale #9709 after the close approach to the other Fin whale in the area

Before the trip was over we saw another Fin whale and a few more Minke whales to round out our morning trip.

Our third Fin whale of the day made us hold our breath in its own way as it swam dangerously close to a buoy as it went down on a dive. Luckily the whale disappeared and the buoy did not; a good sign that this whale did not get wrapped up in gear that was near where the whale was swimming

This afternoon our first sighting was less than 5 miles from home. A large Fin whale was circling around the area. We got some great looks at this whale as it was one of the same animals we had seen in the morning.

First afternoon Fin whale

We ventured further offshore and came across a Minke whale before running out of time for any further exploring. On our way home though we came across another Minke whale and ended up seeing 2 Fin whales less than 2 miles from Rye Harbor!

Fin whale spout just off the coast of NH!

While one of these whales was the same animal we had started our trip with it had moved over the course of a few hours and reminds us how easily these animals can make their way through our area. What a crazy sight to see whales literally so close to home and end our trip with today!

Monday, July 7

Our whales today were once again inshore of Jeffreys Ledge. We saw multiple Fin whales and even a few Minke whales during both of our trips today. This morning we checked out 4 Fin whales and a couple of the 6 Minke whales we saw spread out around the larger baleen whales.

Minke whales typically surface with their nose/snout first just like in this photo

This Minke whale coasted just past the front of the boat!

Our first Fin whale of the day was literally less than 5 miles from Rye Harbor. What a surprise and a great way to start the day!

Fin whale with the Isles of Shoals in the distance

Such a long amount of this Fin whale's body is visible at the surface at this moment in time

Of the whales we spent time with this morning we were able to positively identify a few of our animals. We spent time with #1008, #9709 and Dingle!

Fin whale #1008

Close-up of Fin whale #9709's dorsal fin to see just how uniquely shaped this, and all Fin whale fins, can be.

Dingle the Fin whale

All of these whales were circling and darting back and forth throughout the area as we spent time watching these whales this morning.

Fin whale chevron pattern

Our final whale of the trip completely surprised us as we had moved out of the area only to find out Fin whale #9709 (which we had seen miles away) was now near us once again. These mammals can certainly cruise around if they so desire!

This afternoon we once again came across a few of the same Fin whales from our morning trip. #1008 and #9709 were amongst the 3 Fin whales we saw out on the open ocean.

One of our afternoon Fin whales not only maneuvering around lots of fishing gear in the water but also plenty of boating activities at the surface. Keep your eyes peeled for whale activity anytime you are on the ocean. They certainly can pop up anywhere. Thanks!

Who knows how long any one of these whales may continue to spend time so far inshore of the Ledge but it is great to have so many whales around allowing us to get some great looks at these massive mammals!

Incoming Fin whale

Sunday, July 6

Our morning trip started off with a nice look at a Minke whale just after passing the Isles of Shoals.

Minke whale on the move

Soon we decided to head further offshore to where we had seen whales during out last trips but unfortunately nothing was there. So we continued searching as much as Jeffreys Ledge as time would allow further offshore. Alas, our efforts paid off as we saw a spout in the distance. As we got closer we quickly realized it was a Humpback whale. Our sighting got even better once we soon saw exactly who it was. Hornbill the Humpback whale is back!

Welcome back to area for another season Hornbill!

This whale was first seen in the Gulf of Maine in 1977 making Hornbill at least 37 years old and a whale we see almost every year! What a great sighting to come across.

The "big wings" of Hornbill

Hornbill spent most of its time circling around the area creating bubble clouds and for good reason as we kept passing over large patches of food on our fish finder.

Our fish finder picking up lots of food ranging from just below the surface of the ocean down to about 200ft of the 231ft we were currently floating over

This afternoon we got reports of whales very much inshore of Jeffreys Ledge. Not only was there just one whale in the area but we ended up seeing 4 Fin whales and a Minke whale circling around.

A few waves are no match for this Fin whale

Where these whales had been hours earlier during our morning travels will forever be a mystery but it was certainly nice to see so much activity before even getting to the Ledge. Along with seeing these animals it was great to see some familiar fins moving around. Fin whale #1008 and #9709 were once again spotted in our neck of the ocean.

Fin whale #1008 is still spending time in the area

Fin whale #9709

Along with these whales circling around the area (and leaving quite the number of defecation clouds...thanks #1008!) we had another new visitor for the season.

Can you find the multiple "brown clouds" left behind this whale? (Hint the whale is visible in the upper left-hand corner of this photo and the clouds are left behind as the whale moves through the water)

Dingle the Fin whale has returned for another year. What a great way to wrap up another day of whale watching.

A distant look is still enough to know we have a new visitor to the area this year. Welcome back Dingle!

Thursday, July 3

Everyday is different but today felt as if almost every hour out on the water was different. This morning we were surrounded by fog for most of the morning as it would look as if the fog would start to lift before socking back in once again in no time flat.

White Island Lighthouse was nonexistent as we passed by the Shoals this morning

We searched and searched and searched for whale activity. Alas, the hours of staring as far as possible into the fog to look for whale activity final paid off as on our of our eagle-eyed crew members picked up a whale. A Fin whale was suddenly close by! This whale was on the move as we maneuvered over 3 miles with it as this whale moved from here to there and back in another direction.

Thanks Ryan for finding us this Fin whale!

We were able to get some great looks at this large whale as our efforts for looking for so long were rewarded with this great find of this adult female.

Fin whale #9709 cruising through the area

This afternoon we left the harbor in hazy conditions and then quickly found ourselves in the worst fog of the day yet. Soon enough though we broke out of it and continued further offshore. We first spent time with 2 Minke whales darting around. We ended up watching one of the whales that was spending a bit more time at the surface.

Minke whale

This whale is actually an animal we have already seen this season thanks to its extremely uniquely shaped dorsal fin. Our next stop was on the Fin whale we had spotted during our morning travels. As much as this whale had be speeding through the area in the morning it was still around this afternoon. However, by no means had this whale changed up its behavior from the time we spent with it this morning. It was once again on the move. This time however, instead of heading to the southwest this whale was pointed directly to the northeast.

Fin whale #9709 again this afternoon (above and below)

As this whale continued with its linear movements we were able to time our movements on the boat to keep up and get some great looks at this animal.  Soon we were out of time which turned out to be a good thing as some dark clouds were moving over land and out to sea.

Stormy clouds

As is always the case not only do we make sure to maneuver safely around whales we are always tracking the unpredictable weather that comes with the warmer temperatures during the summer months. So we began to make our way back home by sneaking behind one of these cells. A good freshwater rinse just before we got back to the harbor was our only added excitement and soon the day ended with one more surprise, a rainbow over Rye Harbor!

The M/V Granite State at the end of a rainbow

Double rainbow over Rye Harbor

Wednesday, July 2

Happy July everyone! We headed out to Jeffreys Ledge this morning and soon came across our first whale. A Minke whale was moving around inshore of the Ledge. It is always a nice way to start our trips with a whale sighting before we even get to Jeffreys Ledge.

Minke whale

We got some nice looks at this whale as it moved around the area before we pressed on further offshore. Our next whale was an animal almost 3 times the size of a Minke whale; a large Fin whale! This whale alternated taking 6 or 10 minutes dives but never moved far in any direction. It didn't take long to determine exactly which Fin whale we were watching. This whale has such a distinctively shaped fin that with a quick look we knew it was #0622! This whale was first identified during the 2006 season out on the Ledge.

Fin whale #0622

Definitely a great whale to come across. As we spent time with this whale we spotted a spout not terribly far away from us. Another whale was cruising around. As we made our way closer to this other animal we soon knew we had found yet another species of whale for the day. A Humpback whale was also circling around the area. It was Boomerang, an adult female who last had a calf in 2012.

Boomerang

Definitely a nice whale to wrap up our time with during our trip today.

Welcome back for another season on Jeffreys Ledge Boomerang!

Little did we know on our way in we would also come across another Fin whale and Minke whale during our travels home. Plenty of whale activity on and off the Ledge today!