Wednesday, August 6

This morning we headed back offshore to see if some of the same animals we saw yesterday may still be around. Unfortunately we came up a bit short however, we still got some great looks as we found two Minke whales slowly moving around.

Offshore Minke whale

Perhaps the most interesting sighting was that one of our Minke whales appears to be the mother of a pair was saw back in June (based on the dorsal fin shape)! This whale has been seen a few times over the course of this year and it is fascinating to see how many different locations we are seeing this whale in our area.

Known female (and mom!) Minke whale

While this Minke whale has been seen a few times around Jeffreys Ledge the Ledge itself is 33 miles long and between 5 and 11 miles wide. That is a lot of area for a whale to be seen and that does not include of all the inshore portions of the ocean we transverse over each and every day on our trips. Just like some of the other individuals we see it is great to not only see but document and record all of our sightings as we continue to learn more and more about marine life seen in our area. Such fascinating information! On our way home we also came across a Fin whale, a whale about 3 times larger than that of a Minke whale!

Fin whale

This afternoon we started with a Fin whale that appeared to want nothing to do with us. This whale came up for only a few breaths and was constantly cruising around moving at a pretty good clip. So after a few attempts we decided to continue on and perhaps see if we could find something else spending a bit more time at the surface. It wasn't long before we once again found another Fin whale.

Fin whale spout

Except this time the whale was spending lots of time at the surface. We got some incredible looks as this whale circled around the area.

Bubbles at the surface created by our Fin whale. Definitely not something Fin whales typically are known to do!

Fin whale inside the Isles of Shoals

After such quality time with this wild whale we went further offshore. We ended up seeing a few Minke whales, a couple more Fin whales, and a Harbor seal resting at the surface.

Minke whale beyond Appledore Island

This Harbor seal was taking a nap using the lobster buoy to make sure it didn't drift away while it was resting. Something we have never seen before but is known to be done by these mammals!

Another Minke whale, this time almost on Boon Island Ledge itself

One of the Fin whales we saw this afternoon appears to be a newcomer to the area based on dorsal fin and scars seen on this whale's body. We also found Dylan the Fin whale so close to Boon Island Ledge. We got more great looks at our whales as many of these animals were spending time at the surface circling around.

Dylan the Fin whale

Sometimes whales can be great to get looks at and sometimes they can be a bit more challenging as each animal has it's own agenda during the day and we just capture such a brief moment of time with some incredible mammals. What a nice day with some very nice sightings!

Tuesday, August 5

The weather was as good as you could get on the water today. No wind, no fog, and with whales around it was a great day to be on the water. Our morning travels brought us plenty of marine life so close to home. Just after leaving the harbor we found some Harbor porpoise. The glass-like ocean conditions made these, and all of our whale sightings, great for checking out marine life.

Harbor porpoise just outside the harbor! (above and below)

After a bit of searching inside the Isles of Shoals we found a spout. It was a Fin whale. Suddenly we had not only one spout but two! We ended up spending time with one of these whales as our second Fin whale appeared and soon disappeared as quickly as we had seen it. We got some great looks at our whale, #9709, as this large Fin whale was moving around.

The weather was so nice you can barely tell the difference between the flat ocean and the clear skies as our Fin whale moved through the area

#9709 circling around

We continued on and ended up spending some time with many of the 5 Minke whales we saw. These whales can be tricky to get looks at as they are known to constantly dart around. However, most of our Minke whales were just the opposite! These whales were slowly moving around meandering close by, giving us some great opportunities to check out these wild whales.

A few of our Minke whales we spent time with this morning (above and below)

Our afternoon started with plans of trying to find many of the whales we had seen during our morning travels. Right up until minutes after leaving the harbor we got reports from folks out on Jeffreys Ledge of whales (thanks!). The ride was going to be a bit longer, as we have been seeing wildlife only miles from land and it has been some time since we actually were checking out some of the regions on Jeffreys Ledge itself. With such beautiful ocean conditions we decided to give it a go. We never really know what we might find even when we receive whale reports and with plenty of miles between us and the reports we knew it was going to be a chance we were going to have to take. Once we got into the area we did some searching. First we spotted a Minke whale. Again this whale was extremely cooperative and gave all of us some great looks as this animal cruised right along side us.

Minke whale we checked out this afternoon

As we were spending time with this whale suddenly we saw splashing out in the distance. The whales we had been looking for! 4 Humpback whales were out on the Ledge. The sighting was even more amazing as we quickly recognized exactly who we were around. We first spent time with Valley and Milkyway. These whales were lazily moving around as we spent time alongside them.

Milkway's almost all black tail

Valley

Milkyway the Humpback whale

Before heading for home we also checked out another pair that appeared to be doing some traveling. It was Clipper and Quote!

Clipper's extremely large tail as Quote swims alongside her

Clipper has been seen one other time this year but none of our other whales have been seen on Jeffreys Ledge this season. It has been a couple years since Quote was seen in our neck of the ocean and with Valley being a regular to the area almost every year at some point during the season it made our time offshore especially exciting to see some of our "usuals" near by.

Quote's very unique pigmentation pattern on her tail

As the season continues these whales continue to keep us on our toes as who knows what may be around next time we leave the harbor. Until then!

A few rain clouds to the north of us as we headed for home

A beautiful view and end to a very nice day out on the water

Sunday, August 3

The ocean was as lake-like as it could possibly be today. Add in some great whales (still so close to home!) and it was another great day with plenty of wildlife. This morning we saw multiple groups of Harbor porpoise throughout our travels. Then our first baleen whale of the day was a Minke whale darting around the area. Eventually this whale began to meander in a particular direction so we just idled along with it getting some great looks at this whale.

Minke whale

We then ended up seeing at least 5 Fin whales over the course of the trip. We were able to positively identify Comet and Dingle as well as another whale that continues to be spending some time in our area it just has yet to be given an identification number. This will happen all in good time as it is the busy whale season of course and folks are spending more time on the water than on land these days!

Fin whale just barely breaking the surface of the ocean to get a breath of air

Comet passing by some fishing gear. Always a breathless moment as these whales are constantly in danger of getting entangled in gear at any moment in time! Comet has the scar to show just that! (see below)

The scars Comet now possesses due to a past incident of being entangled in gear as she passes by more in this photo and probably many, many others over the course of any given day!

But whales weren't the only things we saw thing morning. We saw two different Ocean sunfish as well!

Ocean sunfish!

Sunfish coming in to swim so close alongside the boat!

Conditions were so calm that you could look into the water as each of our fish swam right tight towards the boat for everyone to see! Above was our first first of the trip and below was our second sighting.

Looks like a war-painted sunfish! Granted some of that is just natural skin coloration but unfortunately this Ocean sunfish has a few recent wounds found on it's body. While we cannot know for sure what caused these wounds ocean sunfish do spend a lot of time at the surface where many boats are zipping around. It is so important to always be aware of wildlife at any moment out there!

This afternoon what was the first thing we came across soon after leaving the harbor? Another Ocean sunfish! Certainly a fun sighting to start the trip with.

Ocean sunfish just swimming along this afternoon

We then made our way back to where whales had been in the morning and still there they were. Except this afternoon these things were all over the place!

Fin whale just inshore of the Isles of Shoals

One of our Fin whales

In just one area we started watching a whale only to suddenly have a different one appear close by. But it didn't stop there because just as we began to watch this newcomer POOF yet a different, now third whale, suddenly made its presence known. This third whale ended up being Dingle.

Dingle the Fin whale

We were getting some great looks at this whale when soon the opposite began to occur. Dingle disappeared and instead one of the previous whale was now spending time near us. Perhaps it was a Fin whale orchestrated event as they all moved so effortlessly around as we just enjoyed the show!

No wonder plenty of whales are around. We were in 124ft of water when we passed over these large patches of food! (The photograph is of our fish-finder, split-screen, as most of this grouping of fish is between 75-100ft below the surface)

A bit further from shore we also saw two other whales but both of these animals were spending a good amount of time below the surface and on the move so we let them continue with their day as we continued on with ours. We ended our trip with one of the whales we had spent time with earlier just once again in a slightly different location. Fin whales certainly got their nickname, the "greyhounds of the sea" for a reason. Wow, these whale can move!

Fin whale

A quick pass by the Isles of Shoals was it was a great way to wrap up another wonderful day out on the water!

Saturday, Aug 2

The whales are remaining close to shore this weekend! This morning we found several pods of harbor porpoises darting about on our way out.   Soon we came upon a minke whale with distinctive dorsal fin. This whale has been seen earlier this summer!

Minke

As we were watching the minke, we got a call from a fishing boat nearby. They had an ocean sunfish right next to them! Ocean sunfish aren't great for catching but they are fun for watching! We pulled up right next to it and with the calm seas, got some great views of this interesting looking fish!

Ocean Sunfish

As we searched for more marine life, we soon spotted a fin whale. But before we knew it, we had 3 fin whales in the same area!  One of these was one that we had seen in 2012. Another has been a new regular this season. And the third was Fjord, one of our favorites!  These whales were pretty busy, cruising this way and that, and one even lunged at the surface (chasing down fish) a couple times making an impressive splash!

This fin whale's unique marking

Fin whale "Fjord"

Fin whale charging at the surface

A fourth fin whale (Dingle!) was seen a little further away, as was another minke whale! The activity seemed endless!

Fin whale "Dingle"

In the afternoon, we decided to take the inshore route to where the whales had been earlier. We did spot a fin whale pretty close to land, but this whale was elusive to say the least. We'd see one blow, and then it was gone. Just when we decided to not wait for it anymore, it would pop  back up, but just long enough to tease us. Silly whales.  We headed up towards the Isles of Shoals where we found a couple more fin whales near each other. These were being much more cooperative for our purposes and the beautiful backdrop of the islands made for a very scenic sighting!

Fin whale with Isles of Shoals

Fin whale near White Island

Fin whale's tall spout

A minke appeared during our travels as well as did some more harbor porpoises! And finally this afternoon the sun came out making for a very comfortable ride back in to Rye.

Friday, August 1

We just never know what the ocean will show us each and every day. Today was yet another surprise. We returned to the inshore waters where we have been seeing fin and minke whales lately, passing by some harbor porpoises along the way.  We saw a very nice minke whale, followed by three separate fin whales!! Awesome! The first two fin whales were on a mission but our 3^rd one was Dingle, a fin whale that we have been watching since 2003!

Minke whale

Fin whale "Dingle"

As we waited for one of the fin whales to resurface, another whale popped up right next to us! This wasn’t a minke whale, nor was it a fin whale. This was a sei whale!!! (Sei is pronounced “say”.) Where did it come from??  Sei whales are a bit stealthy, only taking a single breath every couple minutes, and they are really fast, so it’s not too surprising that this one snuck up on us.   They can also be a bit tricky to watch since they only spout every couple minutes. But fortunately we have an experienced captain who is familiar with sei whale behavior knows to watch for the tell-tale “footprints” while the whale is below the surface.  We tracked along with this rare visitor for over a half hour, patiently waiting for each breath as we followed its footprints. 

Sei whale

Sei whale's tall, wide fin

 Sei whales are not common to our area, although we do see them from time to time. They usually are found much further offshore, on the edge of the Gulf of Maine and continental shelf.

We said goodbye to the sei whale and continued our search for marine life. Next up on the roster were a few more minke whales followed by a couple more fin whales. The fin whales were identified as #9709 and one that has yet to be assigned an ID # but was first seen in 2012. 

Fin whale #9709's swirly chevron pattern

Fin whale #9709's notched fin

This fin whale was seen in 2012 and will be given a catalog number soon!

This afternoon, the wind was picking up a bit but that didn’t stop us from finding whales. We saw a couple groups of harbor porpoises on our way out and soon spotted a blow only about 6 miles from shore. It has been great to have all these whales so close to shore lately! This fin whale was #9709 again! 9709 was first documented in the area in 1997, and she has been seen with a calf in the past. She was busy feeding but we managed to get some very good looks at her as she darted all around chasing down schools of fish. 

Fin whale spout

Fin whale #9709's fin and entanglement scar/dent close to her tail

As we tried to get one last look at her before continuing on, we began to realize that might not happen. She took off on us and we weren’t able to relocate her for that last look!  Whales will be whales…

So off we went in search of more marine life. We searched and searched. A couple of minke whales popped up, and then we got some quick looks at another fin whale. Another whale watch boat said they had a whale close by but that they had only seen it a few times in 15 minutes. It wasn’t spending much time at the surface. Could this be our sei whale again??  We saw a single spout and then nothing for a few minutes. Then another spout. This certainly was acting like our sei whale. Finally we got a look at the back and fin and knew right away this was indeed the sei whale!  We tracked along with it and then saw just how close it was to us- the whale was in the sunlight, just below the surface so we could see the greenish-brown “shadow” of its body underwater right next to us! It spouted again. 

Sei whale next to the boat!

By this time, another whale watch boat was coming over to see this rare species so we decided to move off, as not to crowd our new guest.

We did a bit more searching before having to make the turn for home, and when we did, we were greeted by really dark skies in our path. Seems that an afternoon thunder storm was approaching! We could see lightning in the distance as the dark clouds rolled in! The wind picked up and the rain came down. Always an adventure on the ocean!