Wednesday, July 8

Our morning and afternoon trips could not have been more different. But it wasn't because of our sightings it was truly because of the weather conditions. This morning we felt the remnants of the windy conditions from yesterday as the ocean provided a bit of a swell. However, as the day went on the swell began to subside, the wind dropped and the ocean became lake-like. Absolutely gorgeous. This morning we started with a pair of Fin whales. It was a mother and her calf! But little did we know these whales ended up being about as uncooperative as you could think. We waited, and waited and waited some more for these whales to resurface. After spending a lot of time searching and only a few glances actually gazing at whales we decided to cut our losses and move on. Glad we did for we ended up in an area where we had 2 Minke whales moving around being wonderfully cooperative.

Minke whale

Nose/snout of  a Minke whale breaking the surface!

Our second Minke whale was a very familiar whale. It was Scar, a whale that has been seen on Jeffreys Ledge since 1995! That's 20 years of seeing this Minke whale; the most documented Minke in our area that is for sure!

Scar

As the ocean conditions continued to improve this afternoon we started to see even more and more life during our travels. In total we saw 4 Minke whales, 6 Ocean sunfish, 1 Blue shark, 1 Basking shark, Pinball the Humpback whale and 8 Harbor seals.

One of the many Ocean sunfish seen this afternoon

Basking shark

Pinball

One of our afternoon Minke whales

Our morning and afternoon trips provided their own fantastic finds and with some wonderful sights we wrapped up another great day on Jeffreys Ledge.

Tuesday, July 7

This morning we ventured out towards Jeffreys Ledge hoping the increasing winds in the forecast would hold off long enough to get some quality time in offshore. This time the forecast held true and we were surrounded by some very pleasant sea conditions as we went searching for marine life. We ended up seeing multiple species and multiple whales throughout the trip. In total we had 2 Minke whales, 3 Fin whales and 2 Humpback whales! We first got some great looks at a Minke whale moving around the area.

First Minke whale of the trip

Soon we spotted a spout and then another spout! There was a Fin whale on the move (so much so we could not even keep up with this greyhound of the sea) and decided to investigate the other whale in the area. It was a Humpback whale, Hornbill, whom we last saw a week ago.

Hornbill

We watched this whale for a bit and then soon enough another whale was spotted not too far away. It was another familiar tail, Pinball the Humpback whale.

Pinball

These two whales are Blue Ocean Society adoptable whales and were happy to see them both spending time in the area. Eventually it was time to turn for home but apparently the whales were not done with us yet. There was another Fin whale and this time this whale was not moving quickly through the area at all.

Large Fin whale

We got a great look at this whale before once again turning for home when only minutes later another Fin whale surfaced not far from the boat. We definitely enjoy knowing multiple whales are spending time on Jeffreys Ledge. Now we just have to see what, where and how many critters are out there on our next trip!

Monday, July 6

It was such a beautiful day offshore today. There was barely a breath of wind during our morning trip and the afternoon provided even better visibility than we had during our morning travels. This morning we saw lots of marine life consisting of mammals and fish alike! We saw 10 Minke whales, 7 Ocean sunfish, a few Harbor seals and even a Blue shark.

Minke whale at the flat calm ocean surface

Check out the extremely uniquely-shaped dorsal fin this Minke whale has!

At one point we had 3 different Minke whales surfacing close to the boat and later on we even had one of the many Ocean sunfish sighted breach right next to the boat!

Ocean sunfish at the surface

Ocean sunfish probably checking out all of our passengers as it swam so close to us!

What a great way to start our day surrounded by incredible conditions and plenty of ocean life. This afternoon we decided to venture off towards a different area of Jeffreys Ledge. During our travels we spotted 2 Minke whales and a pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins. This group consisted of about 15-20 dolphins moving around the area.

Atlantic white-sided dolphins

What a phenomenal surprise considering our last sighting of a handful of dolphins was May 25; aka. well over a month ago!

Dolphin

Once on Jeffreys Ledge we checked out 2 of the 3 Humpback whales in the area. We started with Pinball doing lots of circles as we watched the remnants of bubble clouds surface near her; a feeding mechanism Humpback whales are known to use to catch lots of fish!

Pinball

We ended our time with Sedge who had moved in towards the area where Pinball was. At one point we had a Humpback whale on either side of the boat.

Sedge

Again, what a great way to wrap up such a gorgeous day on the open ocean with some great marine sightings over the course of the entire day!

Sunday, July 5

The calm winds offshore provided a great opportunity to check out all kinds of marine life today. Both this morning and this afternoon we checked out multiple Minke whales and multiple Ocean sunfish. This morning we saw 4 Minke whales and 4 Ocean sunfish. This afternoon we saw at least 3 Minke whales and 3 Ocean sunfish.

One of the many Ocean sunfish sighted today!

This morning we were also lucky enough to spend time with Pinball the Humpback whale. This whale passed close to the boat as we watched her cruise around the area.

Pinball passing by the boat!

Pinball

This afternoon we got the chance to check out a type of whale that is even bigger than a Humpback whale; we found a Fin whale! Fin whales are the second largest animals on Earth. It was quite the surprise to many on board the moment this whale appeared from the depths of the ocean being that it was sooooooo much larger than one of the Minke whales were were gazing at in the area. What a fantastic size comparison for all of our passengers!

Large Fin whale!

The white lower jaw of our Fin whale can be seen in this photo

After checking out our on-board Fin whale Catalog, care of Blue Ocean Society, we were able to determine this Fin whale was first sighted on Jeffreys Ledge in 2009! So nice to see another familiar whale spending time in our area of the Gulf of Maine. This is the first time this season we have gotten a chance to see Fin whale #0902, a wonderful way to wrap up another successful trip to Jeffreys Ledge.

Close-up look at #0902's dorsal fin

Saturday, July 4

Happy Independence Day!

Today we had overcast skies but very calm seas, making whale spotting a little easier for us. Minke whales were seen on both trips. We got close enough to be able to tell some of them apart!  And "Scar" was seen on the afternoon trip!

Scar Minke!

We also found an ocean sunfish on each trip today!   

The difference between today’s trips was that on the morning trip, we found a humpback whale. This was Sedge again, who has been seen several times this season. 

Sedge

Sedge

During the afternoon trip, we came across a very rare sighting- a breaching right whale! We made sure to keep our distance from this highly endangered whale and enjoyed watching as it made big splashes leaping out of the water and tail-lobbing.   

Cropped image of tail-lobbing

Cropped image of V-shaped blow

 As we always say, we never know what we’ll find from trip to trip, and today was no exception. The ocean continues to surprise us which is why we love what we do!

Hope you all had a fantastic Fourth of July!

Friday, July 3

Let the Fourth of July weekend begin!  Kudos to all of you who managed to avoid the traffic backup on I-95 and came whale watching with us instead.  This morning we were greeted by several minke whales including our old friend Scar! Scar, who we’ve been watching since 1995, was surfacing frequently and swam by closely several times.  

We then found a huge ocean sunfish- one of the biggest we have seen! This unusual-looking fish took some interest in the back of our boat, so much so we were afraid to put the engines in gear for fear of making sushi!   

A bit further out, we got a report from a fishing boat of a humpback whale. There, we found Sedge who has been seen several times this season.  Sedge was busy at first, but then slowed down, allowing us some great looks.

This afternoon the wind picked up a bit, keeping everyone cool. The humpback, Sedge, was still on Jeffreys Ledge although he had moved from where he was in the morning. Again, he was busy when we first arrived but as we were getting ready to leave, he repeatedly lifted his flukes for us- 4 times in a row before actually diving!

We hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday weekend!

Thursday, July 2

We had a nice day out on Jeffreys Ledge today with multiple Minke whales and Sedge the Humpback whale on each trip. This morning we saw 4 Minke whales and this afternoon we spotted 2 Minke whales before spending time with Sedge.

Minke whale

Sedge was moving around throughout the day but on both trips this whale graciously left us a nice "cloud" at the surface; some whale defecation! That may sound a bit too revealing but digested food is a great sight when you think about it. That means this whale has been doing a great job finding, and more importantly, eating lots of food! The more you eat the more you have to get rid of excess waste and that goes for mammals both large and small! The weather continues to be looking nice for the upcoming holiday weekend so come join us on an adventure to Jeffreys Ledge.

Sedge (above and below)