Tuesday, June 13

Normally the ocean provides a respite from the hot temperatures on land. But not today. There wasn't a breath of air to speak of so we never got a break from the heat most folks were experiencing on land. The lack of wind however, provided gorgeous conditions to watch wildlife in. We were able to see 6 fin whales, 5 minke whales and 4 basking sharks during our trip today.

Minke whale

One of our fin whales briefly rolled on its side as you can see a portion of it's tail (on the left-hand side) of this image

Fin whale

It was a beautiful day to check out some of the second largest sharks (basking shark) and animals (fin whale) on earth!

Such calm conditions as a fin whale surfaces for a breath of air

Dorsal fin of a basking shark creating a wake as it swims at the surface

Massive fin whale

Sunday, June 11

The heat arrived in full force today so while it was sweltering on land that was far from the case out on the water. The ocean takes a LONG time to warm up, and that's only the surface of the ocean, so the when the ocean water is still in the low 50s that is what we feel when we spend the afternoon surrounded by that large body of water. Luckily, the whales are on a mission to find food and the Gulf of Maine provides all sorts of marine life the food necessary for survival in these nutrient-rich waters. Today we were privy to encounter at least 6 fin whales, a minke whale and a basking shark during our trip.

First fin whale of the trip

Minke whale

The sleek body of a fin whale can cause these massive mammals to move through the water with such ease and sometimes with minimal visual cues at the surface

One fin whale we spent time with was resting while the rest were seen circling around, most likely chasing down lots of food in the water column. We even took a quick break from whale watching to check out a basking shark nearby.

Basking shark dorsal fin seen above the waterline

It is always enjoyable to watch the food chain in action. The basking shark feeds on plankton, the fin whales feed on small schooling fish that are feeding on the plankton and the birds above attempt to capture any scraps left behind! Nature certainly provided plenty to look at and experience today.

Another fin whale seen today

Saturday, June 10

Lots of big finners around today! We were lucky to get images of four of them, although there were at least a couple more that seemed to elude us.   One fin whale was identified as #0830, and was also spotted on yesterday's trip. Small fish were jumping at the surface as hundreds of gulls and some gannets were circling around looking for a meal. So much life abounds! Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Friday, June 9

This post is not about our whale watch sightings today. Instead, it is about our guests on board. This morning we left the dock with a group of curious students from Sunapee, NH. Their enthusiasm and excitement were infectious! Each of the fin whales that we encountered was met with cheers and gasps. “It’s so big!!” “Whoa, did you see that??”  When the small groups of harbor porpoises were spotted, squeals of happiness broke out all over the boat.   Then the students were shouting, “Whale! One o’clock!” Indeed, a minke whale scooted along next to us, just to the right of the bow.  As we watched the minke for a bit, some excellent observers saw the big fins in the distance, pointing at them while asking, “What’s that over there??”  Basking sharks!! Not just a couple of them, but at least 5-6 near us and probably another half dozen by the other boat in the area.  “It’s coming right at us! I can see its mouth! Cool!!”  Near the end of our trip, as we were getting ready to head for the harbor, students pointed out a big tail slipping beneath the waves.  They had found a north Atlantic right whale, a critically endangered species.  We kept our distance, but even so, the students almost couldn’t believe what they saw.  “That tail was huge!”  As I talked with the students, one said that her favorite part of the trip was “everything”.  Another told me all about the Bryde’s whale he is studying in school.  I am really happy knowing that this well-behaved, engaged group of kids were treated to a wide variety of marine life, giving them the experience of what the Gulf of Maine is all about. 

Fin whale marked just under the boat

Fin whale

Harbor porpoises

Minke whale

Basking shark

Thursday, June 8

Happy World Oceans Day to all! We celebrated the day with a school trip always hoping to continue to inspire future generations on the importance and need for a healthy marine environment. Don't forgot over 70% of the world's oxygen is produced by the ocean. We humans literally need that to survive! Our trip consisted with a variety of life including whales, sharks and plenty of bird-life attempting to feast in it all. We saw a minke whale, a highly endangered North Atlantic right whale, 3 fin whales and 8 basking sharks.

Minke whale

Basking shark swimming at the surface (tail fin on the left and dorsal fin on the right)

Basking shark dorsal fin

The right whale and basking sharks were busy feeding on plankton. Our fin whales were moving around but what a great opportunity to spend the day seeing both the second largest sharks in the world (the basking shark!) and the second largest animals in the world (the fin whale)!

Basking shark swimming towards us with its mouth wide open!

Fin whale

Sunday, June 4

We were so fortunate to see so much marine life today! The day's total included 5 fin whales, 2 humpback whales, a minke whale, a small pod of harbor porpoise, 2 basking sharks and 2 feeding sei whales. We first attempted to check out one of the 3 fin whales we had around us. Unfortunately, these whales were being quite elusive and on the move.

Fin whale

We got a couple of looks at some of the second largest animals on earth before we decided to move on to another whale nearby. This whale was not moving far in any direction giving us the chance to spend some quality time with a humpback whale known as Obsidian.

Obsidian

Obsidian's large flipper in the air

After some nice looks at this whale we decided to do some more searching with the time we had remaining. It certainly paid off as we found a few other fin whales, Hornbill the humpback whale, a couple of basking sharks and a pair of sei whales!

Hornbill the humpback whale

The sharks and sei whales seemed to be working a tidal boundary created by the movements of the open ocean.

Dorsal fin of one of our sei whales

We checked out one of the sharks before we watched sei whales skim-feed and lunge-feed along the side of the boat. Plenty of life to see and experience out on Jeffreys Ledge today!

Tip of the dorsal fin of a basking shark

Lunge-feeding sei whale

Skim-feeding sei whale

Saturday, June 3

June has arrived! While the temperature seems far from summer-like conditions, our season is well underway and today was another success. Today we headed to an area of Jeffreys Ledge where some of our fishing friends had seen whale activity earlier this morning. Once we got to the area however, it was very quiet. Void of any whale activity. So, just as we normally do, if nothing is around it is time to go searching. Off we went and soon enough we saw a whale exhalation. Initially, this whale was darting around in every which direction. We found ourselves bouncing back and forth but soon this whale slowed its movements and began circling around. We were fortunate to get some great looks at this very familiar adult humpback whale, Hornbill.

Hornbill the humpback whale (above and below)

During our travels home we saw another type of whale; a large fin whale. This whale was also doing some traveling but we were able to catch up to it before it decided to go on a deeper dive.

Fin whale spout

Fin whale

Add in a couple of minke whales throughout the trip and just like that it was whale-rounded kind of day!