Saturday, July 7, 2018

The humidity finally subsided providing much more cooler temperatures offshore today. This morning our travels took us past 5 minke whales, a pod of 20-25 Atlantic white-sided dolphin and 5 humpback whales.

Atlantic white-sided dolphins

We were extremely lucky to have two of our humpback whales, Milkyway and Nine, hold us hostage! These two adult whales became curious of us so there we sat (with our engines off of course!) as these mammals swam underneath us and circled around the boat. This type of behavior is something we rarely witness especially from adults!

Can you spot the humpback tail? These whales spent time swimming in towards us and underneath us!

Milkway

Nine and Milkyway at the surface

We also saw humpback whales Pinball and Satula before heading for home.

Pinball

This afternoon we had a sighting of 10-12 Atlantic white-sided dolphins that disappeared just as quickly as they appeared. Further along a minke whale swam past us before spending time with Pinball and Doublet the humpback whales.

Pinball

Whale tail

Doublet

The day was not over for on our way home we had a pair of fin whales including fin whale #0932!

Thursday, July 5, 2018

Southern Jeffreys Ledge is the place to be! The bait fish are here and so are the whales to eat them!  The morning trip found a small pod of about 12 Atlantic white sided dolphins to start the day.  After a couple of minke whale sightings, a fin whale was spotted.  

Minke whale

Fin whale

 Next, a harbor seal popped up nearby.  We continued to look around for more activity when we heard about some more whales just a few miles away. There, we found a humpback whale, Hornbill, along with another fin whale. 

Humpback whale, Hornbill

Humpback whale, Hornbill

 Hornbill was moving around a bit but we were able to get nice views of him as he surfaced to breathe.  On our way home, we passed by a minke whale.

The afternoon sea breeze was picking up but still we ventured to the southern part of the Ledge for our afternoon trip. Our first sighting was one of my favorite things to see: a trio of fin whales with a pod of Atlantic white sided dolphins.  As long as we kept track of the dolphins, we would get great looks at the fin whales. Perhaps the dolphins were following along behind the finners, hoping to snag a few fish the large whales missed while they were feeding! 

Fin whale with dolphin just beyond it!

Fin whale spout

Two fin whales and three dolphins!

 Dolphins are seen on about 20% of our trips, and to have dolphins with whales is much more rare! A minke was also in the area along with two other fin whales. A bit further out, we spotted another blow which turned out to be a humpback whale.  Although not a large as fin whales, humpback whales are impressive in that they tend to lift their flukes out of the water when diving.  As soon as we saw that distinctive tail, we knew who this whale was…..Pinball!  She is a favorite of the crew and certainly did not disappoint today. As we sat idle waiting for her to surface, she did so REALLY close to the boat multiple times!!   

Humpback whale, Pinball

Humpback whale, Pinball

 The wind was on our tail on the way home so anyone who might have experienced the “kiss from the ocean” quickly dried off. We passed by a harbor seal and small group of harbor porpoises on our way back to land. Great day!

Wednesday, July 4, 2018

Hoping everyone had a safe and enjoyable Independence Day! Normally, hopping on a boat in the sweltering summer is a great way to beat the heat on land, but with whales being so close to the mainland recently and not a breath of wind, even on the water we were toasty! Conditions however, made for watching whales stunning.

The ocean couldn't be any calmer to watch whales!

On our morning trip we saw a total of 5 minke whales, Rhino the humpback whale and 2 fin whales.

Minke whale

Rhino the humpback whale (above and below)

One of the fin whales in the area was #0402, a whale first documented by Blue Ocean researchers in 2004.

#0402

This afternoon we ended up seeing 2 minke whales, Rhino the humpback whale and a pair of fin whales.

Humpback whale

Fin whale spout

Pair of fin whales

Our fin whales were different individuals than the ones we had sighted during our morning trip. One of the fin whales, and even Rhino, lunged through the water at some point trying to capture a nice afternoon snack!

Fin whale lunging through the water

Happy 4th!

Tuesday, July 3, 2018

The whales have continued to surprise us. Today, these massive mammals continued to remain so close to land! Remember, this is the whale's feeding season so whales move into areas wherever fish are in large abundance. They come and go throughout all different areas of the Jeffreys Ledge region throughout the season, but recently the inshore areas continue to be the place to be! This morning we saw a total of 3 minke whales, 2 humpback whales and a brief look at a fin whale on our travels home.

Minke whale

Thanks to our phenomenal crew member this morning we spotted our familiar fin-less minke whale nicknamed "Finke."

"Finke" the minke whale

We also spent time with Gondolier the humpback whale.

Humpback whale tail

Just before returning to the harbor this morning we found a small juvenile humpback whale slowly on the move. We spent a bit of time with this whale on the last bit of our morning trip and our first stop on our afternoon trip!

Juvenile humpback whale (above and below)

Also this afternoon, we saw 3 minke whales and 3 fin whales. Thanks to our fellow friends on the water we found a pair of fin whales and a single fin whale moving through the area. One of the fin whales in our pair was a whale we haven't seen since May 19; Comet has returned!

Comet the fin whale

Fin whale swimming in close association with Comet today

What a fantastic surprise and a great way to wrap up another day in the Gulf of Maine as we dodged some rain on our way home!

Afternoon minke whale

Monday, July 2, 2018

Calm seas continued again today making spotting, and watching, whales that much more enjoyable! This morning we started with a fin whale only a few miles from home. With a little patience we got some great looks at one of the second largest animals on Earth!

Fin whale surfacing

Large fin whale body

The rest of the trip produced 3 minke whale sightings and 4 humpback whales. Wigwam the humpback whale was busy creating plenty of bubble clouds while her 2018 calf was wiggling around at the surface; rolling and such.

Bubble cloud

Wigwam and calf (above and below)

Wigwam's calf swimming in towards us

We also spent time with Pinball while another humpback whale passed through the area.

Two humpback whales passing by one another

Pinball

This afternoon we again started the trip with a fin whale and were even able to identify this whale. Fin whale #0402 has returned to our small spot in the Gulf of Maine (at least for the moment) for another feeding season!

Fin whale #0402

We also saw a few harbor seals throughout our travels and spent time with 2 humpback whales.

What a sleeping seal looks like

Humpback whale Gondolier was creating bubble clouds one after another this afternoon. We also checked out another humpback whale but unfortunately this whale never fluked so no solid ID yet.

Gondolier

Sunday, July 1, 2018

Happy July! The temperatures remind us we are in the summer months and the sightings continue to be great. This morning we saw multiple harbor seals during our travels, 6 minke whales and 2 humpback whales.

One of the many harbor seals sighted this morning

Both Pinball and Gondolier continue to roam around the area allowing for quality sightings on both the morning and afternoon trips!

Pinball

Conditions were so beautiful it was hard to distinguish between the ocean and the sky!

Incoming humpback whale!

Gondolier

This afternoon, in addition to Pinball and Gondolier, we saw 4 fin whales and 2 minke whales.

One of our fin whales

Gondolier

Pinball

Who knows how long these whales will remain in our area since their food supply is constantly shifting but it is always enjoyable to spend time with these mammals of the deep.