August 8-9, 2020

Saturday: what a day. From start to finish we couldn't have asked for better weather conditions and the sightings just kept coming. The seas were calm as could be so watching anything roaming in the ocean was a sight to be seen. During the morning trip we started with a quick look at an ocean sunfish.

Ocean sunfish

Out on Jeffreys Ledge we came across five humpback whales. All five of these whales were sleeping. Not a bad surrounding to take a mid-morning nap! Valley and her 2020 calf were in one spot while a trio consisting of Jabiru, Spoon and Quote rested in another area.

Valley diving

Valley's calf

Trio of humpback whales

We also can't forget about our Atlantic puffin sighting! Sorry birding friends, this bird was well in the state of Massachusetts.

Hello puffin!

On our travels home our keen-eyed crew spotted a small pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins. A dollop of extra goodness to an already great trip!

Dolphin

The afternoon began with a larger pod of ~25 Atlantic white-sided dolphins as we ventured back offshore.

More dolphins

Before getting to the ledge our crew once again(!) directed us to an very unusual sighting. A leatherback sea turtle was at the surface. Little did we know what we were in store for as we sneaked into the area. This, the largest of the sea turtles, was having lunch! The leatherback turtle was busy chomping down on a lion's mane jellyfish, their food of choice, while 5-7 pilot fish maneuvered below the feast! There we sat enthralled as we witnessed some amazing looks at just an animal eating some food.

Lunch time for this turtle!

Remnants of the lion's mane jellyfish cascading down the sides of this leatherback turtle's mouth!

This leatherback was not letting this jellyfish out of its sight, or mouth!

It's amazing how something so simple can be so incredible. Needless to say the entire crew was blown away.

Simply incredible

Eventually we forced ourselves to leave this turtle to its delicious meal and focus back on the whales. We first began with Quote, who was regularly creating bubble clouds. Then Jabiru was briefly associated with Valley and her calf.

Quote feeding

Jabiru

Valley and her calf

As if we hadn't enjoyed enough wildlife for the day on our travels home a minke whale decided to breach multiple times in our wake! Today = an ocean safari to the utmost level. With even a fraction of the activity seen today it still would have made for a fantastic day. Sometimes even the ocean leaves us speechless.

On Sunday, a slight breeze kept us cooler offshore as we went searching for wildlife. In the morning we found Jabiru and Spoon.

Spoon and Jabiru

Spoon's flipper

These two ladies were being about as lazy as they could be and why not? Even whales need rest! The breeze was slightly stronger in the afternoon but still refreshing especially knowing what's to come with temperatures this week! Our first stop on our afternoon trip was Quote on the move.

Quote diving

Once we left her we headed to another distant blow. In a matter of a few surfacings suddenly a trio of humpback whales were together. Independently, Quote had now joined up with Spoon and then Jabiru. All three whales joined side by side.

A bubble cloud from one of our humpback whales

Whale tail

Humpback whales

August 6-7, 2020

Our crew is passionate about whales and that really shows in our trips. We don’t just show you whales, but we also pride ourselves in telling you the history of the whales we are seeing.  This week we identified a humpback whale based simply on the way it lifted its flukes. Another humpback was ID’ed from a mile away just based on the shape of its flukes and one simply on the shape of its dorsal fin. Granite State Whale Watch crew are true experts with decades of experience in the local waters.

Interns take a break for some muffins!

Thursday, Aug 6, we found a pod of about 50 Atlantic white sided dolphins. 

Atlantic white sided dolphin

Several minke whales were cruising through the area as well.  One minke whale decided to check us out!

Minke whale coming by!

Then we found 2 humpback whales, Valley and her calf, who were new visitors to the area this year.

Valley and calf

Valley's calf charging by

Valley's calf

Thursday afternoon, we passed by some minke whales before encountering a pair of adult humpback whales, Spoon and Jabiru.  These two were mostly sleeping while we idled next to them.

Sleepy humpbacks

A little further away, we found 2 more humpbacks: Valley and her 2020 calf again!

We passed a seal and then a pod of Atlantic white sided dolphins.

Friday morning, we passed by a few minke whales and seals before finding 2 humpback whales, Spoon and Jabiru sleeping again!

Not far away, humpbacks Valley and her calf were also spotted along with a small group of Atlantic white sided dolphins!

Humpback whales and dolphins

At the end of the trip, we said goodbye to our intern, Mikaela, who is the first of our summer interns to head back to school. Goodbye and good luck!!

Mikaela collecting data

Friday afternoon, we found an ocean sunfish within meters of the harbor!! Passing by another ocean sunfish, a couple of minke whales and seals, we finally encountered some humpback whales.  Quote, first seen in the 1980’s was seen from about a mile away.  Her unique tail shape and marking make for an easy ID.

Valley and her calf were also seen not far away. And before we knew it, Quote joined up with Valley and her calf.

Valley and calf

Valley's heart shaped blow

Minke whales, harbor porpoises and seals were also seen on our trek back to the harbor!

August 3-5, 2020

The wind was whipping Monday morning so we stayed tied to the dock until our afternoon trip. Out on Jeffreys Ledge the whales were not phased by the choppy seas which continued to subside. Four adult female humpback whales were all associated with each other.

Three of our four humpback whales

Familiar friends Pinball and Spoon were seen with Jabiru and Quote. This is the first time Quote has been in our area this season. Thanks for swimming by Quote!

Quote's beautiful pigmentation pattern

Whale tails

We knew we would be able to sneak in a trip Tuesday morning before we started to feel Hurricane Isaias's effects. The ocean and waves were calm. Little did we know what was waiting for us offshore. FOG. Nooooooo!!!! And not just pockets of fog. This was pea soup kind of fog. We checked out areas where we have been seeing whales. We even went to areas where fishing boats had whale activity just hours earlier. Visibility was working against us all the way back to shore! Yikes. Chalk one up to Mother Nature for her power of the natural elements. Our trips on Wednesday have already been canceled so stay tuned when we get back out on the water later this week!

August 1-2, 2020

Happy August! Wow, it's crazy to realize it is already August. The days continue on and the whales continue to provide us with incredible moments into the world of wildlife. On Saturday morning's trip we saw three minke whales, a fin whale and three ocean sunfish.

Fin whale (above and below)

First ocean sunfish of the trip

Ocean sunfish #2 for the morning

During the afternoon trip we watched Clamp's 2016 calf being active. A few breaches and some flipper slapping all the while a small pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins moseyed nearby.

Active humpback whale!

Hello flipper!

Humpback whale and dolphin

Atlantic white-sided dolphins

On our travels home we also found an ocean sunfish to round out a beautiful day in the Gulf of Maine.

Afternoon ocean sunfish

Thanks to all our fishing friends on Tuesday we had reports of whale activity on both our trips. On our morning trip we saw three humpback whales. We started with Pinball who is always a crowd and crew favorite!

Pinball

We then spent time with a pair of humpback whales. Spoon and Jabiru were mostly resting at and near the surface.

Spoon's large flipper

Spoon and Jabiru

During the afternoon trip we spent time with Clamp's 2016 calf. This humpback whale was all sorts of wiggly at the surface as it was tail breaching, creating bubble clouds and even lunge feeding a few times.

Clamp's 2016 calf diving

Tail breach

Major lunge feeding bout!