July 13-14, 2021

No trips occurred on Monday so we were eager to get back offshore on Tuesday. In the morning, we saw a total of seven minke whales and spent time with three humpback whales.

Humpback whale

Minke whale

Most of the morning our engines were shut off as whales alternated surfacing on either side of the boat. Blue Ocean Society adoptable whales Owl and Satula were seen along with Wigwam.

Owl

Satula

The afternoon was more of the same: sit tight and watch the whales surface around us. On the afternoon trip we saw a minke whale before finding four humpback whales. Along with Owl, Satula and Wigwam, we saw Quill moving through the area.

Humpback whale exhalation

A harbor seal popped up nearby while watching whales!

On Wednesday we were surrounded by fog, a phenomenon we have been lucky to avoid for a while. Our searching efforts were in full-effect in anticipation of finding whales. Eventually, it happened! Owl the humpback whale was sighted and ultimately was circling around the area. A grey seal even surfaced at one point.

Owl

Grey seal

On Wednesday afternoon, the visibility slightly increased. Not only was Owl sighted but so were humpback whales Clamp, Satula and Wigwam.

Clamp

July 10-11, 2021

Saturday, while cloudy with a few raindrops to start, was full of wild animals. We saw minke whales on both trips as we headed to and from Jeffreys Ledge. The morning trip also provided a sighting of an ocean sunfish. On Saturday morning at least eight humpback whales were sighted.

Can you find the dolphin swimming nearby this whale?

Diving humpback

During the afternoon, at least 10 humpback whales were sighted. Other spouts were seen out in the distance we just didn't have time to check them all out on both of our trips. Whales for the day included Jawa, Chromosome, Spoon, Tripod, Galapagos, Sword, Halfmoon, Nine and her 2021 calf, Wigwam, Badge and Sedge.

Chromosome

Even the birds were surprising us. We saw a handful of shearwaters, flying puffins on each trip and a dovekie in the morning!

Shearwaters

A dovekie!

Unfortunately, even though there was life all around us, one of our sightings hit hard. Nine's calf is looking unhealthy. For a whale that is less than a year old, its body is emaciated and already has signs of a vessel strike. We love to see whales but what we find even more important is to be aware of oddities of sightings. Something 'off' or abnormal and document those findings so that information can be shared with the greater research community. So that's what we did. We documented what we could in as short as an amount of time as possible to avoid unnecessary stress to a potentially already distressed individual. Yes, we wish all sightings to be beautiful and healthy and one day I hope that happens. But until that day comes we will instead focus on the whale's current status, for each and every individual we are fortunate to come across.

On Monday morning, in calm pristine conditions, our first whale sighting of the day was Nine and her 2021 calf. Good news: the calf had plenty of energy as it was breaching numerous times. Knowing the status of this whale, we kept our distance and headed away from the pair, even while breaching. While some may say, why would anyone leave a breaching whale(?), that's exactly what we did. Let these whales be whales and give them plenty of space in hopes the calf can have the strength to continue living life. There were plenty of other whales to explore and enjoy, at the safety of them all, of course!

Morning sightings included Wigwam, Mogul and Clamp to name a few. In the afternoon, whales were in all directions surfacing and diving around us. Sightings of Wigwam and Clamp continued along with Pinball, Quill, Spoon and Badge.

Clamp

July 7, 2021

 

Wednesday, July 7, 2021

 What a day! From start to finish, we were treated to the fantastic lives of wild animals.

The morning trip started with a spectacular breach from a humpback whale named Quote. She then began to flipper-slap, showing off her 15-foot-long flipper!

Not far away, we encountered a pair of humpback whales. This sighting started off like any other; the whales took several breaths and then dove. As we sat idly waiting for them to return to the surface, I was searching out the port window. Suddenly, I heard what sounded like our big cooler of ice sliding across the pilot house deck, but 10 times louder. I quickly turned to see a black mass slowly moving by just outside the starboard pilot house door. Jawa, the humpback whale, decided to check us out! This adult whale swam down our starboard side, inches from our boat!  But the whale didn’t stop there. The next thing we knew, it was at the back of the boat lifting its head up seemingly to get a look at the strangers in its habitat. Then Jawa lowered its head and gracefully swam under the boat without touching it. Even after 20-something years of watching whales, I am still surprised at their grace and self-awareness.  Jawa’s companion, who I later identified as Frost, then surfaced close by, but Jawa was still curious. 

Jawa and Frost saying hello

Approaching the side of the boat head-on, and then rolling on its side, we could see its eye, albeit closed in the bright light. Frost hung back while Jawa was again inches from the hull.  The pair dove below the boat, surfacing on the opposite side, and then lifted their flukes in the air, going down for a deeper dive. The entire crew was in awe of what we just witnessed, and I was at a loss for words to describe it, other than that it was an incredible experience that is extremely rare.

 We moved on to another pair of humpback whales, Spoon and Half Moon, who were lounging at the surface doing a bit of napping.  Not nearly as exciting as Jawa and Frost, but more typical behavior. After they dove, we headed for home.

Half Moon

But our trip wasn’t over yet. We stopped on an ocean sunfish briefly, and then encountered a large pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins on our way home!

 

Ocean Sunfish

As we boarded for our afternoon trip, the crew was still floating on air after the morning experience, but we knew we wouldn’t be able to top it. Every trip is different, and we know not to have any expectations from day to day or even from trip to trip.

We found Spoon and Half Moon again, still acting pretty sleepy. 

Humpback whale diving

A spout in the distance brought us to another humpback whale known as Gondolier. This trip took us fairly far from home, so it was time to think about heading for home. 

Gondolier

We saw another spout nearby and decided to check it out before heading back to Rye Harbor. As we waited for this whale to fluke, we saw Gondolier breaching in the distance! Whales occasionally breach for extended periods of time but we always expect that when we get close, they will stop. Murphy’s Law, right? Well, he did stop breaching, but then was flipper slapping, tail breaching, and tail lobbing!

Gondolier breaching in the distance

 

Gondolier tail lobbing

We don’t know why whales do what they do. The more active behaviors may have to do with communication, and the curiosity behaviors are just that- curious.

 On the ride home we encountered a brief rain storm, but no one seemed to mind after the trip with such an active whale!

 Thursday’s and Friday’s trips are canceled due to poor weather (the effects of Tropical Storm Elsa), but we look forward to getting back out there on Saturday!

July 4-6, 2021

The weather managed to provide conditions for whale watching in the afternoon on Independence Day. Nice to be back on the water even though the leftover swell was still prevalent. Our first sighting was an important sighting in the whale world. Jabiru and her 2021 calf. The calf is an open (or current) entanglement case having attempted in being disentangled by the Center for Coastal Studies disentanglement team. This pair has not been documented in over a month so documenting the calf's current status is REALLY important.

Jabiru and her calf diving (above and below)

While in the area a minke whale was sighted in the distance. Before heading for home we checked out another humpback whale nearby. Owl! Welcome friend. Sadly, Sunday's sightings were a blatant reminder of what these whales face on a daily basis. Entanglements in fishing gear and vessel strikes are the leading causes of deaths for large whales. Today, we spent time with an open entanglement case (Jabiru's calf) and a previously vessel-struck whale (Owl). A sobering thought of how and what these wild animals are faced with every potential day of their lives.

Owl

The ocean on Monday morning was pristine. Five minke whales were sighted throughout the trip. It took a little patience to get some good looks at Satula the humpback whale but it was worth it when this whale finally started to circle the area and create a few bubble clouds.

Sedge

Further offshore we came across a pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins. What perfect conditions to watch them dart around the boat.

Dolphins approaching in such calm seas!

Atlantic white-sided dolphins (above and below)

 Finally, a fin whale rounded out the morning adventures.

Fin whale

The forecast for an afternoon breeze was right on schedule as we headed out to Jeffreys Ledge on Monday afternoon. Many thanks to our fishing friends (who provided the report!), we found four humpback whales and two fin whales out on Jeffreys Ledge. The fin whales were cruising through the area while the humpback whales were circling around. Some new yearly visitors, and familiar tails, our humpback whales included Tripod, Trickle, Quote and Pipette!

Tripod

Quote

Tuesday's trips continued to bring on the sightings. On both trips we sighted Atlantic white-sided dolphins and numerous humpback whales.

Dolphin and humpback whale during Tuesday's morning trip

Atlantic white-sided dolphin 'photo-bombing' as Valley goes on a dive

Valley

Tuesday's morning trip also produced an ocean sunfish! Identified whales throughout the day on Tuesday included Basmati, Valley, Sword, Clamp, Spoon, Chromosome, Jabiru and her 2021 calf, Halfmoon, Badge, Quill and Galapagos.

Ocean sunfish

Badge

Afternoon sighting of a humpback whale and dolphin!

The sunshine was hiding most of the day so don't forget to pack layers for the boat as the wind and waves can provide additional cool down measures at times.

July 1, 2021

Happy July! The ocean was gorgeous to start off the new month. On our morning trip we came across at least four humpback whales. We first started with Jawa before finding others further along on Jeffreys Ledge, including Mogul and Sedge.

Jawa

Sedge's uniquely shaped dorsal fin

Mogul

The ocean got even calmer on our afternoon trip (my goodness, it was a lake out there!). Pinball was sighted moving about.

It's so calm!

Pinball

We then checked out, what we decided was likely, a giant blue-fin tuna swimming along creating its own wake! The day wrapped up with Valley's 2020 calf napping.

Sly blue-fin tuna

Valley's calf from last year

As beautiful as the ocean was, the wind was brewing, and we have already canceled our next few trips. Hoping this blow passes quickly so we can get back out on the water!