July 14, 2024

 Absolutely beautiful conditions on Sunday morning first gave way to a rather spread out pod of  a hundred or so Atlantic white-sided dolphins. While spending time with these dolphins, we also noticed a different fin breaking the surface, so we took a small detour to check out a nearby ocean sunfish!

Atlantic white-sided dolphin

Ocean Sunfish

After spending time with the sunfish and reconnecting with the dolphins for a short while, we decided to press, taking advantage of the stunning surface conditions. After travelling a ways we stumbled upon our first large whale of the trip, a fin whale. Not long after spotting this fin whale, we started to see distant blows from other whales in the area, so we continued further offshore to investigate. This gave way for us to spend time with a pair of humpback whales, identified as Springboard and Crossbeam.

Fin whale diving

Pair of humpback whales

Both humpback whales occasionally returning to the surface, filtering out saltwater as they continued to feed down in the depths of the ocean. Finally, before making our return back towards Rye Harbor, getting to spend some time with a very familiar whale for us, Pinball!

Sunday afternoon kicked off with some early looks at a fin whale as we made our way out towards Jeffrey's Ledge. We were able to sit still while this whale surfaced on both sides of the boat for some excellent looks before we continued our journey. 

Fin whale diving

After making our way towards the southernmost regions of the ledge, we approached our second fin whale of the trip as a school of bluefin tuna crashed through the surface off of our port side. Ultimately, we pressed on to spend time with a humpback whale, who was very busy chasing down bait beneath the surface. 

Humpback whale diving

Distant fin whale

As we made our turn back towards Rye, we were able to pass by at least three more fin whales before we continued home. 

July 13, 2024

 July 13, 2024

Saturday morning, we found three species of baleen whales as well as some harbor porpoises and elusive basking sharks! The rain and fog were no match for our expert eyes, and some help from a guest on the bow!

We passed by a small group of harbor porpoises before stopping on a basking shark. As we were waiting for the shark to reappear, a minke whale popped up! This minke surfaced close to us several times, although the basking shark wasn’t relocated.

Minke Whale

Then we saw a blow from a large whale. This was a humpback whale named Polaris! We haven’t seen Polaris since 2009 so this was an exciting sighting for us!

 

Humpback Whale

On our way home, a guest on the bow pointed out a whale behind us. This turned out to be a large fin whale! We got a few looks at this animal before heading back for the harbor.

 

Fin Whale

Saturday afternoon, we also passed by a small group of harbor porpoises before finding the larger whales. Our first whale was a minke whale followed by a humpback whale named Footfall. We hung out with the humpback for a bit and then continued along.

 

Minke Whale

Humpback Whale

We then found two fin whales, the second largest species of whale ever!! At one point, one of these whales surfaced right next to us! Super cool!

Fin Whale

Fin Whale

Fin Whale

On our way home, we relocated Footfall briefly, and then saw a few bluefin tuna splashing just a few miles offshore! 

We are heading back out tomorrow morning! I can't wait to see what shows up!

July 12, 2024

 Friday morning began like any other. Blue skies, rolling seas, and Atlantic white-sided dolphins! These toothed whales are always a great surprise on any whale watch, and we were fortunate enough to encounter three different pods throughout the course of our trip. Not long after spending time with these dolphins did we encounter our first fin whale of the trip as well!

Atlantic white-sided dolphin

Fin whale diving

Little did we know that one fin whale would eventually turn into seven throughout the course of our trip! Many of these whales darting around in all directions around the boat, one fin whale actually lunge feeding vertically, much like humpback whales tend to do! Speaking of which, after pressing on from our fin whale fiesta, we were able to spend quality time with a pair of humpback whales, Nile and Cantilever, who were also surface feeding occasionally around our boat. 

Humpback whale diving

Friday afternoon, we made our way back towards where we had found much luck during or morning trip. First, encountering a solo fin whale not too far from where we had seen a few earlier in the day. 

Fin whale

After getting some quick looks at that whale, we continued along a short ways before rediscovering our pair of humpbacks from earlier, Nile and Cantilever. These whales occasionally coming up to the surface filtering out lots and lots of saltwater! 

Pair of humpbacks diving

After spending time with our two humpbacks, we did a bit more searching before ultimately coming across our last sightings of the day, a pair of fin whales. These whales were paddling! It took a bit of effort to keep up with these two whales, but it was soon clear as to why they were on a mission. On at least a few occasions these whales surfaced filtering out lots of saltwater after chasing down and lunging on prey beneath the surface. After leaving a little bit of evidence for us at the surface, we could determine that these whales were feeding on krill.

Two fin whales, one filtering saltwater

Fin whale diving

Definitely a whole lot of life still hanging out near or inshore of Jeffrey's Ledge! We eagerly await to see what the rest of this weekend will bring.

July 10-11, 2024

On Wednesday, our first stop on whales was two minke whales circling the area. 

Minke whale

One of these minke whales was a VERY familiar minke whale for us. It was Finke! Finke is a minke whale the Granite State has seen since our 2011 whale watch season! This was the first time we have spotted this whale this season; so exciting!

Finke the finless minke whale

Further offshore, surrounded by varying fog levels, we saw three ocean sunfish and spent time with a pod of approximately 65 Atlantic white-sided dolphins. 

Dolphin

Once on Jeffreys Ledge, we briefly saw a fin whale before wrapping up the trip with Diablo the humpback whale.

Massive fin whale

Humpback whale

On our afternoon trip, we started with a small pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins. Even with approximately six dolphins in this pod, we still got great looks at these toothed whales. 

Dolphin

Back out on Jeffreys Ledge, we saw two humpback whales (Diablo and Cupid) and checked out a pair of fin whales (with more surrounding us in the distance) for the day.

Humpback whale

Fin whale (above and below)

Thursday's trips were canceled due to high winds, so stay tuned to read about our upcoming weekend adventures.

July 8-9, 2024

Monday's weather could not have been more beautiful. Glass-like conditions added to the sight-ability and awe of each sighting. The day started with a nursery pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins. This group of 60-70 toothed whales were milling around and you couldn't get enough of the calves! They were so tiny, so wiggly, and so stunning to watch move through the water. It was hard to leave! 

Atlantic white-sided dolphin

Two dolphin calves checking out the world above the surface of the ocean!

Further offshore we saw two minke whales, five basking sharks (though most of them sank almost as quickly as we spotted them), an ocean sunfish, two fin whales, and possibly the same pod of dolphins during our travels home. There was so much to look at and enjoy! 

Minke whale

Ocean sunfish

Fin whale

More dolphins

Monday's afternoon trip had its own special surprises. Along our travels, we saw multiple fin whales (six in total), six humpback whales (including Diablo, Footfall, and Satula), a couple of basking sharks, and a BLUE WHALE!!!

Humpback whale

BLUE WHALE

This blue whale is likely the same blue whale that we have been sporadically sighting this past week. Wow. 

Blue whale (above and below)

Oh, and the sightings weren't over yet. While watching the blue whale a pod of dolphins could be seen in the distance. However, these dolphins were not our usual culprits. A pod of Common dolphins was passing by!

Our Common dolphins were ACTIVE! (above and below)

Common dolphin

These toothed whales are not "common" sightings for us so add that into the mix of our larger whales AND the blue whale = CRAZY. We even passed by a pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins before returning to the harbor. What a day. 

Tuesday's whale watching was full of baleen whales. On our morning trip, we were surrounded by spouts. Both humpback whales and fin whales were darting around in every direction passing by us, and each other, with such grace. 

Humpback whale

In total, we saw four fin whales and nine humpback whales, with more spouts out in the distance. Some of our morning humpback whales included Pharos, Buzzard, and Agent. 

Diving humpback whale

Feeding humpback whale

On our way back out to Jeffreys Ledge on Tuesday afternoon we stopped for a quick look at a minke whale and a pair of fin whales (we saw three fin whales in total) before making our way to the same area we had been in the morning. This time we checked out eight humpback whales, all in pairs. Individuals included Chromosome, Pharos, Whirlwind, Joy, Quote, and Agent!