July 20-21, 2024

Saturday morning, we briefly stopped on a basking shark before making our way to Jeffreys Ledge. Once on the ledge, we came across Footfall the humpback whale and a fin whale. 

Humpback whale filtering saltwater out of its mouth

Fin whale

We also checked out a large ocean sunfish. On our travels home, a few fin whales were sighted along with a quick look at humpback whales Reflection and her 2024 calf. The calf even surprised us with a couple of tail breaches. 

Ocean sunfish

Tail breach!

On Saturday afternoon, our sightings included two pairs of fin whales. They circled the area, and we got an awesome look as one of our pairs swam right past the boat! 

Fin whale (above and below)

The trip also included an ocean sunfish; always a fun sight!

Ocean sunfish subsurface

Ocean conditions on Sunday were about as perfect as you could get; calm and clear. On Sunday morning, we sighted two ocean sunfish, a quick look at a basking shark, and five fin whales. 

Ocean sunfish

Basking shark dorsal fin

At one point, we watched a pair of fin whales become three, all synchronizing their movements together. 

Fin whales (above and below) - look at that ocean!

Sunday afternoon was a special one. A "history in the making" kind of special. For the first time in Granite State history, we saw TWO species of sea turtles during our trip. Our first sighting of the trip was a leatherback sea turtle! This is the first time all season we have sighted a sea turtle, and leatherbacks are the largest variety!

Leatherback sea turtle!

As we made our way out to Jeffreys Ledge, in such pristine conditions, we saw a minke whale, a couple of basking sharks, three ocean sunfish, and a pod of ~150 Atlantic white-sided dolphins. 

Afternoon ocean sunfish

Atlantic white-sided dolphins

Once on the ledge, we checked out a pair of fin whales and even a quick glance at a blue shark. 

Fin whales

Then we spotted another sea turtle. This time it was a loggerhead sea turtle! The crew was in shock; TWO sea turtles, one trip, and beautiful looks. Wow. We always say we never really know what we are going to see when we leave the harbor. We truly mean it. Thank you, wildlife.

Loggerhead sea turtle

July 18-19, 2024

 Thursday afternoon was an exceptionally glassy one with pristine surface conditions for spotting marine life as we made our way offshore. Before we were able to spot any whales we first took notice in a fin breaking the surface, which belonged to a small ocean sunfish!

Ocean Sunfish

After getting some excellent looks at that sunfish, we continued on further east until we were able to spend time with our first humpback whale of the afternoon, Quote!

Humpback diving

This whale was spending most of her time feeding just beneath the surface, evidenced by the numerous bubble clouds she was blowing all around the boat. After leaving Quote, we were able to do a bit more searching before making our way back towards Rye. As we were about to make our turn for home, we spotted distant blows, which revealed themselves to be a mother/calf pair of humpback whales!

Mom/calf humpback whales

Friday morning began with a long journey out towards the southern end of Jeffrey's Ledge. Once there however, all the pains of traveling were a distant memory as we were able to spend time with three fin whales and five humpback whales! 

Fin whale diving

Humpback mom/calf pair

Three of our five humpbacks actually turned out to be all of the adoptable humpback whales through the Blue Ocean Society. Those whales being Satula, Owl, and Pinball! After sitting in one spot with our engine turned off for an extended period of time, we eventually had to say goodbye to our whales and start our journey home. On the way however, we passed by three different minke whales, and finally getting to spend some time with a pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins. A truly exceptional morning of whale watching!

Owl the humpback whale

White-sided dolphin mom/calf

Friday afternoon took us right back to the southernmost regions of Jeffrey's ledge. Once again, we were able to spend time with several different humpback whales, individuals including Pinball, Satula, and Mudskipper and her 2024 calf. These whales were very busy traveling and chasing down schools of fish. 

Satula diving

While we were spending time with the humpbacks, we noticed some distant splashing and decided to investigate. That splashing turned into a pod of well over 150 Atlantic white-sided dolphins! This pod was quite mellow as they slowly passed on through the area. We eventually got some last looks at Satula before we made our turn back towards Rye Harbor. 

White-sided dolphin surfacing

As we made our way back towards home, we were stopped by three different fin whales. One of them traveling on its own, while the other two were moving as a pair. We were able to get excellent looks at these three whales before continuing along. A beautiful way to end a whale-filled day!

Pair of fin whales

July 17-18, 2024

July 17, 2024 

 he Jeffreys Ledge region is teeming with marine life these days! The abundance of species and bait has been phenomenal. Daily trips are finding harbor porpoises, Atlantic white-sided dolphins, harbor seals, grey seals, basking sharks, ocean sunfish, bluefin tuna, minke, fin, and humpback whales!! Oh, and the krill have been fabulous to see! Giant rafts of red krill blanketing the ocean are rare in our area but are always welcome as they are one of the many links in our food chain! Also, two of Blue Ocean Society's adoptable whales were spotted in the same area, Pinball and Satula!

        Morning trip photos:

Fin Whales

Atlantic white-sided dolphins

Krill!

Great Shearwater taking off

Satula, the humpback whale!

Pinball diving

        Afternoon trip photos: 

Fin Whale

Humpback Whale diving

Humpback Whale exhaling

July 18, 2024 

This morning we went in a different direction to check out some reports of whales in another area that we hadn’t been to in a while. We found several pods of Atlantic white-sided dolphins, some harbor porpoises, a basking shark, and four fin whales, including the same trio that was spotted yesterday!

Atlantic white-sided dolphin

Basking Shark swimming away

Fin Whale

Fin whale

July 15-16, 2024

Whales continue to be plentiful, and we are so grateful to witness wildlife at its finest. On Monday, we spent time with three different trios of humpback whales!

One of our trios of whales

Occasionally we see baleen whales form associations, but what a sight to see all of our sightings in groups.

Humpback whales

Individuals included Nile, Entropy, Zodiac, Mudskipper and her 2024 calf, Springboard, Patches, and Crossbeam. 

Humpback whale diving

Some whales were filtering water, and others were moving around the area. A few lucky passengers even got a look at a breaching basking shark! On Monday afternoon, we had some quick looks at a minke whale breaching(!) before making our way to Jeffreys Ledge. Once on the Ledge, whales were everywhere. We saw two additional minke whales, six fin whales (including Crow!), and numerous humpback whales including Satula, Pinball, Mudskipper and her 2024 calf. 

Humpback whale (above and below)

Spouts could be seen in all different directions and whales circled the area in full force!

Fin whale

On our travels home we were sprinkled with another treat a pod of 50 Atlantic white-sided dolphins. 

Dolphin

Tuesday morning was fin-tastic! During our travels, we saw three ocean sunfish before seeing six of the second-largest mammals on Earth - fin whales! 

Fin whale

Ocean sunfish

The fin whales were circling the area. At one point we even got a chance to see three fin whales associated together! 

Massive fin whale spout

Fin whale

Tuesday afternoon we had a couple of distant looks at fin whales, and this time, now had multiple humpback whale sightings. At least nine humpback whales were sighted including Satula, Mudskipper and her 2024 calf, Owl, and Scylla and her 2024 calf.

Humpback whales diving (above and below)

A pair of humpback whales