August 6, 2025

 Wednesday’s trips were full of surprises, and not all were of the good kind.

Our morning started out by seeing a humpback whale only about a half hour from the dock. This whale was feeding just beyond the Isles of Shoals. Often, when humpbacks are surface feeding, they will blow a column or ring of bubbles to corral the fish before charging to the surface. This gives us a few seconds of warning as to where they will come up. This whale was not doing that, so the surface lunges were unpredictable.

Next, we found Clamp, who was just doing what whales do- breathing and diving.

Another humpback whale was seen coming into the area. This one never fluked, but had a uniquely shaped/scarred dorsal fin, so we hope to match it by those markings.

Spoon was spotted in the distance, but was taking long dives and moving around quite a bit. Finally, we found a pair of humpback whales, Valley and Chromosome, who were also not fluking- just slowly swimming along at the surface.

We saw our first whale a little over an hour into the trip on Wednesday afternoon. As soon as we saw it, our hearts sank. This whale was entangled in fishing gear. Although we talk about threats to whales a lot, and most humpback whales have scars from entanglements, we (fortunately) rarely see whales with gear on them. We reported the whale to the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, the closest group permitted to disentangle large whales. Unfortunately, due to the time of day, they weren't able to get up here and work the whale before darkness set in. We will hope for the best in the next few days if the whale is seen again*.

Nearby, we saw a fin whale and then another humpback whale. This was Patches!! He is on the cover of our brochure, so he is always a welcome sight! He did a quick bout of feeding, including a bubble cloud to allow us to anticipate where he would surface. And that he did! He came crashing through the surface in the middle of the bubble cloud, giving us all an incredible look at this mighty whale!

A second fin whale showed up along with a shy humpback whale.

On the way home, we found yet another humpback whale—apparently a juvenile just based on size. We have several small-ish whales that we are still working on identifying.

On the way home from this heavy trip, many people asked about what they could do to help. I’d love to say simple things like using less plastic, consuming less energy, etc., but honestly, we all need to contact our representatives regularly. Call them, talk to their staffers, leave a message- just tell them what you are passionate about. Ask them to support NOAA, the Marine Mammal Protection Act (current version, NOT the proposed changes!), ropeless fishing gear, all environmental legislation, and whatever else you care about (even beyond whale stuff). Our legislators work for US! They can't represent us if they don’t know what we care about. Call them! It’s easy. It’s just a phone call. Call them regularly! Find your reps here!

Also, please support your local environmental groups, which are working hard to protect our wildlife and the health of our planet. With recent cuts to government spending, our non-profit organizations are taking up the slack to protect and conserve the wildlife we hold near and dear to our hearts. 

*We are not sharing photos of the entangled whale for sensitivity purposes, but they have been shared with the disentanglement team to aid in their attempts for a successful disentanglement. 

 

 

August 4-5, 2025

Monday was a day when all the stars aligned. The ocean was stunning, and the whales left us speechless. Our first sighting of the day was a fin whale charging (literally!) through the water. When we say these fin whales can move, rarely do we actually see them showcase their speed. This whale was on a mission, creating whitewater at every surfacing. 

Our fin whale ON THE MOVE! (above and below)

Eventually, this whale slowed down, but wow, what a sight. Further offshore, we briefly checked out humpback whales Satula and Pinball before exploring more. 

Satula the humpback whale (above and below)

Conditions were so calm that any disturbance at the surface caught our eyes. As we travelled along, we saw a few minke whales. Next, we came across a pod of approximately 75 Atlantic white-sided dolphins.

Atlantic white-sided dolphin!

These toothed whales were on the move, and it was awesome to watch them glide through the water. 

Atlantic white-sided dolphins

The morning wrapped up with us spending time with a trio of humpback whales - Milkyway, Valley, and Ravine.

Trio of humpback whales

Diving humpback whale

Additionally, humpback whales Tripod and Chromosome were seen out in the distance, along with another fin whale. How could the day get any better??? Conditions continued to be breath-takingly stunning for our afternoon trip, so once again, any disturbance caught our eyes. Ultimately, it seemed as though everything was out there to look at. We first started whale watching inside the Isles of Shoals! 

Inshore humpback whale

This humpback whale breached for us once. While impressive, it was unexpected, and only a handful of folks witnessed the breach. As we continued offshore, we spotted a blue shark, a basking shark, multiple minke whales, seals... oh my! 

Blue shark tail (left) and dorsal fin (right)

Basking shark dorsal fin

We next spent some time watching humpback whales, Clamp, Pinball, and Satula, as well as a fin whale out in the distance. We even had a sighting of an ocean sunfish. 

Humpback whale (above and below)

Ocean sunfish

The icing on the cake, however, was another sighting of toothed whales. But it wasn't what we were expecting. A pod of offshore bottlenose dolphins was coming in towards us!

Bottlenose dolphins (above and below)

Oh my gosh. The pod of approximately 20 whales was incredible to watch. They zigged and zagged all around us. There was even a lone Atlantic white-sided dolphin in the pod. What a totally unexpected kind of sighting. We were in awe.

Bottlenose dolphins are so much bigger than our normally sighted tooth whales (white-sided dolphins)!

"I can fly!"

In, and above, the water. :)

For our birder friends, we even passed by a fun bird on our travels home. The weather, the sea conditions, the whales. What a day full of pure perfection.

Common Murre

Tuesday was a reminder of how quickly things can change. The wind started cranking, and the ocean reacted. Many thanks to our fishing friend Captain Pete K. (not Granite State Pete; we always thank him!). We headed for a whale report and found it! The humpback whale we found is the same one we saw on July 22, off the coast of Maine. It is great to know it is still moseying around the local area. 

While this whale was surfacing at random intervals, some of those surfacings were VERY impressive. This whale breached (aka jumped out of the water) at least five times! While all whales can breach, it is a behavior we rarely encounter. What an impressive sight, multiple times! 

Humpback whale breaching!

We stayed on land for the afternoon, so we'll wait to see what the whales and ocean have in store for us tomorrow.

August 2-3, 2025

Saturday morning was breezier than expected. However, while the waves were rocking and rolling, the whales moved seamlessly through the water. We encountered a trio of humpback whales - Spoon, Chromosome, and Fan. 

Three humpback whales at the surface

Spoon

There was another whale in the area, but we continued moving with the group. Turns out the other humpback whale, Ravine, joined in the fun, and we witnessed our group of three become four! 

Humpback whale

Four humpback whales!

On our travels home, we did a few quick loops around a basking shark carcass surrounded by Wilson's storm petrels. By Saturday afternoon, the wind had slacked off a bit. Our first stop was on a fin whale, followed by an ocean sunfish. 

Fin whale

Ocean sunfish

After some fun looks, we ended up seeing six humpback whales. 

Humpback whale

Humpback whales at the surface

Individuals included Ravine, Pinball, Chromosome, Spoon, Fan, and Tripod! Each trip is unique, each day is unique, and every moment spent on the water is a memorable one!

Pinball

Humpback diving with the I-95 bridge between Maine and New Hampshire in the background!

Sunday continued with plenty of marine life to check out. On Sunday morning, almost all the whales we came across were sleeping. Whales need sleep, too. Why not enjoy them in beautiful conditions! 

Humpback whale pair

Humpback whale

We spent time watching Milkyway, Valley, Ravine, Clamp, Spoon, and Fan, all in pairs, and all napping at some point! 

Humpback whale diving with the Isles of Shoals in the background

Ravine and Clamp had some additional "friends" as a pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins was milling around as the baleen whales slept. What a cool interaction to witness! 

Humpback whale with dolphins lollygagging around

Can you find the humpback whale in the mix of dolphins?

Along with our humpback whale sightings, we also watched one of the mother-calf pairs of fin whales we've seen a few times this season move through the area. Gosh, fin whale calves are big! Our morning ended with an ocean sunfish. 

Fin whale pair

Ocean sunfish

On Sunday afternoon, we were no doubt in the right place at the right time. We started with Satula, the humpback whale, moving around the tuna fleet. We were about to continue on when the whales came to us. Satula surfaced nearby, and moments later, so did Pinball. Within a few minutes, Clamp also moved into the area. We were surrounded by these three humpback whales. They were constantly circling around us, creating a few bubble clouds, and surfacing in every direction. What incredible views of these marine mammals. 

Satula diving

Pinball

As if that wasn't enough, we also had a brief look at a fin whale and a minke whale that popped up while we spent time offshore. It was another great few days of sightings. Thanks, whales!

Fin whale diving

July 31 - August 1, 2025

 Thursday morning we made our way offshore to some unexpectedly rougher seas than were anticipated. Luckily for us, there were several whales in close proximity to one another once we made our way out towards Jeffreys Ledge. We started our trip with some quick looks at a pair of fin whales, as well as another single fin whale, before seeing some distant splashing. This splashing turned out to be a humpback whale repeatedly breaching, so we began to make our way over to that area. By the time we arrived, this whale switched its behavior from breaching, to tail breaching, to tail lobbing at the surface.

Humpback, belly-up tail lobbing

This whale continued this behavior for quite some time, before being joined by another humpback whale. This pair turned out to be Milky Way (the active whale) and Valley. These whales began swimming side by side, Milky Way occasionally rolling on its side and slapping its flippers against the surface.

Humpback whale flipper

Humpbacks diving

We eventually moved on from this pair to see who else was spending time nearby. Other humpbacks in the area that we got looks at included Pinball, Satula, and Ravine. After spending a good amount of time with Ravine, we started our journey back towards home. Along the way, we got excellent looks at another fin whale that surfaced off of our starboard side.

Fin whale diving

Thursday afternoon was a no go due to heavy rain and rough seas, while also keeping our eye on the forecast for Friday.

Friday morning's whale watch was also cancelled, but we decided to give it a shot in the afternoon. Unfortunately, after making our way offshore, the surface conditions were too rough to continue, so we made the decision to turn back towards Rye. Hopefully the weekend is looking to improve our sea conditions!