Thursday July 18

It was the Minke whale that was the main attraction during our trips today. We saw 8 of these whales during our morning trip and 3 in the afternoon. These whales are notorious for their sporadic movements under the water making watching these mammals a bit challenging at times. Today most of our whales were very cooperative. Many were circling around the area while a few were steadily moving in the same general direction giving us some great looks at these whales.

Such calm ocean conditions make whale watching an extra treat. This is one of our Minke whales from this morning.

Of course we did have a few Minke whales that clearly did not want their picture taken for they would surface very infrequently in all random directions (or at least from our vantage point above the waterline). Then again such is the case when we go out in search of wild whales. Sometimes whales are in similar areas from previous days, sometimes they move slowly through the water and sometimes they decide to disappear all together because there is a reason things that live in the ocean tend to be referred to as mysterious creatures of the deep.

One of our afternoon Minke whales we spent time with today

Tuesday July 16

It was close to 80 degrees at the harbor as we left for our morning expedition, and we were thankful for a slight sea breeze to keep us cooler with the increasing temperatures on land.  We started right past the Isles of Shoals with a sighting of a grey seal and harbor seal coasting along the surface of the water.  We were about 6 miles past the Islands, when we came upon our first Minke whale sighting of the day.

As we were watching this whale, a few more minke whales moved into the area.  There were also several juvenile and adult Northern Gannets diving in the water taking advantage of all the food that was around.  

As we were watching several Minke whales, we spotted a spout from a larger whale about a mile away from where we were and after spending quality time with the minke whales, we decided to head over to where the larger whale was to see who may be there.  Soon after we arrived, we realized that we had a very large Fin whale.  Comet was still in the area and she was spending lots of time along the surface taking a break from all her feeding during the early morning hours.  

Comet showing her scars that gave her name

We also saw several other minke whales on our return trip home and travelled through the Isles of Shoals on our way home.  The weather and the whales could not have been better this morning and we were anxious to get back out in the afternoon.

Once again, we were happy to leave the dock in the afternoon in hopes of finding cooler temperatures. We started with a few minke whale sightings close to the Isles of Shoals.  The minke whale sightings have been plentiful as of late and it's always a great way to start a trip.  With flat calm sea conditions, we could get great views of almost their entire body from underneath the water's surface.  

As we were watching the minke whales, a passenger let us know that he may have seen a spout from a larger whale off our right side.  After looking out that way for a few seconds, sure enough, there was a larger whale about a mile away and we decided to do a survey of that area in hopes of relocating the whale.  

It turned out that we found Comet the Fin whale once again this afternoon and after taking quite a long first dive, she then changed her behavior and spent more time along the surface giving everyone aboard just an idea as to how big she really is.

 While watching Comet, we received reports of other potential whale activity about 8 miles away and we decided to try our luck and continue offshore to see what or who else we could find during our trip.   We were about 23  miles from Rye when we spotted another spout from a large whale and it turned out to be a Humpback whale.  No one quite knows where she has spent the last couple of weeks, but Pinball was back on Jeffrey's Ledge.  She was circling around the area, and exhibiting behaviors including kick feeding, bubble clouds and a snaking motion that looked like she was trying to help herself in an attempt to digest food.  As we were watching her, a Corey's shearwater flew right over her and for any our bird watcher friends, that is the first Corey Shearwater sighting this season.  What a great way to end our trip and our day of whale watching.

With the temperatures continuing to be quite warm throughout the remainder of the week, we hope you come join us to cool off.

Sunday July 14

Every now and then you have one of those trips that make all the days searching in the fog, dealing with some crummy weather conditions, and sometimes minimal whale sightings, all worth it. This morning was one of those trips. People always ask when is the best time to go whale watching: morning vs. afternoon, month vs. month, cloudy vs. sunny days and the answer is we have no idea. Whales surprise us every single day and even after years of collecting data during trips there is no clear winner as to the best month, the best time, the best chance of seeing whales on any given day during our season which runs from mid-May through mid-October. Today was one of those days where we were in the right place at the right time and got some incredible looks at such enormous wildlife.

This morning we were off again to similar locations where we had some whales yesterday. Coming into the area we slowed down, took a really good look around, and saw a spout. We meandered over to the area and in the process saw another spout off our left-hand side. We had two Fin whales in the area: Streak and Comet. Suddenly a Minke whale popped up in the mix. We were watching Streak move around the area and were noticing both Fin whales suddenly appeared to start to moving in towards each other. We looked out in the distance to see where their movements were about to take them and that's when we knew something potentially awesome was about to happen. We could see patches of ocean water appear to be bubbling at the surface. Usually tides and currents cause sections of ocean to make interesting water movements on the surface but this was no tide. Large patches of herring were breaking the surface.

The dark area in the photo is a large school of herring creating a disturbance on the surface of the flat calm ocean

The fish were so close to the surface we watched as large schools swam right by us. The whales were heading towards all these fish! Minutes later the feeding bout began.

Herring attempting to swim in every direction but into the darkness of a whale's mouth!

A third Fin whale, out of nowhere was spotted charging on into the same area and soon we had 3 Fin whales circling around, a couple Minke whales surfacing, and lots of white water being created.

Incoming Fin whale! Can you see the start of the white lower jaw seen on all Fin whales on their right-hand side? (hint: it is the white part you can see below the surface on the left side of this photo)

Comet at the surface while more herring create the dark line seen in the background

The Fin whales were lunge feeding at and below the surface all around us! These whales were attempting to catch as many fish as possible in each and every mouthful as we watched the fish swim feverishly in any direction but in towards a whale's mouth while the whales themselves were swimming around like crazy.

White water created as a Fin whale lunges just below the ocean's surface charging after the schooling fish!

The whales were circling all around us and even lunged through the water right in front of us a few times. It was whale pandemonium! 

A Fin rolled over on it's right side with it's left flipper above the waterline (creating the trail of white water) as this whale can be seen with its lower jaw fulled extended outwards capturing lots of food in its mouth! And yes, that is a single herring jumping over the whale avoiding being lunch!

The aftermath of the whale lunging through the water just off our pulpit as the whale rights itself and filters out all the salt water from its mouth

It was hard to determine where to look as fish were swimming, whales were lunging, and white water was cascading at the surface. In all the whale chaos of the moment it was still such an orchestrated event as these massive whales moved through the water with such ease.

Streak the Fin whale just under the surface as this whale swam alongside the boat before finally surfacing for a breath of air (above and below)

You can even see the flipper of this Fin whale as the whale gets a good breath of air

The final moments as Streak dives deeps allowing us to see this whale's tail just below the surface. What an amazing sequence of looks at this whale swam right next to us.

As quickly as these events began it didn't take long for everything to once again calm down. The boiling of the herring disappeared at the surface and the whales began to move off in different directions as we were left to sit there floating on the surface amazed at what we had just seen and looking at all the fish scales that sparkled in the sun as the feeding frenzy suddenly ceased.

Times like these is why we truly say we never know what we are going to see when we go out whale watching. Even though these same whales have been seen in the same general area over the course of the last few days their behaviors can change at any moment and we as researchers, biologists, and overall general huge fans of these wild animals continue to enjoy the opportunity to share every trip's experience with all of our passengers.

Our morning trip ended and our afternoon trip began with a stop at Boon Island to check out some of the seals in the area. 

Seals at Boon Island

Grey seal swimming just off the rocks of Boon Island

This afternoon we then headed back out to the ledge. The whales were acting much more like we have seen the past few days as some where circling around and some whales were travelling through the area. 3 Minke whales were also spotted sporadically at the surface and we were able to get some great looks at Fin whale #0282 this afternoon.

Fin whale #0282

This whale meandered through the water as it surfaced alongside the boat a few times getting some great looks at this large species. 

#0282 with Boon Island in the background

We even got a quick look at Comet the Fin whale but this whale was on the move so quickly we could only see this whale from a distance.

Once again one day out on the water watching wildlife can and does prove to be unique each and every time.

Saturday July 13

Jeffreys Ledge sure made our trips exciting today as life was out and about offshore. As was the case with both trips today we swung by Boon Island to check out the seal colony and got some fun looks at these marine mammals over the course of the day.



This morning we also got a chance to see 3 Minke whales, 2 Fin whales, and a Basking shark! Both of our Fin whales were darting back and forth which for an animal that can easily weigh 60+ tons it is quite amazing to see how these whales can literally just turn on a dime! Comet and #0282 gave us some great looks as they sporadically surfaced all around the boat this morning.

Comet

Fin whale #0282 (above and below)

Fin whales certainly have a whole lot of body!

Not only did we get a chance to check out the second largest animals in the world (a Fin whale!) we also got a chance to spend time with one of the second largest sharks in the world! A Basking shark with a ginormous dorsal fin was moving around the area.

You can barely make out the tip of this shark's snout as it breaks the surface on the right side of this photo

This shark was doing some feeding as a few times you could see this shark had its mouth wide open filtering the ocean water for plankton!

Fin whale #0282 swimming past a Basking shark this morning

The extremely large fin of this Basking shark above the surface as it swims with its mouth (the white patch on the right side of the picture) wide open

This afternoon we spotted 4 Minke whales and 3 Fin whales! Comet and #0282 were still zig-zagging around but a new whale had joined in the mix. 

Fin whale #0282

After spending time with some of the other whales in the area we ventured over to our newcomer to find out it was a whale we had last seen almost a month ago! Streak the Fin whale was back! We last saw Streak on June 15 and not at all in the same area of Jeffreys Ledge where we watched her today. Thanks for returning back to the area Streak (if you even left the ledge in the first place!) and allowing to get some great looks as this whale constantly was seen circling around the boat.

Hello again Streak! (above and below)

Friday July 12

The wind kept us on the dock this morning but drastically dropped off as the day progressed and even as we headed out towards the ledge this afternoon. Once again we found ourselves going towards northern areas of Jeffreys Ledge and decided to swing by Boon Island on our way out today. Looks like we humans aren't the only ones that enjoy the sun for even at high tide the seals were lined up on the rocks basking themselves in the sunshine at Boon. 

Even though they blend in with the rocks so well there were lots of seals soaking up the sun right on the edge of the waves crashing on the rocks at Boon Island

As the swells continued to subside and the wind all but disappeared we ended up with some beautiful conditions out there. Those conditions made watching Comet the Fin whale very enjoyable.

Comet's grey swirly pattern known as her chevron!

While this whale averaged 7-10 minute dives (Fin whales can hold their breath for close to an hour if they want, so less than 10 minutes is something we certainly hope happens when watching these wild whales!) it was circling around the area most of the time. We were able to get some great looks since Comet never seemed to surface too far from us.

A portion of Comet's large body at the surface

Comet off on a deeper dive

It wasn't until we were out of time that this whale picked up a bit of speed and was doing some travelling. Nice coincidence as Comet moved away to continue on with her day and we moved away in a different direction to continue on our way back towards Rye Harbor.


Comet swimming off the coast of Maine

Thursday July 11

Today we got a chance to watch Minke whales, a Fin whale, and a stop at Boon Island to check out the seals on both of our trips today. This morning, after dodging some heavy rain storms and a quick stop to look at the seals, we made out way out towards Jeffreys Ledge. 

Seals checking us out in the waters around Boon Island (above and below)

A spout was spotted and soon we realized a different Fin whale had arrived on the ledge. This whale's body and dorsal fin was different than the other Fin whales we have been seeing recently. We watched as this whale circled around and at one point swam right in towards the boat.

Fin whale

On our ride home we even caught a quick glimpse at two different Minke whales. This afternoon we headed back out towards where our Fin whale had been in the morning. Before making our way to the area we were sidetracked with some great looks at a Minke whale.

Minke whale

This whale spent some time cruising down the offshore swells and circling around the area. We pressed on and did some searching before we were once again lucky enough to find the same Fin whale from this morning.

Fin whale spout as a dark rain cloud passes further offshore

This animal was still around and provided the opportunity to take more photographs of this whale in order to help potentially identify it.

Fin whale

We will wait to make sure the Master Fin whale IDer from Blue Ocean verifies this match but we think it is Fin whale #0282. This whale was first seen on Jeffreys Ledge in 2002 and was last seen in 2009. Welcome back to the ledge and hopefully we'll continue to see this whale moseying around the area for some more time this year!

Close-up look at of our Fin whale's dorsal fin as a possible match of #0282!

Thanks to all of passengers today who did a fantastic job spotting marine life!


Grey seal at Boon Island