Thursday, July 24

We certainly saw plenty of wildlife today. Multiple Fin whales, Minke whales and even a few Harbor porpoise were seen on both of our trips today. This morning our first sighting of the day was one of the second largest animals ever to live on Earth; a Fin whale! It was Comet and she was circling around the area.

Comet

The majority of the time we were with this whale she was just moving around until one time she surfaced and rolled over on her side. You could see her flipper and half of her tail above the waterline. Turns out she did this multiple times as she was most likely lunging through the water catching lots of fish!

Within all the whitewater seen in this photo is Comet's light colored flipper and half of her dark tail!

Whales can change up their behavior at any point in time and as long as you are in the right place at the right time it was is quite amazing.

Comet decided to swim just past the front of the boat (while we weren't moving of course!)

Our next sighting was a pair of Fin whales. Dingle and #1008 were on the move together. While these whales were traveling through the area it was awesome to see just how easily they slip through the water and waves even though they can weigh well over 60 tons!

Fin whales #1008 and Dingle exhaling at the surface

Dingle

Another Fin whale was seen during our trip but this whale was spending a bit more time under the water and constantly changing directions so with a few looks at this whale we ventured on to other creatures around. We got a few looks at many of the 4 Minke whales we saw and even a quick glance at a few Harbor porpoise this morning.

A few of our Minke whales seen this morning (above and below)

This afternoon we once again were searching for whale activity and spent most of our day so close to home. Our first whale was a familiar animal, it was #1008. This whale only hours earlier had been associated with another whale but was now on its own.

#1008 swims alongside us

These whales constantly move around and can easily behave differently in a matter of moments. We got some great looks at this whale as it steadily moved along.

Fin whales are so large as #1008 swims at the surface of the ocean

We checked out a Minke whale after continuing on and soon we saw another spout out in the distance. Another Fin whale was around. It was Comet again.

Fin whale spout

As we spent time with this whale suddenly out of the blue another whale surfaced in the same general area. Minutes later we saw both whales surface close by to one another. But this was by no means a normal association. Suddenly we saw massive amounts of whitewater coming from where these whales were surfacing. Only after a few surfacings did we quickly realize who had moved into the area. Comet and Fjord were now on the move together.

The start of the surface activity seen by Fjord and Comet as they charged around the ocean together

At first we thought maybe these whales were chasing down fish. But instead it looked like they were chasing down each other! Comet was at the forefront of this occurrence. She was creating so much whitewater as she was crashing through the extremely calm seas we were in. Both of these whales started to porpoise as they surfaced. Comet was also rolling on her side and at one point brought her entire head above the surface and smacked it back on the water.

A few moments after Comet's entire head was above the surface as all the whitewater being created is a result of her head landing back onto the surface of the ocean

These two whales were charging all over the place moving in synchrony. The behaviors and movements these two whales were creating was absolutely insane!

Comet continues charging through the water each time she came to the surface

Comet rolling over on her right side as that is half of her tail high above the water!

To see such incredibly massive animals make so much whitewater and crashing through the water as they were charging after one another is something that is definitely not normal.

Comet so stretched out as she moves through the water

Fjord

For all of us on board we were completely taken aback from what we all saw. These whales continue to amaze us as they are just spending time in their natural habitat as we catch such a small glimpse in their wild lives.

Wednesday, July 23

The ocean is full of surprises and each of our trips exemplify that to the fullest. A different experience on each and every one of our trips is what makes searching for, and watching, wildlife a special moment. Just like every day we got a chance to once again enjoy such experiences today. This morning started off quite slow. We checked out a few areas where whales had been seen only 24hrs beforehand. Unfortunately we were coming up short and thus continued to do some more searching. Soon everything changed. We first checked out a few Minke whales circling around the area.

Minke whale

Soon not far from us a spout was seen out in the distance. We checked it out and came across a very familiar Fin whale. It was Comet!

Comet the Fin whale

It has been almost 2 months since we last saw this whale in our area. Where has this whale been? What parts of the Gulf of Maine has this whale been spending time in? Has Comet remained close by and just out of view for this whole time? While we may never know those answers we do know she is here now and we were thrilled to have her spending time moving around the area. We ventured a bit further offshore as we thought we had seen another spout out in the distance. We didn't have any luck and decided to head back over to get some last looks at Comet before heading for home. On our way back however, something rarely seen was at the surface. It was a Loggerhead sea turtle!

Unfortunately a bit out of focus but such an awesome sighting of a Loggerhead sea turtle!

Sea turtles do reside in our area but are seldom seen by many. So much so one of our crew members has spent more than 18 years out on the open ocean and only today got the chance to finally see a sea turtle!!! Such a rare and special sighting!!!

Our turtle swimming in straight towards the boat!

Before long it was time to head for home. However, on our way home we spotted another spout. One spout quickly turned into two! We thought it must be Comet and a friend who may have moved into the area since it was close to where we had last spent time with Comet. But that wasn't the case at all! Two completely different whales were there and were moving through the water together. Turned out it was Fjord and #1008, two whales we had seen yesterday morning on the move together! This ocean certainly keeps us on our toes.

Fin whale #1008 seen where we had just left Comet only minutes ago!

Fjord the Fin whale heading past us

This afternoon we headed back offshore. Our first sighting was a Minke whale cruising through the waves. We got a couple looks at this whale before we made our way back to where Comet was. This whale was also on the move this afternoon but got some great looks as she moved around.

Comet (above and below)

On our way home we even got a few more surprises as we found the fin-less Minke whale we have seen over the past few years inshore of the Isles of Shoals. This whale lost it's dorsal fin and instead has a large scar on its back. Luckily this whale survived through the incident and while a Minke whale with no fin can be quite tricky to keep track of we all find this Minke whale one of our favorites amongst the crew.

This no-fin Minke whale swims away from us as you can see the scar (which is much more visible on the whale's left side) where its dorsal fin should be

What a day. And that can only mean that tomorrow will be equally as unknowing and exciting all on its own.

Tuesday, July 22

What a difference a few hours make. We spent our time today inshore of Jeffreys Ledge because we found whales so close to home. However, that might be the only similarity of the day for everything we saw today was as unique as can be. This morning we saw 5 Harbor seals, 6 Minke whales and 2 Fin whales. Our Minke whales were great, most of them circling around the area getting some really nice looks at them.

One of our Minke whales seen

Minke whale just breaking the surface to get a breath of air. You can see the "Minke mittens" just below the surface (white patches found on the flippers of all Minke whales)

With some extremely uniquely shaped dorsal fins not only can we easily tell Minke whales apart from each other we can also keep track of them year after year. A few of the whales we saw today have recently been seen this season as well as over the past couple of years!

This Minke whale was seen yesterday as well as in the 2012 and 2013 seasons!

We saw this same Minke whale almost exactly a month ago, on June 19 of this season!

We also got a chance to see an extremely curious and bold Harbor seal. This marine mammal swam right towards us and circled around the boat apparently not fazed by all of us, and the vessel, checking it out!

This Harbor seal decided to come check us out!

It was by far the best look at a Harbor seal we have seen in a very long time; meaning this was by far a very non-normal sighting!

Well hello there Harbor seal!

To add even more interesting sights to the trip we came across a pair of Fin whales. Initially these animals were moving around independently of each other; within the same general area but by no means associated with one another. Soon they changed up their behaviors and started to travel along synchronizing their movements together.

Fin whales moving through the water together just off the coast of NH!

This association lasted for only a bit of time before we once again watched these whales separate and head off in completely different directions.

One of the two Fin whales seen this morning; Fin whale #1008

A very familiar dorsal fin of our second Fin whale...Fjord is in our area for yet another feeding season this year!!

As much as we love watching whales the intricate behaviors and movements any whale can suddenly produce is equally as fascinating as we watch these wild animals maneuver through their natural habitats. Call us geeks, nerds, or just plan weird but by watching and recording all that we see we continually learn about these incredibly massive creatures.

Our Fin whales following behind one another

This afternoon we first came across a Fin whale. This whale was also only a few miles off the coastline. However, this whale was on a mission. The entire time we spent watching this whale it was traveling through the area. At first we believed it to be one of the pair we had seen in the morning but upon closer inspection of it's dorsal fin and chevron pattern (what we use to tell one Fin whale apart from another) it turned out this was a completely different whale than either of the ones we had seen on our morning trip. Where had this whale come from and where had the other two gone? Who knows but it was certainly great to see this whale moving through the area.

Afternoon Fin whale swimming just past the mouth of the Merrimack River, MA!

Fin whale on the move

We continued on to other areas where whales had recently been sighted but unfortunately we came up short with other whale sightings. In just a few hours difference the whales we had seen in the morning had completely disappeared for us. Whales certainly have a way of reminding us that even though we may know a lot about them there is still a lot that remains a mystery as they move in, around, and out of any area at any moment in time.

Sunday, July 20

Today we managed to venture the furthest east we have gone so far this season and the furthest south all in one day, two trips, and many hours on the water. The ocean was calm for another summer day providing us very nice condition for some whale watching during both of our trips today. This morning we headed to where whales had been yesterday afternoon. After a bit of searching we came across a few Minke whales and a Humpback whale.

Minke whale

Humpback whale

All of these animals were just circling around the area so we were fortunate enough to get some great looks at both of these kinds of whales. Our Humpback whale was Hornbill, a whale that was first seen in 1977 making this whale at least 37 years old!!!

Hornbill

This afternoon we were getting reports of other activity in a completely different direction from where we had been in the morning. With such solid reports coming in we decided to make the journey. It was a hike but it didn't take long for the activity to be seen by everyone on board once we made our way into the area. Almost instantaneously we watched one of the four calves we saw jump out of the water. Many times if whales even decide to jump out of the water it can be a single event and if you are not looking in the right place at the right time, all you end up seeing is one big splash of ocean water. Instead this whale jumped multiple times as it moved around the area!

Hello breaching calf!

What a spectacular sight even from a "baby" whale! Along with this activity there were a few groups of 2 or 3 whales moving around together. Soon we ended up with a flotilla of whale activity. Eight, yes 8(!), Humpback whales were maneuvering through the water together.

Nile and friend

Aerospace, Perseid and the tip of another whale tail at the surface

Seeing one, if not 2, of any baleen whale species moving around together is quite incredible. Now think of how much maneuverability and synchrony is required to have eight of these animals swimming around in close proximity of each other. Very impressive and what a sight to see!

Whales on the move

Pepper's tail with its unique black and white pigmentation surrounded by more whales!

Each trip recently has really been surprising us in more ways than one so it is any body's guess as to what and where we might end up tomorrow with some incredible wildlife!

Saturday, July 19

The northern part of Jeffreys Ledge was the place to be today!  We had mirror-like sea conditions for most of the day, making for some incredible sightings.

This morning, we passed by a small group of harbor porpoises, a couple of harbor seals, and even a couple of minke whales  as we knew we had a ways to travel to reach the area where we had some great whales yesterday afternoon. And of course, there is never a guarantee that the whales will be sitting right where we left them- usually the contrary is true!

As luck would have it, we found 3 humpback whales in nearly the same area where we were yesterday afternoon, and 2 of the whales were the same as yesterday!! Owl and Clipper were still here!  We spent some time with Owl first and were delighted when she approached us closely!!

Owl coming towards us, showing her large scar

Owl's flukes

 In the distance we saw 2 spouts- one was Clipper, with her distinctive, clipped dorsal fin and the other took us some time to ID but eventually learned that this was Blackhole!   As we were leaving Owl to look at these two, Blackhole breached out of the water not just once but twice!!! It was incredible!!  She is a big whale! Most everyone on the boat saw this spectacular event, too!  We don’t know why whales breach, but it is always fun to watch!

Blackhole diving

Blackhole

Clipper's "clipped" dorsal fin

So all 3 humpbacks this morning were adult females! Owl and Clipper both had calves last summer, and I believe Blackhole’s last calf was back in 2011.  I’ll be interested to see if any of these show up with a calf next summer!!

The afternoon trip took place in the same area of Jeffreys Ledge, but just a few hours after we left Owl, Clipper and Blackhole, the whales had changed up. We didn’t find Clipper and Blackhole again, but Owl was still there, and she was as awesome as always. She again came close to us, surprising us with her loud blow and substantial size!  

Owl diving

Owl's flukes

 We also spotted several minke whales in the area, darting all around, as well as some taller spouts- indicative of huge fin whales!  We left Owl to see the fin whales. What we first thought might be a pair turned out to be a trio!! And likely this was the same trio that we saw yesterday! It’s fairly rare for 3 fin whales to be together, but for them to be together for over 24 hours is really rare! We are just beginning to scratch the surface of fin whale behavior so this sighting will be a nice addition to our data!  In this trio, one whale was ID’ed as “Dylan”, a fin whale first seen in 1983!  Another had a large scar on its back. We have seen this whale before but it’s not cataloged yet, and it closely resembles a whale named Lightning who has a VERY similar scar. 

Fin whale with scar

Fin whale "Dylan"

 The variety of whales in the area was incredible- 3 species all in close proximity!   It was a very awesome day!

 Thanks to all who joined us today! We hope to see you again soon for another ocean adventure!