Saturday, August 23

This morning’s trip started out well with just a little bit of a sea from the NE wind. We found 2 minke whales, both of which were amazing and staying at the surface for a long time.  Sometimes in wavy conditions, the minkes are difficult to see, but these two were very good!

Morning minke whale

As we traveled around the area just inshore of Jeffreys Ledge, we stopped at a few hotspots but didn’t see much besides some cool birds (Corys and Great shearwaters). But then our intern, Hannah, spotted a little fin moving up and down close to us. An ocean sunfish appeared and swam all around the boat!  Although not a whale, the sunfish was a nice added bonus to our trip.

This afternoon the sun came out and the seas calmed down. After trying to get looks at a couple of elusive minke whales just behind the Isles of Shoals, we found several very cooperative minkes a bit further out. One was the adoptable minke named Scar!! Scar was seen as far back as 1995 so it’s always great to see this visitor back in the area!  As some other whale watch boats ventured in to see Scar, we continued on to find 4 more minke whales, including 3 all in one small area!  Minkes were everywhere!!

Scar Minke

Minke whale with 2 notched in fin

Minke whale

Although these speedy little whales are really cool to see, we decided to press our luck and head up towards Boon Island off the coast of Maine on a hunch. We actually passed by another minke whale just to seek out new territory. Our searching paid off as we soon found ourselves in the presence of 3 huge fin whales! The first one was Dingle, who has been seen in the area frequently this summer. As we waited for him to resurface, a second fin whale appeared close by. This one was “Flower”, a whale yet to be cataloged but is going by this nickname. 

Fin whale, Dingle

Dingle spouting

Fin whale, Flower

 Before we knew it, these 2 whales got together and were synchronizing their breaths and dives!  It was so great to see these enormous whales moving next to each other especially after seeing so many smaller and solitary whales.  Then we saw the 3^rd spout a bit out in the distance. We passed by this whale on our way home but don’t have an ID yet.  Such a great end to busy day!

Friday, August 22

Today was a bit of a challenge in the whale-finding sense. Although the wind and waves were a bit more than forecasted, the conditions were certainly not  poor.  This morning, after lots and lots of searching, we gave up and started back in towards Rye. But soon after we made this call, a minke whale showed up right near the boat!  It was as if it really wanted to be seen! We watched it a few times, but then it decided to continue on its way, and so did we.

This afternoon was a more productive but not at all easy. We headed for an area where a couple different whales had been seen. We searched and searched and saw a very nice ocean sunfish and a handful of harbor porpoises, but no whales. We decided to head to a different area when one of the other whale watch boats reported a whale close by. Finally, we saw a couple of minke whales! We stayed with one for a while and then ventured near the second. We got some very nice looks at these whales as they seemed to be sticking around in the area!

This wasn't our best day, but as I always say, any day with a whale is a great day!

Thursday, August 21

Cloudy skies and flat calm ocean conditions made for absolutely perfect conditions for spotting whale backs and dorsal fins at the surface. And today did not disappoint as our day was full of marine life! This morning our tally included a few groups of Harbor porpoise, 10 Minke whales, a couple of Harbor seals, a Blue shark and an Ocean sunfish!

Harbor porpoise soon after leaving the Harbor this morning

First Minke whale of the day

The ocean was as good as it could get as we were able to get some nice looks at so many types of life.

Minke whales can be distinguished from one another by using the shapes of their dorsal fins (check out the fins on the whales above and below!)

Another Minke whale of the morning

Blue shark at the surface

Ocean sunfish just a couple of miles outside the Harbor as we made our way home from our morning trip!

This afternoon we once again got a chance to check out a few groups of Harbor porpoise before seeing 7 Minke whales, a Fin whale and a group of about 30 Atlantic white-sided dolphins! A few of our Minke whales were darting around the boat as we got some great looks at these whales.

First Minke whale of the afternoon

This Minke whale has a much more pointed dorsal fin when compared to the first whale of the trip

Further along we got a chance to spend time with a large Fin whale. It was Dingle! This whale spent a good amount of time at the surface which gave us all the opportunity to get some amazing looks at this enormous type of whale!

Dingle at the surface just off our port side!

Dingle

Harbor porpoise (above and below) as they appeared right to the boat as we were awaiting for Dingle the Fin whale to resurface

Before heading for home we were lucky enough to end our day with a group of Atlantic white-sided dolphins (thanks Captain Brad!).

Atlantic white-sided dolphin!

This group consisted of some very young dolphins along with plenty of older animals. We got to see just how so many of these differently sized whales can synchronize their movements and travel along as one cohesive group.

Small and larger dolphins were seen in this pod!

This dolphin jumped sky high all of a sudden!

What a great way to end an awesome day full of fish, toothed-whales and baleen whales of all sorts!

Wednesday, August 20

My goodness was the ocean gorgeous today! Marine life was plentiful throughout our travels today even though some critters were a tad bit more challenging that others. Regardless, we definitely got some great looks at lots of stuff today! This morning we saw 4 Minke whales, lots of Harbor seals (before we even swung by Boon Island on the way home!) and a small group of Atlantic white-sided dolphins! Our first whale of the day was just miles from home. A Minke whale was on the move through the area. Flat calm ocean conditions made for checking out all of our sightings quite fin-tastic today!

Minke whale inside the Isles of Shoals

Minke whale swimming alongside us

As we ventured further offshore one of our eagle-eyed whale spotters found another type of whale. A group of dolphins were darting around. There were about 10-12 of these Atlantic white-sided dolphins circling around the area.

A few of our Atlantic white-sided dolphins scooting around

While they were a bit tricky to get looks at a few times (only staying at the surface for a couple minutes before heading further down into the depths of the ocean) it was great to see these toothed-whales in our area. With a handful of Harbor seals being sighted all throughout our travels we were enjoying quite the marine life.

We were easing our way around this seal as we were moving through the area when it woke up to see what was nearby.

With a few other sightings of some Minke whales and a great look at one of the 4 Ocean sunfish seen this morning it was quite the trip.

Another morning Minke whale

Hello perfect ocean conditions and an awesome Ocean sunfish!

To top it off we even swung by Boon Island on our way home as it was on our travel route back to Rye Harbor. Even more seals (both Grey and Harbor seals) were seen enjoying the water and sunshine this morning!

Grey seals napping in the water just off of Boon Island

Seals sunning themselves on the rocks on Boon Island

This afternoon the very nice ocean conditions continued. Our passengers were ready and focused as they scanned the horizon and were doing a great job spotting whales. Our first stop was on a Minke whale spending a bit of time under the water but with a bit of patience we managed to get some nice looks at this whale.

Minke whale with the bridge on I-95 connecting NH to ME in the background

In total we ended up seeing 4 Minke whales, more Harbor seals, 2 Ocean sunfish, a Fin whale and perhaps the same group of Atlantic white-sided dolphins we had seen during our morning travels. The dolphins consisted of again between 10-12 whales, still behaving very similarly to this morning's group and only ~3miles from our morning sighting. These dolphins ended up disappearing on us but for at least a brief moment in time we got a chance to check out these agile whales.

Sneaky Atlantic white-sided dolphin this afternoon just before they decided to completely disappear from sight!

As we continued on one of the Ocean sunfish we checked out this afternoon was quite large and had both of it's fins a bit mangled up.

Slightly "battered" Ocean sunfish but this fish was certainly still swimming around!

As this fish swam along at the surface we realized that at least part of one of it's fin was missing most likely due to a shark bite! Crazy and of course glad this fish survived the "test-taste" some shark decided to do on this fish.

Closer look at the shark bite visible on the fin of our Ocean sunfish

Our day ended with a completely different species than any of the others we had seen all day. It was a Fin whale. And not just any Fin whale, it was Dingle!

Fin whale spout

Dingle the Fin whale

This whale hasn't been seen for a couple days and then poof(!) there it was as if it had never left!

Dingle

We got some great looks at this large whale and wrapped up another great day out on the open ocean.

Tuesday, August 19

Minke whales here, Minke whales there, Minke whales everywhere! Today we were full of Minke whale sightings (amongst some other awesome sight!). This morning we saw 9 Minke whales, 6 Ocean sunfish and even a Blue shark.

Minke whale

Most of our Minke whales were moving around on their own but we were fortunate enough to find not only one pair of Minke whales but TWO!

One Minke whale already at the surface while the second whale begins to break the surface right next to it!

Rarely do we ever see Minke whales on the move together so to see two different pairs spending time with each other was definitely a special treat.

Our second pair of Minke whales were synchronizing their movements in amazing fashion!

Gorgeous ocean conditions to watch not just one, but two Minke whales on the move together!

Minke whale at the surface

Not only were there plenty of Minke whales around there were lots of Ocean sunfish at the surface too!

This Ocean sunfish was spotted moments after leaving the harbor this morning. Our first sighting of the day seconds after getting into the open ocean! No worries, this fish was just passing by the lobster buoy.

In just one trip we saw 6 different Ocean sunfish, by far the most we have seen during any given trip this whole season!

Ocean sunfish swimming away from us

Granted for a few of the Ocean sunfish we saw we just pressed on as we kept seeing their fins flopping on the calm ocean surface. While we did check out a few of these interesting looking fish we did make sure to point out the ones we saw, whether we stopped or not, as it was great to see just how much marine life was around today.

Another one of our Ocean sunfish, this time swimming right for us!

To wrap up the great morning we also got a quick look at a Blue shark swimming by us.

The fins of a Blue shark. The dorsal fin is above the waterline on the right while the tail fin can be seen on the left side of this photo.

This afternoon we once again started with a couple Minke whales circling around the area. While these whales were never close enough to consider them associated with one another they both remained in close proximity of each other the whole time. So much so we just bounced back and forth from both of these whales getting some nice looks as these Minke whales moved around.

Minke whale during our afternoon travels

We continued on our way and ended up seeing 7 Minke whales in total during our travels this afternoon. A  Minkes were on the move, a few were just moseying around but once again it was great to see so many marine mammals around.

Up close and personal look as this Minke whale surfaced so close to us!

Just when we thought we had seen all that we were going to see we came across literally a flotilla of seals! Grey and Harbor seals were on the move, most likely feeding, as seagulls and gannets flew high above this group as these seals were on the prowl.

A couple seals at the surface while a seagull flies by searching for any "leftover" fish at the surface

Our group of seals were swimming through the water with such ease!

Close up look at one of the many seals involved in this feeding group

Typically we see seals moving through the water on their own so to witness both Grey and Harbor seals apparently feeding together was quite the sight.

Harbor seals (left) and a Grey seal (right) charging around together

This Grey seal paused long enough to check us out while the Harbor seals just plowed on through the water (above and below!)

Harbor seals

What a spectacular and unexpected way to end an already great day. The whales have been coming and going in quite the fluid motion recently so who knows what tomorrow has in store for us!