Sunday, September 7

It was once again quite the day offshore today. This morning we started our trip with a pair of napping whales. Valley and Raccoon spent most of the time we were with them resting at the surface.

Valley

Raccoon and Valley

With some very nice looks at these whales we pressed on to see if we could check out a Fin whale that had been moving around us. We ended up waiting for quite some time before this whale finally took a single breath of air before disappearing below the surface once again. We decided to cut our losses and check out some of the other spouts we were seeing hoping some of the other whales in the area were actually spending more time at the surface rather than below it. It wasn't until I looked back through these images that our rather uncooperative Fin whale of the day was a very familiar whale, it was Comet!

Comet the Fin whale moving through the area

This whale hasn't been seen in our area for a few weeks, and while it was holding its breath for a bit of time, it was great to know this whale ventured back on into our area! We also got a chance to check out a couple of other Humpback whales, including Chablis, before we saw splashing out in the distance.

Chablis' almost all white tail

Suddenly there was a whale jumping clear out of the water. A moment later a second Humpback did the same! Turns out it was Valley and Raccoon who jumped out of the water before Valley started to lobtail and flipper slap.

Valley's tail (left side) while Raccoon is in the process of jumping out of the water!

This activity lasted for a few minutes before low and behold Valley started to nap at the surface once again! Nothing like going from one side of the active spectrum to the other.

Raccoon and Valley once again mellow at the surface

To add to some incredible looks at so many of our whales already this morning we checked out two different Ocean sunfish before ending our trip with a pod of 20-25 Atlantic white-sided dolphins (thanks Gary)! Such a special treat to an already awesome morning.

Ocean sunfish #1

Smaller, darker Ocean sunfish #2

Leaping Atlantic white-sided dolphin

Dolphins!

Dolphin surfacing right alongside the boat

This afternoon was just as full of life. We started the trip with a large Fin whale who was Comet again!

Comet the Fin whale this afternoon

Soon with more spouts in the distance and this whale still spending lots of time below the waterline we checked out more whale activity. A couple of Minke whales and a total of 9 Humpback whales were around. Most of our sightings were moving around in pairs as we spent time watching Owl and Jabiru, Valley and Raccoon, and Chablis and Chromosome.

Humpback whale spouts in the background as a bubble cloud dissipates in the foreground

Owl

Jabiru

Valley and Raccoon

All familiar tails but a few first-time visitors of whales this season! So exciting to see more whales making their way into the area.

Chablis

Welcome to the area for the first time this season Chromosome!

We are into our Fall whale watching schedule so stay tuned for the next time we are out searching for more whales. We will make sure to continue to share our offshore excursions as the season continues!

Moon rising over the harbor after a great day watching wildlife

Saturday, September 6

Our travels today were full of whales as we spent time offshore with plenty to see. Our trip started out with a pair of Humpback whales slowly on the move. It was Valley and Chablis, both of which we had seen just yesterday spending time on the move together, were once again swimming side by side today.

Valley

Humpback whale rain-blow!

Chablis and Valley

We got some great looks at this pair before we decided to go do some searching a bit further offshore. We briefly checked out a Minke whale on the move before once again spotting another spout. It was Patches the Humpback whale.

Patches

As we sat watching this whale we saw another animal just off our left side. It was a different type of whale, a Fin whale. We were about to check out this massive creature when suddenly everything changed. As we were awaiting for either of these whales to return back up to the surface we saw 4 spouts coming right in towards us. A group of FOUR Fin whales were on the move together. To see baleen whales traveling along together is not something we see everyday but to see a pair of Humpback whales earlier and now be watching 4 even larger mammals moving in synchrony pass by the boat was awesome. Oh but to make it even more "fin-tastic" was the fact that there was a small pod of 8-10 Atlantic white-sided dolphins moving along with all of these Fin whales.

Fin whale head with an Atlantic white-sided dolphin just off its snout!

Watching these toothed-whales (dolphins) whom average between 6-8ft in length swim along with these Fin whales that easily reach over 60ft long was absolutely incredible!

Two of the four Fin whales in our group with a dolphin at the surface in between the two!

As we watched this grouping of toothed and baleen whales make their way through the area we were still seeing Patches the Humpback whale nearby. At one point the dolphins/Fin whale group literally passed just beyond where Patches was spending time at the surface. Suddenly Patches decided to get a bit active. This whale started to roll on its side and smack its flipper on the surface over and over again.

Patches' large white flipper!

Patches "belly-up" with both of its flippers above the waterline

We even saw a single tail breach from this Humpback whale. As we spent time watching all of this activity continue we also saw out in the distance two other Humpback whales. Six was traveling along and Owl was circling not far away. There was so much going on even the dolphins were darting all around. We watched this pod of dolphins move from the group of Fin whales to circle around Patches and eventually were associated with Owl. So much to see, so much going on, so many wild animals! The real question is what in the world is going to happen when we are back out there again? Only time will tell. Stay tuned!

Full of whales and full of rain-blows today!

Friday, September 5

Our trip today started with some phenomenal looks at a Minke whale. This whale spent the whole time we were watching it swim so close to the boat. Perhaps this whale was checking us out while we sat there watching it maneuver so effortlessly through the water.

Minke whale

Such great looks at a wild animal to start our day with. Soon we were off as more activity was being seen out in the distance. Once we made our way into the area we were excited to see we had found Owl the Humpback whale again. We have seen this whale on our past few trips but during all three sightings this whale has been in very different areas. Well today was no different. Another day another location as whales are constantly moving around looking for food. But today Owl was not alone. In fact this whale was moving through the water with two friends: Valley and Chablis! Chablis was being a bit active, rolling around and smacking its flipper on the surface repeatedly while Valley and Owl were napping all the while.

Trio of Humpback whales at the surface while one of these whales has its flipper high above the waterline

Owl

Chablis once again decided to raise its flipper into the air for all to see

Eventually all three of these whales were seen resting at the surface just bobbing up and down with the gentle roll of the ocean. We were able to get some incredible looks as all three of these whales remained at the surface for such long periods of time.

Owl, Chablis and Valley all napping at the surface

As we spent time with this trio we saw another whale out in the distance. Once we has eased our way away from our group of relaxed whales we ended up finding a pair of Humpback whales. These whales were traveling along. It didn't take long to realize these whales were new visitors to our part of the ocean this year. Raccoon and Six were cruising along together!

Raccoon and Six on the move together

Six

Before it was time to head for home we were once again seeing a spout out in the distance. It was yet again another Humpback whale and for that matter another visitor seen for the first time this year and a very familiar whale for us...Patches! What a great surprise.

Welcome back to our area for another season Patches!

This whale also spent some time resting at the surface but even flipper slapped and passed super close to the boat multiple times!

Patches diving down just off our starboard side!

We attempted to check out a Fin whale passing through the area on our way home but this whale appeared to have other plans on its mind as we waited over 10 minutes without having this whale return up to the surface nearby. It was definitely time to head home but what a great day out on the water surrounded by some wild and relaxed whales!

Wednesday, September 3

What a day! The variety of marine life near Jeffreys Ledge has been great lately!  Today we saw a humpback whale (named Owl!), 4 fin whales (including Dingle!), at least 5 minke whales, a blue shark, a harbor seal and a fun pod of about 15-20 harbor porpoises!  

Owl the humpback whale was great as usual. She is a really mellow whale who often comes right up to the boat. Check out her photo in the brochure!  Today she surfaced close to us a few times, and then was wandering around the area a bit. She even graced us with some “evidence of recent feeding….” several times!

We also spotted a minke whale before heading out in search of more activity. Before long, we found a couple of fin whales!  To my surprise, these whales were Dingle and his new buddy with whom he has been seen with many times since last week!  This pair was just slowly cruising beneath the surface, giving us some really great views.  Also near the fin whales was a blue shark! This creature was hanging out near the surface and even swam towards us before heading off in the opposite direction.

We saw yet another spout in the distance so we kept going to check it out. Turned out to be 2 more fin whales and about 4 minke whales!  Awesome!

Before we knew it, it was time to head back, but on our way home we kept seeing marine life! A frolicking harbor seal was pretending it was a porpoise and it repeatedly broke the surface, traveling along quite quickly.  And then as we passed by the Isles of Shoals, we came across a large pod of harbor porpoises! These 3-5 foot marine mammals are generally quite shy of boats but this group was really active giving us all some nice views.

The bird life was also decent offshore. Sightings included several great shearwaters, a couple of Cory’s shearwaters, a laughing gull and many northern gannets!  Such a beautiful September day on the ocean!

Monday, September 1

Happy Labor Day everyone! Before getting too far offshore today we started our trip with a great group of Harbor porpoise. These toothed-whales were just a few miles from home and with about 15-20 individuals in this pod we got some awesome looks as they swam just in front and even just behind our boat for a few minutes. We then pressed on and spent time on Jeffreys Ledge with an adult female Humpback whale named Owl.

Humpback whale spout

This whale was moving through the area and stopped to circle around a few times during our time spent with this whale.

Owl

Owl's back as she maneuvers alongside the boat

With some quality looks at this animal we decided to do some more searching in the offshore areas. While we came up short in the whale department it was most certainly a beautiful day on the water with some very nice looks at the whale activity we were privy to during our trip today.

Happy September everyone!

Sunday, August 31

The ocean will never cease to amaze us. Today we spent time with a few whales and got some fantastic looks. Our first whale of the day was of a very large Fin whale.

Fin whale moving with such ease through the water just off our starboard side

At first glance we knew this Fin whale was a new visitor to the area this season. This whale's dorsal fin was very distinctive and as we checked out the Fin whale Catalog from our friends Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation we were able to match up exactly who this whale was. It was #9619, a whale first seen in 1996 and has not been seen in our area since 2009. What a great surprise!

Fin whale #9619!

With some very nice looks at this whale as it surfaced so close to us multiple times we decided to go off and do some searching. We have no special equipment we use to find whales. We rely completely on our eyesight so by covering as much ocean as possible during any one of our trips that is what gives us the best chance of seeing/finding what might be nearby. Today was one of those days. As we were cruising around searching for any sign of whale activity we saw a spout out in the distance. It only took a nanosecond to realize it was a different species. A Humpback whale was ahead of us! Not only had we come across another type of whale but it only took another second to recognize exactly who this whale was: Owl! This whale has a very prominent scar on its body so even without seeing the underside pattern of this whale's tail we were thrilled to see such a familiar whale in our area!

Owl's distinctive scar on her back

We got some fantastic looks as this whale circled around the area a few times, filtering at the surface, and literally circled around the boat.

Owl did circles around us for a moment (as we just sat with our engines off of course!) as in this image she is about to cross right in front of our pulpit!

Owl swimming past the boat

What a great way to wrap up a day on the water. A new visitor to our neck of the ocean this year and a familiar whale in which we haven't seen in almost a month!

Owl