Thursday, June 22

Today it one fin whale after another! This morning we took a great group of students out from Indian River. We ended up finding 5 fin whales and 6 minke whales.

First fin whale of the day: #9724

Some of our morning whales were being a bit elusive but when you have (literally) a boatload of enthusiastic eagle-eyed kiddos we had no problem relocating anything we came across!

Fin whale spout

Another morning fin whale

This afternoon we started our sightings with a pair of fin whales just beyond the Isles of Shoals!

Beautiful chevron pattern from one of our afternoon fin whales

Fin whale

The sightings kept coming after that. More and more fin whales, 9 in total(!) and even a couple humpback whales; thanks Captain Brad.

Fin whale exhalation

Nature certainly has some magical moments

Our humpback whale sightings included a quick distant look at Hornbill while we watched Gondolier circle around creating a few bubble clouds.

Hornbill

Gondolier

Wednesday June 21, 2017  Mother nature kept us onshore for the past few days, but today was a beautiful day to spend on the ocean!  Throughout the day we saw at least a dozen basking sharks feeding in the area.  On our morning trip we were treated to sightings of 7 Fin whales, 5 Minke whales and a Humpback named Hornbill.  Our afternoon trip brought more fantastic Fin whale sightings. 

Sunday, June 18

Our hopes of getting our morning trip in before the wind really began to crank was not quite what we were hoping for. The wind remained subdued but unfortunately, for the first time all season, we were unable to spot any whales during our trip. Instead, we found ourselves engulfed in a blanket of fog for almost the entire trip! We have had some phenomenal trips in the fog so that won't deter us from trying. The fog can appear and dissipate in a matter of moments so all we can do is try and try we did. Many thanks to all of our passengers who helped to squint through the foggy "horizon" in hopes of finding a fin of any kind. For now we will eagerly wait for the howling winds (that bring on the massive waves!) to calm down and get back out on the water as soon as possible.

Saturday, June 17

Saturday’s whale watch trips were really swell!  Perhaps I should reword that.  The swell on the ocean was really swell.  Our interns learned that the surface of the ocean can be glass-calm, while the swell can be six feet high! Despite the motion of the ocean, the marine life was fantastic.  The morning trip found two humpback whales, at least four fin whales, some minke whales and basking sharks!  The pelagic birds were also out in force including a northern fulmar, northern gannets, Wilson’s storm petrels, sooty shearwaters and great shearwaters!  Jeffreys Ledge is really coming alive!   

Basking Shark

Humpback Whale "Pinball"

Fin Whale

Fin Whale Spout

 The afternoon trip had similar sightings although we spotted different fin whales than we saw in the morning, and just one humpback whale instead of two.  However this humpback decided to show us what she can do when she breached right behind the boat! As we always say, whales move around a whole lot and we never know what to expect from our wildlife!

Thursday, June 15

This morning our boat was filled with lots of very energetic students. We headed offshore and spotted a basking shark before finding a number of whales. We were surrounded by 8 fin whales and Pinball the humpback whale.

Close look at a fin whale swimming past us

Fin whale

Pinball the humpback whale

Pinball was seen earlier this week but in a very different area of Jeffreys Ledge. What a great surprise to see this very familiar visitor in this area today!

Pinball (above and below)

This afternoon we headed back out to the same area we had been this morning. This time we found 11 fin whales! Some of these whales were out in the distance but many of them we seen surfacing all around our boat.

One of the many fin whales sighted this afternoon

Fin whale cruising through the waves with ease

Another fin whale

You can see just how distinct some of these whales dorsal fins can be by using even the smallest missing notch from its fin. These subtle differences are what we use to help individually identify the second largest animals on earth! Below are just 3 of the many fin whales we encountered this afternoon.

Every day, every hour, every sighting is its own unique experience and today was no exception.

Wednesday, June 14

Today was all about the second largest animals on the planet. We saw 11 fin whales during our trip today!

Fin whale

You can see the white lower jaw, a trait all fin whales possess, in this image!

Most of these whales were singles circling around likely going after the massive amounts of food we were picking up on our fish finder!

Our fish finder is marking LOTS of food. We are in 539ft of water and the bright blobs starting from just below the surface down to ~400ft is all the food in the water column!

We also saw a pair on the move together and even a trio of these massive mammals side by side by side each other.

Three fin whales synchronizing their movements together

It is always impressive checking one of these whales out but it is quite humbling to be surrounded by so many of these whales during an afternoon in the Gulf of Maine!

Another fin whale sighted during the trip

Tuesday, June 13

Normally the ocean provides a respite from the hot temperatures on land. But not today. There wasn't a breath of air to speak of so we never got a break from the heat most folks were experiencing on land. The lack of wind however, provided gorgeous conditions to watch wildlife in. We were able to see 6 fin whales, 5 minke whales and 4 basking sharks during our trip today.

Minke whale

One of our fin whales briefly rolled on its side as you can see a portion of it's tail (on the left-hand side) of this image

Fin whale

It was a beautiful day to check out some of the second largest sharks (basking shark) and animals (fin whale) on earth!

Such calm conditions as a fin whale surfaces for a breath of air

Dorsal fin of a basking shark creating a wake as it swims at the surface

Massive fin whale