Wednesday July 19, 2017

This morning we had a crowd of passengers who braved the thick fog and came out whale watching.  We were fortunate that the fog burned off before the end of the trip and we were able to get some nice looks at a few Minke whales and a large pod of Atlantic Whitesided Dolphins.  On our afternoon trip, we once again saw a pod of dolphins containing many mother/calf pairs and we also saw four Minke whales. 

Tuesday, July 18

Today we spent time out on the ocean watching minke whales. During our trips we are always looking for anything that may be spending time in the area and do all that we can do to show our passengers as much as possible during the time allowed. Remember that we search for wild animals. Wild. That means no trained animals, no guaranteed activities, just completely unpredictable creatures. Sprinkle on the fact that whales move (just like you and I do everyday) so every trip, every day, every hour, brings its own surprises. To experience a wild animal in its natural habitat is what we pride ourselves in doing and enjoy sharing those moments with all on board. Some might say minke whales are not impressive but imagine going for a walk and seeing a 20-25ft mammal on the side of the road that weighs 16,000+ pounds. Suddenly, now that sounds impressive. The only difference is we venture to the whale's watery world and instead we humans become the visitors. Today we got the chance to see multiple minke whales: 6 in the morning and 3 in the afternoon.

Close surfacing after this minke whale swam right under the boat this morning! (Don't worry, our engines were shut off during the entire experience)

Another morning minke whale

Your eyes are not deceiving you. This is what a whale looks like when the fog engulfs you offshore and you whale watch in the fog!

While minke whales can be notorious in their sporadic movements, that was far from the case today. We saw different minke whales being curious in regards to the boat on both of our trips! This curiosity meant we got some incredible looks as these whales circled around, and under, the boat!

Minke whale surfacing nearby this morning

Afternoon minke whale swimming by us

This afternoon minke whale surfaced right behind us multiple times!

While we always hope we satisfy our customers it is the whales that provide the special views, moments and memories we hope you take with you no matter what kind of whale you may see on your nature excursion.

Monday, July 17

This morning the ocean was as calm as calm can be. Any ripple at the surface had the potential for marine life. We ended up seeing 4 harbor seals, 10 minke whales and 3 fin whales. Minke whales were here and there.

This first minke whale of the day was a bit "tiny" compared to other minke whales we typically find

While watching a few of our minke whales, out of the depths of the ocean, a pair of fin whales surfaced close to the boat. It was our first mother and calf fin whale pair of the season! What a special surprise.

Fin whale mother and calf pair barely making a ripple at the surface

Perhaps what was equally as impressive was the amount of time mom was holding her breath. She consistently remained under the waterline for 20 minutes at a time!

Mom

Fin whale calf!

We got some nice looks at this pair and even found another single fin whale nearby. After a few more minke whales we were headed for home.

Third fin whale of the morning

Another morning minke whale

This afternoon our patience was tested. We saw 4 fin whales but most of them were being extremely uncooperative. We would see their spouts in the distance only to wait and not be able to relocate them. Our 2 minke whales were equally as tricky. Eventually, our odds changed in our favor! We got some fin-tastic looks at the same mother-calf fin whale pair we had seen during our morning trip. And guess what? Mom was still taking 20 minutes dives. 😉

Fin whale

Fin whale mother and calf swimming alongside us this afternoon

Sunday, July 16

Today we had surprises on each trip! This morning we saw 8 minke whales, 9 harbor seals and a fin whale during our travels.

Such calm conditions for gazing at minke whales

Fin whale surfacing for a breath of air

The unexpected excitement came when we spotted the largest lion's mane jellyfish the crew has ever seen!

This reddish blob is our massive lion's mane jellyfish. The photos don't do it justice! This creature was rolling all over itself. It certainly made for an eerie and cool sight!

The bell, or hood, of this jellyfish was literally the size of a beach ball!

Occasionally we will see jellyfish once the ocean surface water starts to "warm" up. Keep in mind the current sea surface temperature is in the mid- to upper-60s so the "warming" I talk about is all relative. The calm sea conditions made watching all sorts of marine life just ideal!

Turns out our first lion's mane jellyfish of the day was in the harbor before we even began boarding passengers!

This afternoon we were fortunate enough to check out 2 minke whales before our friends on the Atlantic Queen found Spoon the humpback whale.

Afternoon minke whale

Spoon was being very mellow just slowly swimming along giving us some fantastic looks at this adult female whale. What a great way to wrap up a beautiful day in the Gulf of Maine.

Spoon (above and below)

Saturday, July 15

This morning we had glassy-calm conditions and saw a few harbor porpoises and an elusive fin whale before seeing something very unexpected: a pair of north Atlantic right whales skim feeding at the surface! This was awesome and inspiring as this is a critically endangered species (only about 500 left) and I felt very humbled to be able to spend a little time with them, if even from a distance. 

Two right whales skim feeding

The trip continued with several minke whale sightings including several views of "Scar" the adoptable minke whale. 

SCAR minke whale

We've been watching Scar since 1995 and are always thrilled to see him return year after year! 

another minke whale!

On our way home, we swung by the right whales again, mostly to ensure that boats zooming through the area wouldn't hit them.

This afternoon, we found at least 4 minke whales, 2 fin whales (including #0354), a pod of harbor porpoises and 2 right whales.

minke whale

Fin whale #0354

right whale flukes

We are still working on our photo analysis, but are pretty sure these were the same 2 that we saw on the morning trip, however they had moved quite some distance in just a few hours. Again, this is why our crew loves whale watching- we never know what we will find and where it will be!

Friday, July 14

After cancelling yesterday due to the crumby seas, we ventured out this afternoon after letting the seas calm down a bit. We were rewarded with glassy calm conditions and a variety of marine life.  We saw a nice pod of harbor porpoises close to shore (as their name implies) but these little guys are a bit shy so we kept going. We also passed a harbor seal pup before seeing a minke whale. This whale was a bit elusive at first but then was up a bunch close to the boat. We had a second harbor seal in this area too!  

minke whale

 We then spotted some splashing in the distance and went to investigate. A pod of 40ish Atlantic white sided dolphins were milling about. With the flat-calm conditions, we got to see a dozen of them cruise right next to the boat, just below the surface. It was like an aquarium view except that this was even better since these dolphins were completely wild and free!  We watched as mothers and calves  swam under the bow and as a few “porpoised” out of the water, showing off their beautiful stripes.

Continuing on, we found a fin whale that was cruising just below the surface, only leaving footprints behind to let us know where it was. It surfaced for one breath, right next to us, and then dove.   After 20 minutes of waiting, we decided to go home. Just as we put the engines in gear, the whale, known as #0354, surfaced close by. We scooted over to it and got amazing views of the 2^nd largest animal on the planet.  Incredible!  

Fin whale blow

Fin whale #0354

To end the trip, we stopped on a small (10 foot) basking shark who was circling around collecting plankton.

Awesome day!

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

It was an absolutely beautiful day to spend on the water!  The waters were flat calm, the temperature was comfortable and the whales were as impressive as always.  On our morning trip we saw 10 minke whales, 2 humpback whales, 1 finback whale, 1 pod of harbor porpoise, 2 harbor seals and 1 gray seal.  The humpback whales were Satula and Hornbill.  We were fortunate to get really great looks at each of these humpbacks.  Our afternoon trip was a little different even though we headed back to the same general area we had spent our morning.  We saw 3 minke whales, 1 pod of harbor porpoise, 5 harbor seals and 2 humpback whales.  This time the two humpback whales were Satula and Pinball.  All three of the humpbacks that we sighted today are available for adoption through Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation.  All in all it was great day!  I'm including a few of my favorite pictures from today's trips below.

Satula

Hornbill

 

 

Pinball

 

 

Fin Whale