Wednesday, August 23

We stayed in the harbor this morning but ventured out this afternoon after letting the ocean settle down a little bit. We ended up with an incredible day of whale and bird watching! A group of bird enthusiasts from NH Audubon joined us and the always-entertaining Steve Mirick helped narrate about the pelagic birds! Highlights included a huge pod of Atlantic white sided dolphins with hundreds of northern gannets and dozens of great shearwaters soaring and diving all around, and three humpback whales lounging at the surface!  Harbor porpoises, a harbor seal and even 1-2 minke whales were also spotted. Pelagic birds included black terns, Wilson's storm petrels, red-necked phalaropes, and sooty shearwaters in addition to the gannets and great shearwaters. Fantastic trip!

Tuesday, August 22

We went whale watching this morning before the wind began to churn up the ocean and found life near and far from shore. Our first sighting of the day was less than a mile from land! A minke whale was just off the coast and so we spent some time watching this whale in such flat calm seas.

Minke whale with Rye, NH in the background!

We headed further offshore passing by multiple pods of harbor porpoise, 4 harbor seals and checking out a total of 6 minke whales seen today.

Harbor seal head above the surface

As we found ourselves offshore deckhand Ryan got eyes on a pod of dolphins! A group of 40 Atlantic white-sided dolphins were swimming nearby. What a special treat!

Atlantic white-sided dolphin faces (above and below)

As we searched offshore for other life our friends departing Newburyport had a whale just off their shoreline. We headed to that area and spent time with a Fin whale so close to land again! This whale was super relaxed which is very impressive knowing they are the second fastest baleen whale in the world!

Fin whale head and nostrils

Sleek fin whale body

Monday, August 21

Happy Solar Eclipse 2017! While there was an extra frenzy of activity around the country today we took on the day just as we do any day; do our best to find some wildlife to enjoy. Nature is wild and therefore unpredictable 365 days a year so the sense of the unknown was no more prevalent than any other day we whale watch. The added bonus for us was the memory of being on the water for such a fun event occurring around us. This morning we saw 5 minke whales, one fin whale, a pod of 10-12 Atlantic white-sided dolphins and a humpback whale.

Fin whale briefly at the surface

A few of our Atlantic white-sided dolphins

Some of the whales were holding their breaths longer than others but it was fun to see so much activity around.

Humpback whale

This afternoon we started the trip with a minke whale at the height of the eclipse. What a fun moment!

Minke whale while the sun was partially blocked by the moon!

After that we did some searching followed by more searching. We found ourselves near Boon Island and checked out the seals for a moment.

A handful of grey seals at Boon Island

And just when you thought we were done searching we changed directions once again and still pressed on. Thanks to our other cohorts searching we got word of some whale activity. We headed that way and once we arrived found more whale activity. We ended up having a couple of minke whales and a fin whale circling around the area. Finally. Our efforts paid off! One of the minke whales was so frantic at the surface, constantly moving in our direction, allowing for some fun looks at this zipping whale. On top of that a fin whale was never far away.

Minke whale surfacing with a good amount of speed and force

Fin whale spout

Fin whale

The day ended with a quick look at another Fin whale near the Isles of Shoals. Tomorrow we shall see what surprises the ocean has in store for us.

Sunday, August 20

This morning our whale watching started just a few miles from the mainland. A fin whale was darting this way and that! This whale was being a bit tricky to get looks at so after a few attempts we continued on offshore. We ended up finding some familiar visitors that have been spending time in our area recently. Humpback whales Spoon and Jabiru were slowly moving around.

Spoon and Jabiru

These relaxed whales mostly rested but we did see Spoon roll on her side a couple times showcasing her white flipper!

Spoon's large flipper

At one point both whales surfaced with mud on their faces. They get mud on their snouts when a whale has recently been rummaging on the ocean floor.

Before the trip was over we even came across an ocean sunfish we grabbed a couple looks at this morning.

Ocean sunfish below the water

This afternoon Spoon and Jabiru were once again meandering around. We spent some quality time with these adult females and even checked out the seal colonies on Boon Island during our travels.

Whale tail

Spoon and Jabiru

Boon Island

Both grey seals and harbor seals were scattered around Boon Island either in the surrounding shallow waters or on the rocks themselves.

Harbor seals

Cluster of mostly grey seals

Saturday, August 19

Awesome trips today! This morning we saw three pods of Atlantic white sided dolphins, 2 mystery whales (whale spouts but never saw the actual whales), Comet the well-known fin whale, a few minke whales, an ocean sunfish and two humpback whales! The humpbacks were are recent regulars, Spoon and Jabiru!

This afternoon, we found Spoon and Jabiru again along with a pod of Atlantic white sided dolphins and a fin whale. Then a minke was spotted briefly on our ride home! The humpbacks were exhibiting interesting behavior. Spoon picked up her nose out of the water  a few times, showing us the mud on it (sign of feeding on the bottom) while Jabiru surfaced tail-first! Spoon even lifted her huge flipper out of the water, and Jabiru was belly up, lifting her flukes our of the water. Such a cool day!

Friday, August 18

Happy Anniversary to our mate Ryan who has been married to his wife Ashley for a whole lot of years! This morning, we managed to squeak in a fantastic trip before the rain came. Ok, we got a little wet on the way home, but skies were mostly dry while watching whales. We started by watching a pair of fin whales escorted by a pod of Atlantic white sided dolphins. Then we spotted a humpback and minke whale in the distance. After leaving the fin whales and dolphins, we didn't re-sight the initial humpback, but instead, found two more minke whales. Continuing offshore, we saw a 2nd pod of dolphins and then a pair of humpback whales! These two were Spoon and Jabiru, two of my all-time favorites! At one point, Spoon was about 10 feet under our boat as she moved from left side to right side! Beautiful looks at these special humpback whales moving slowly, taking their time, being humpback whales. 💗

Thursday, August 17

We had "grand slams" on both of our trips today! If we get the chance to watch all four of the most commonly seen whale species during one trip we refer to that accomplishment as a "grand slam" of sightings. This morning we saw 5 minke whales, a pod of 75 Atlantic white-sided dolphins followed by a larger group of ~100 later on, Geometry the humpback whale and a fin whale. This afternoon we started the trip with the same group of 100 dolphins, 3 fin whales, 6 minke whales, an ocean sunfish and a pair of humpback whales. The ocean provided beautiful conditions to enjoy all of our activity. This morning both of groups of dolphins were being closely monitored by so many birds following these toothed-whales!

Atlantic white-sided dolphin

So many birds in the sky moving around with the dolphins

The bird activity was crazy as northern gannets, gulls and shearwaters kept a close eye on the water as the whales moved around.

This gull managed to capture a mackeral but not with other birds attempting to challenge it!

This mackeral fish (about to be eaten by the gull) is what whales feed on too!

Atlantic white-sided dolphins are so impressive

Birds and whales coexisting in this incredible habitat

Geometry was found further offshore surfacing sporadically about before checking out a fin whale moving through the area.

Geometry

Fin whale

Our second pod of dolphins seen on the way home from our morning trip!

This afternoon we began whale watching with the same large pod of dolphins seen this morning before watching a fin whale cruise through the area.

Adorable dolphins

Fin whale passing through the area in such a sleek fashion

We pressed on finding a pocket of minke whale goodness and an ocean sunfish before our eagle-eyed crew member spotted more whale activity out on the horizon.

Minke whale

Ocean sunfish

The day ended after we spent time with Spoon and Jabiru the humpback whales.

Jabiru on its side

Spoon's dorsal fin and Jabiru's flipper

Jabiru and Spoon