Information for our 2020 season

The coronavirus pandemic requires us to make significant changes to our whale watches in order to keep our staff and passengers safe and healthy. With so much uncertainty these days, we want to let our passengers know what they can expect when they come out with us this season.  Like everyone else, we are taking it one day at a time, and we anticipate that guidelines and procedures may evolve as the summer goes on.

First though, we want to make everyone aware of our refund policy. It hasn’t changed from years past and is very generous; you are entitled to a full refund for any reason at any time prior to your departure. Whether your vacation plans change, you’re not feeling well, or your boss called you in to work that day, just give us as much notice as possible and you can either move your reservation to a different day/time or receive a refund. Likewise, if we have to cancel a trip, you have the same options.  

We are trying to follow state and federal guidelines as closely as possible, so some of the changes that you will see this season are:

            

• We will be operating at a very reduced capacity in order to provide enough space for social distancing of 6 feet between groups.          

•  All staff and crew members will be wearing cloth or disposable face masks at all times, and we recommend that our passengers do so as well. We are requiring face masks, which we can provide, when you are unable to maintain a distance of 6 feet from people who are not in your party (ex. when walking around the boat to use the restroom, when buying something from the galley, etc.)      

• We will be cleaning and disinfecting common surfaces frequently throughout the trip. In addition to soap and running water in the restroom sinks, we will have hand sanitizer available for crew and passengers in other areas of the boat.

•  Our employees will be educated about and trained in safe practices to reduce the transmission of COVID-19, and will be questioned daily about any symptoms present. As a passenger, we ask that you not come out on a trip with us if you have symptoms of COVID-19 (including fever, cough, shortness of breath).

• We are strongly recommending booking your reservation online, as this limits the amount of face-to-face contact with staff when you arrive at the harbor. If you’ve done this, you don’t need to come into our ticket office, and you will be checked in upon boarding the boat (please have your reservation confirmation available, either on your phone or printed out). Since capacity on the boat will be so limited, a phone reservation is second best, and we will accommodate any walk-ons if we can.

• The galley on the boat will have a reduced menu, with no hot food and serving only packaged food and drinks (chips, candy, bottled water, soda, beer, etc.) As always, you are welcome to bring any food or drink of your own onboard that you would like, except for alcohol and glass bottles.

• In order to maintain social distancing and good hygiene during the trip, we will likely be cancelling more trips than normal due to inclement weather, like rough seas offshore and thunderstorms.   Thank you in advance for your understanding.

We are extremely thankful for the continued support of our staff and customers as we all adjust to this new normal. Please reach out to us if you have any questions regarding our policies or the changes we’ll be making. We hope everyone stays safe and healthy, and we look forward to seeing everyone this summer!

October 13-14, 2019

The weather has been less than ideal this fall speeding up the end of the year. Sunday was our final public trip of the season. Luckily the wind was almost obsolete as we spent time offshore in the diminishing swells created during the past week. The ocean was alive with whales. We saw a total of nine humpback whales and three fin whales. The fin whales were being their sneaky selves as they were spending lots of time subsurface.

Sleek fin whale

Not all of the humpback whales were fluking, showcasing their unique pigmentation patterns, but so it goes with wildlife. We found a trio and even a group of five on the move together!

Trio of humpback whales

Three, out of the five, humpback whales in our second group

Identified individuals include Bungee, Infinity, Reaper, A-plus and Moonlight.

Infinity the humpback whale

Associated humpback whales

On Monday, we had an all-day bird trip. There were things to see the entire time. Lots of birds and lots of whales (for our crew!). Sightings included multiple puffins, a leaches storm petrel, a south-polar skua, a little gull, red and red-necked phalaropes, northern fulmars, and shearwaters to name a few! On the whale side of things we had groups ranging from two to five individuals, with some of them lunge feeding on krill! What a way to wrap up another year.

Many thanks to all of our passengers this season. The ocean is a beautiful place with incredible creatures and our hopes are to share a snip-it of that with all of you. Thank you for making 2019 a success. See you in 2020!

October 5, 2019

Wow. October already. The season is quickly winding down. There is only one more week of the 2019 season. The weather cooperated quite nicely today. Unfortunately, we have already canceled our trip tomorrow because the wind is scheduled to crank right back up; a seemingly reoccurring theme this fall. Today we saw four humpback whales. We started with a pair: Littlespot and Fan. These two adults were slowly traveling along.

Fan

Rain-blow

Littlespot and Fan

To our astonishment, while spending time with these humpback whales, they breached. But not just one. Both! And simultaneously! Both whales launched themselves high into the air in the most serene synchrony you can imagine. The unexpectedness of the event unfortunately caused for no photographs taken but the memory of the beauty will last a long time. We ended the day with another pair of humpback whales: Ravine and her 2019 calf. These two were being mellow. The calf was even napping for a short time.

Ravine and calf (above and below)

Just before leaving the pair however, both mom and calf got interested in the boat! The calf lingered longer but both whales checked us out before continuing on with their day. Even a calf looks REALLY big as it meanders under and next to the boat!

September 30, 2019

The swell was certainly swelly today and slowly improved as the day went on. The first whale we came across was a fin whale. Turns out there were two in the area! One was a familiar fin known as Crow.

First fin whale of the trip

Crow the fin whale

We also attempted to look at additional fin whales throughout the trip but they were certainly on a mission of holding their breath! Further offshore we spent time with a pod of 50 Atlantic white-sided dolphins. These whales enjoyed the swell as they leapt through the ocean movements with such ease.

Atlantic white-sided dolphins (above and below)

The trip ended with a sighting of a humpback whale, spotted during our travels home. Clamp's 2016 calf was meandering around the area.

Humpback whale diving

Clamp's 2016 calf

September 27, 2019

Yesterday we took a group of home schooled children and their families out on a very calm ocean. The fin whales we found first were less than cooperative so we pressed on. A humpback was found just cruising along at the surface. This turned out to be Swing, a new whale to the area! 

As we followed Swing, we saw a north Atlantic right whale in the distance! What a surprise to have another rare animal in the neighborhood! 

As we were turning to head back in, we saw splashing in the distance. This turned out to be a very active pod of common dolphins (not at all common for our area). The entire boat was treated to amazing looks at these off-shore dolphins! 

Great day!

September 25, 2019

Today’s whale watch was amazing. We started out with a large pod of Atlantic white sided dolphins. This group included lots of mom/calf pairs and small groups coming in right alongside our boat! Amazing looks at this Gulf of Maine dolphin species.

Then we found a big fin whale that was taking dives ranging from 6-12 minutes. We eventually got a nice look at this endangered whale and could clearly see its unique chevron and blaze markings along with some scars indicative of a prior entanglement in fishing gear.

An ocean sunfish surfaced nearby and showed us just how weird this fish appears!

An eagle-eyed passenger told us of a whale tail he saw through his binoculars. We headed to that area and slowed down. Another fin whale surfaced, and soon after, we saw a tail of a different whale go down.  We expected to find a humpback whale, as they are common in the area and are known to lift their flukes out of the water when diving. After 13 minutes, the whale resurfaced and we quickly realized that this was not a humpback whale. Instead, we were looking at a critically endangered north Atlantic right whale, one of only about 400 whales of this species left.  We waited another 13 minutes before seeing it come back up to breathe. 

Knowing that this species may be effectively extinct in as few as 20 years is extremely humbling. Man-made threats such as entanglements in fishing gear and ship strikes are the most common causes of death for this animal. We all were extremely lucky to see this whale in person.

(All images taken within accordance of whale watching guidelines and regulations)

September 20, 2019

The weather was on our side again on Friday; a crisp horizon and almost no wind to speak of. Our first sighting of the day was minutes after leaving the harbor when we briefly got looks at an ocean sunfish.

An ocean sunfish less than a mile from land

Once offshore we found a pair of humpback whales slowly traveling along. A third individual was sighted out in the distance, flipper slapping, but we never did relocate that sneaky whale. The pair we spent some time with was Partition and Slingshot. Both whales we saw earlier this season but months ago! Nice to see them passing through once again.

Humpback whale diving

The trip ended with a uncommon sighting of common dolphins! This pod of 50 whales was VERY curious of the boat, and with such beautiful ocean conditions, watching these toothed-whales zip under and around the boat was pure fascination and joy!

Subsurface common dolphin

Common dolphin