July 23-24, 2020

Thursday morning the fog yet again covered the area like a thick wet blanket. I’m all about nature, but when the majority of my trips get fogged-out, I get a bit depressed to say the least.  As much as I hoped for the fog to burn off to leave us with a beautiful calm morning of whale watching, that just wasn’t in the cards today. However, it was not a total washout. We saw 4 minke whales close enough to get photos of 3 of them! 

Minke whale in the fog

Minke whale with 2 notches in its fin

Minke whale in calm seas

Also, a very friendly ocean sunfish (aka the ocean coconut!) came by the boat, and a huge grey seal was spotted! 

Ocean sunfish

Grey seal

The Wilson’s storm petrels were out in force and were working the surface for plankton to eat. I’m sure larger whales were out there, and likely close by, but that dreaded fog prevented us from finding them.

As we headed for Rye, we watched the cumulonimbus clouds building to the west. A strong line of thunderstorms was approaching, so we decided to cancel the afternoon trip.  Better luck tomorrow!

Friday morning we had miles of visibility! After yesterday morning’s trip with the fog machine, we were pretty excited to be able to see at least 5 miles away. We found an ocean sunfish to start the day followed by a young humpback whale relatively close to shore. 

Ocean sunfish

This was a humpback whale known as Clamp’s 2016 calf (it has yet to be named) who was seen recently and also was seen in the same area, close to shore, last summer!

Clamp's 2016 calf (humpback whale)

Continuing on, we tried to get looks at a couple of minke whales but they had other things in mind.  Eventually, after circling the area where the whales had been seen lately, our captain spotted a blow to our south. Humpback whales, Pinball (adoptable) and Spoon were still in the area. But today they were not hanging out side by side, but instead were about ¼ mile apart.  

Pinball!

Spoon!

Just as we were leaving, it appeared that Pinball was swimming toward Spoon, so perhaps the ladies got back together.  These two have been a pretty consistent pair for about 2 weeks now!

Friday afternoon, we chose to venture to a different part of Jeffreys Ledge where we hadn’t been in a while. After passing a harbor seal, we found a really big ocean sunfish, a shy blue shark and a minke whale.

Blue Shark

Ocean sunfish

Just beyond those animals, we saw a fin whale.

Two more fin whale were spotted just a bit further offshore, including one that we knew! This was fin whale # 0723, a whale first seen by Blue Ocean Society observers in 2007.  

Fin whale # 0723

While we watched the fin whales, we saw another whale in the distance.

This was a humpback whale who we have not seen yet this summer! Satula!!  Named for a saddle shaped mark on the lower left side of his fluke, Satula (finnish word for saddle, we believe), is another one of Blue Ocean Society’s adoptable whales! Welcome back, Satula!

Satula's distinctive lack of dorsal fin

Satula!

A second humpback was also nearby. This proved to be a female named Diablo! Diablo was spotted briefly last week but not since. Great to have her back in the neighborhood!

Humpback whale diving

On our cruise home, we passed by a few harbor seals and a grey seal. These critters are pretty shy and as soon as we see them, they disappear. But many of our guests spotted them in passing.

July 20-22, 2020

Monday morning we checked out humpback whales Spoon and Pinball again. This was the seventh day these two female whales have been seen associated with each other. So much research being collected (thanks to the Blue Ocean Society) into the lives of these wild whales!

Humpback whale

The pair was briefly associated with a group of approximately 30 Atlantic white-sided dolphins before those toothed whale friends moseyed on. Before the trip was over we also viewed an ocean sunfish.

Atlantic white-sided dolphins

Ocean sunfish

The afternoon trip began with an ocean sunfish, the first of three for the trip. Back offshore we witnessed Spoon and Pinball still side by side. With cooler temperatures on the open ocean and marine life to look at it was a very pleasant day in the Gulf of Maine!

Afternoon ocean sunfish

Spoon and Pinball

Tuesday's weather was nothing more than perfect. A crisp clear horizon surrounded us all day, something we have not experienced much this season. Calm seas added to the ideal sighting conditions. During the morning trip we spotted four minke whales and a harbor seal prior to getting to Jeffreys Ledge.

Minke whale

Harbor seal

Soon enough we came across companions Spoon and Pinball. These whales were extra sleepy exemplifying 'logging' as best as it can be viewed.

Resting whales

Spoon 'stretching' at the surface

On our travels offshore in the afternoon we spotted an ocean sunfish before once again spending time with Spoon and Pinball.

Ocean sunfish

Little did we, or the whales know, what was in store for them. As we sat with our engines shut off watching these humpback whales napping (again!) a lone small bird flew by. Thanks to Jon Woolfe, our birding friend, he identified this flying critter as a sanderling. This bird, weighing a whopping ~2 ounces full grown, landed on Spoon while she was sleeping. Well Spoon was less than impressed with that soft touch. This 25+ ton whale instantly reacted to the bird on its back. Perhaps a myoclonic jerk of sorts.

Can you find the sanderling on Spoon's back?

Spoon definitely no longer napping!

Spoon suddenly created quite a commotion at the surface and both whales, only moments earlier napping, slipped under the surface. Seconds later they both breached! Pinball launched herself into the air first and Spoon followed suit.

Pinball breaching!

Spoon breaching!

Spoon continued with a few more breaches before she started flipper slapping. Talk about different sides of the behavior spectrum! One moment resting calmly at the surface and the next full energy antics!

Spoon's flipper

What a spectacular display of Mother Nature keeping things interesting and perhaps a lesson to be learned: tread lightly if you decide to wake a sleeping female unexpectedly. You never know what she might do. 😲 As if this was not enough excitement a third humpback whale appeared right next to this pair by the end of the commotion. Clamp's 2016 calf decided to swim in towards the mix.

No surprise here, on Wednesday we continued to be fortunate to have Pinball and Spoon still spending time in the area. On the morning trip we briefly had eyes on a loggerhead sea turtle, spotted an Ocean sunfish and a minke whale prior to getting eyes on the pair of humpback whales. Sorry, no photos of the sea turtle.

Ocean sunfish

Even in the distance the whales were being active and we wondered if it would continue once we got into the area. Well the energy level was high as we watched both Pinball and Spoon flipper slap over and over again. They even breached once!

Flipper slapping again and again and again (above and below)

But this pair had another friend with them. Diablo occasionally surfaced among the flipper activity. By the time we departed the area, all three of these whales were napping. Perhaps they needed a break after all their movements above the waterline.

On the afternoon trip we saw multiple ocean sunfish before easing our way towards Pinball and Spoon. This time, this pair was spending a bit more time under the surface but created a few bubble clouds as they circled around.

Subsurface ocean sunfish

Diving humpback

Spoon and Pinball still together

July 18-19, 2020

Saturday morning we found a new visitor to Jeffreys Ledge, Diablo the humpback whale! Most of the time spent with this whale it was doing 'normal' whale behaviors: breathing, diving and scooting around.

Diablo diving

Much to the delight of all this whale breached just as we were about to turn for home. Thanks for the unexpected impressive looks Diablo!

Diablo being active

Picturesque breach

The afternoon trip included some familiar tails. Spoon and Pinball the humpback whales were resting while a couple of minke whales popped up. There was even an Ocean sunfish nearby.

Spoon (above and below)

Ocean sunfish

During both trips on Sunday we checked out Spoon and Pinball who are still roaming around the area. They continued to nap more than anything else during each of our trips allowing for some great looks at these ladies!

Pinball and Spoon during our morning trip

Spoon poking the tip of her head above the water on the morning trip

Whale spout Sunday afternoon

Pinball during Sunday afternoon's trip

July 16-17, 2020

Thursday morning we steamed to the area where the whales had been hanging out for several days. We got there, looked around and didn't see anything at first. But Captain Pete spotted a blow several miles away. When we got there, we found some Atlantic white sided dolphins along with humpback whales Spoon and Bayou!  These two exhibited the same behavior as in prior trips this week- sleeping! 

Humpback whale with dolphins

They must be feeding hard (or partying) at night to need to sleep so much during the day! The cool thing about watching sleeping whales is that they spend a lot of time at the surface so we get lots of viewing time! And with the dolphins around as well, we always had something to look at!

Atlantic white sided dolphins

Thursday afternoon, we went back to that same area. This time we found dolphins and humpback whales again, but the humpback pair had switched up. Spoon was now with Pinball, one of Blue Ocean Society's adoptable whales!!  At first the humpbacks were moving around slowly while the dolphins seemed somewhat interested. Then Spoon decided to lift her 2000 lb flipper ever so slowly into the air. We had to look up to see the tip of that huge flipper! 

Spoon's 15- foot flipper!

Before we knew it, Pinball was back and was not to be outdone. She tail-breached three times right next to Spoon and then began get her abdominal workout in, doing belly-up lob tails!

Pinball tail breach

Pinball belly-up lob tail!

Spoon, the elder, could play this game. She also started to belly-up lob tail, but she threw in the extra credit points of also holding both flippers out of the water at the same time! This seems like a marvelous feat of strength to me!

Spoon belly-up lob tail with both flippers up!

Soon Spoon dove, and Pinball continued her workout by flipper slapping over and over, even with the dolphins close by!

Pinball flipper slapping with dolphin close by

This trip was one of the best of the season! I wish all trips could be this amazing!


Friday morning, our luck ran out. We scoured the area where the whales and dolphins had been since Monday with no luck, except for a good look at an ocean sunfish! The wind was causing the seas to increase so we decided to cancel our Friday afternoon trip.

We will be back at it this weekend!