June 23, 2021

 Wednesday's trips had perfect weather! All the hazy, foggy conditions were blown out over night leaving us with crisp, clear air!  The morning trip found a single humpback whale just off the entrance to the Merrimack River! This isn't the best place for a whale to be hanging out since boat traffic is considerable and the inshore fishing gear is thick. Nonetheless, this young humpback whale seemed to be quite content in its chosen habitat and was seen blowing clouds of feeding bubbles and coming up vertically as it tried to catch little fish! It also swam under the bow of the boat and came right up to the side of the boat before diving underneath us. We don't know who this whale is yet but we know we have seen it earlier in the season. 

We continued on to check out other areas but didn't have much luck.  For our afternoon trip, we ventured out to Jeffreys Ledge where we had a report from a fishing boat passing through. We found our friend, Pinball, a favorite humpback whale of our crew! She was taking short dives and we were pleased to see her distinctive flukes several times! 

At one point, while we were waiting for Pinball to surface from a deep dive, we took a look at an ocean sunfish that was swimming nearby! 

Next, we visited another area to the west of the ledge and found two fin whales and a minke whale! The first fin whale was taking short dives and we were treated to some beautiful views of this large animal. The second fin whale was seen briefly as we turned for home as we were running out of time. 

June 21-22, 2021

Summer is officially here! The wind was scheduled to kick into high gear Monday afternoon so we only had a morning trip. What were we lucky enough to find waiting for us offshore? FOG. Mother Nature decided to throw in her own excitement to start off the first full day of summer. But no worries, there were whales! We got some great looks at humpback whales Sedge and Satula even with the challenging visibility.

Whale diving in the fog

Sedge

Satula

On our travels home through the Isles of Shoals we even spent a few minutes with a flotilla of mostly grey seals!

Hello seal

Seals on the move!

It was another single-trip-only day on Tuesday. On our way offshore we saw a minke whale before finding Sedge still in the area.

Minke whale

Sedge (above and below)

But Sedge wasn't the only whale in the area. Another humpback whale was traveling through. It was fun to see Grommet, even though this whale was on the move!

Grommet was on a mission to somewhere

 Additionally, we had an ocean sunfish and three more minke whales as the seas got calmer and calmer.

Ocean sunfish

Minke whale at the surface in such calm conditions!

For our birding friends, sightings have been few and far between. However, we are finally starting to see an uptick in petrels and we even had our first great shearwater!

Wilson's storm petrel

June 19-20, 2021

We are now on our full-time schedule whale watching seven days a week (weather pending of course!). On Saturday we spent time with a humpback whale on each of our trips. In the morning the whale was so close to shore!

This whale was just off the beach!

Humpback whale

This whale never fluked so we never saw its unique tail pattern. The dorsal fin shape also didn't jump out at us as a familiar friend, so for now, this individual remains unknown. The morning trip provided another unique sighting close to shore. A pair of harbor seals were getting pesky with each other just outside the harbor. They were so busy in their own antics we enjoyed a few moments of their chaos.

Two seals pestering each other. Their faces may look cute but they are fierce and have sharp teeth!

On Saturday afternoon we found Pinball! She was spending a bit of time below the surface but showcased her beautiful tail on every dive. A minke whale even scooted through the area at one point.

Pinball diving (above and below)

Pinball

On Sunday, we headed out towards Jeffreys Ledge surrounded by a small swell and almost no wind. On our way offshore we had a few great looks at a minke whale. We then ended up finding three humpback whales. Time was spent with Clamp, Satula and Sedge, each darting around the general area.

Satula

Sedge's uniquely-shaped dorsal fin

Diving whale

Early in the trip on Sunday afternoon we watched a seal munch on a fishy-snack before heading back offshore.

Seal

This time Satula and Sedge were still maneuvering around in the afternoon seabreeze. Sedge created a few bubble clouds, also taking advantage of the plentiful food availability.

Whale spout

Sedge

Sedge swimming past us

The trip was topped off with a sighting of an ocean sunfish. Hoping all the fathers out there had a Happy Father's Day!

Ocean sunfish

June 12-13, 2021

The whales were so sleek as they moved through the small swells and calm seas this weekend. On Saturday we started the trip with one, of a total of five fin whales, throughout the day.

Fin whale

Out on Jeffreys Ledge, Satula the humpback whale was circling around occasionally creating bubble clouds.

What a beautiful day

Satula is an adoptable whale with our research affiliates, the Blue Ocean Society, so it was even more of a special sighting.

Satula

The day ended with a quick look at a mother/calf fin whale pair, a sight even more rarely seen than humpback mother/calf pairs!

Mother and calf fin whale pair!

Fin whale calf!

Sunday was just as beautiful offshore. We spent time with two different humpback whales. Two familiar visitors to the area and another adoptable whale with the Blue Ocean Society. Welcome back Pinball and Nile!

Pinball (above and below)

Nile

Happy 2021!

Opening weekend is officially in the books! While we had to delay the start of the season due to last week's windy weather, it felt amazing to be back on the water heading out towards Jeffreys Ledge with the salt air, the sea breeze and the ocean waves.The first spout of the day was such a wonderful sight, but it wasn't just one, it was two spouts. The first sighting of the season was a mother/calf pair. We spent some time with humpback whales Fan and her 2021 calf! What a way to start our trip!

Fan and her calf

A bit further offshore a trio of humpback whales were napping including Clipper, Clamp and Ditto. Meanwhile a fin whale was in the area.

Hello whale

Clipper

Fin whale

To wrap up the day, during our travels home, a minke whale jumped clear out of the water a few times. Wow.

On Sunday, the ocean action was even calmer as we headed to Jeffreys Ledge. We checked out an ocean sunfish before seeing five humpback whales.

Ocean sunfish dorsal fin

Our first humpback whale was moving around consistently. Next, we came across a mother/calf pair. But it wasn't the same pair we had seen yesterday. Welcome to the Jeffreys Ledge area Squiggle and her 2021 calf!

Mother/calf humpback whale pair!

You can spot the calf subsuface if you look closely!

Our last sighting consisted of Clipper and Ditto napping. A few people even spotted a minke whale while heading back to Rye Harbor.

Clipper and Ditto

It was a wonderful weekend full of whales and workable weather. We appreciate all the familiar faces and support from our passengers. Here's to bringing back the fun in 2021!

October 3-4, 2020

The weather was PERFECT on Saturday. The horizon was so crisp and clear. There was barely a breath of wind so the surface of the ocean was glass-like most of the day. Conditions were on our side and we were excited to get offshore. We found multiple blue sharks and two ocean sunfish.

Subsurface ocean sunfish

However, we couldn't find a single whale. Not one. Well that was clearly not what we were hoping for. We thank our passengers for joining us and look forward to seeing you again in the future for whale activity! 

Sunday, the conditions were just as gorgeous. Calm seas and a clean horizon. As we headed out towards Jeffreys Ledge we saw two minke whales. Out on the ledge we saw two fin whales.

Such calms seas!

While watching one fin whale, first identified by Blue Ocean Society researchers in 2010, out of the blue a second fin whale surfaced!

Fin whale

We also saw the U.S. Air Force cruise down the coast, an added bonus, before finding an ocean sunfish.

C-130's headed our way!

Ocean sunfish

Can't believe we are down to our last week of the 2020 whale watching season. Fingers crossed the weather allows for a few more trips!