August 21, 2022

It was a cool Sunday out on the ocean this week. On the morning trip, we first came across a fin whale. This animal was taking shorter dives, so we were able to spend a good amount of time admiring its massive size. We noticed that some fog was rolling in, so we left this whale in search of other marine life before the fog reduced our visibility. We eventually found a pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins. We were so busy enjoying these animals that we hardly noticed the fog catching up to us! We headed back to the harbor and saw a minke whale on our way.

The afternoon trip started with a minke whale. While we were waiting for this individual to resurface, we spotted a second minke whale in the distance and headed over to take a look. After leaving the second minke, we continued on and eventually found a large pod of dolphins. There were about 120, including several calves! This pod was very active, darting around us in all directions, even coming close to the boat to the delight of everyone on board. It was a great way to wrap up our weekend!

August 17-20, 2022

Stormy seas kept us on land on Wednesday and Thursday, so we were relieved to get out on Friday! The ocean welcomed us with a nice cool breeze. We spotted a couple pods of harbor porpoise on our way to Jeffreys Ledge. After a bit more traveling, we spotted some splashing in the distance. This turned out to be a pod of about 120 Atlantic white-sided dolphins! This pod was very spread out, and some came close to the boat to the delight of our passengers.

After we left the dolphins, we got a quick look at a minke whale before finding a humpback whale. This was a female named Zodiac. She was taking long dives (over 30 minutes!), so we headed toward a blow in the distance. This turned out to be Pinball! Unfortunately, she was taking long dives as well, but we were able to get some great looks before continuing. Before we headed home, we saw an ocean sunfish.

The afternoon trip, unfortunately, didn't bring us much luck with whales. We searched and searched but only managed to get a quick peek at a minke whale. On our way back to the harbor, we did get some great looks at a few harbor seals and a gray seal at the Isles of Shoals. It was still a gorgeous afternoon on the water, and our passengers were delighted to escape the heat on land.

Saturday morning started out gray, but eventually, the sun came out to give us a beautiful trip. Our first sighting was an ocean sunfish. This animal was small for its species but still quite large. We spotted a total of seven blue sharks throughout the trip as well. We don't see sharks very often, but the water was glass calm, so anything at the surface was easy to spot.

Once we arrived on the Ledge, we spotted a small minke whale. The individual was taking shorter dives, so we were able to get several looks before heading off to do some more exploring.

Our next sighting almost slipped past us. We thought we spotted an inflated trash bag (often used by fishermen to mark lines or attract bait fish). It turned out to be a napping gray seal! We were able to sneak up without waking it at first. When this seal did wake up, we noticed a wound on its back. This didn't appear to be from a shark, but possibly another gray seal.

We spotted a second minke whale after leaving the gray seal. This individual was taking longer dives, so we eventually headed back towards home. We encountered a pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins on our way back to the harbor. What a great way to wrap up the trip! This pod was very active and delighted passengers by riding our wake and leaping out of the water as we left.

The great weather and sea conditions continued Saturday afternoon. We made a pit stop at Boon Island and saw gray and harbor seals in the surf. Seals are known to rest on the island during low tide, but the tide was higher, so the seals were bobbing in the water.

After looking at the seals we found a small pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins. This group was moving very fast, but we were able to get some wonderful looks as they darted around the boat. We were unable to find large whales on this trip, but it was a perfect afternoon on the water.

August 15-16, 2022

The ocean was pristine all day Monday - such flat calm seas. Monday morning's trip included nine humpback whales, a small pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins, a few blue sharks and eventually a brief look at an ocean sunfish (after attempting to check out others in our travels!).

Subsurface blue shark

Atlantic white-sided dolphins

Fin of one of our morning ocean sunfish

Monday afternoon was just as delectable. This time we started with a look at an ocean sunfish just a few miles from shore, followed by numerous humpback whales, two pods of Atlantic white-sided dolphins, and a blue shark.

Ocean sunfish

Large flipper of a humpback whale

Lobtailing humpback whale

Stunning conditions to check out all the variety of marine life the ocean had to offer!

Dolphin

Atlantic white-sided dolphins

It's amazing how quickly conditions can change from day to day. Tuesday, the ocean was alive. The wind, catalyzing the building waves, provided plenty of movement on the water. On both trips we saw breaching ocean sunfish and multiple humpback whales! In the morning, we spent time with humpback whales Clamp and Mogul, with others further out on the horizon.

During our afternoon trip, individuals including Pinball, Dross, Satula, Patches and Mogul, were crossing paths with each other.

Afternoon ocean sunfish sighted shortly after leaving the harbor

Humpback whale surfacing

August 13-14, 2022

Saturday morning the ocean was a bit more active than anticipated. The extra wind was accentuating the waves. We attempted to check out two different minke whales, but we were not having much luck. We briefly stopped by Boon Island and the seal colony before once again going in search of more whales.

Seals at Boon Island

Further offshore we found a group of ~20 Atlantic white-sided dolphins. These whales seemed to enjoy swimming through the waves!

Atlantic white-sided dolphins

We ended the trip with two fin whales, both recognizable "friends" with the Blue Ocean Society, having first being sighted in our area in 2007 and 2009!

Fin whale spout

Fin whale

The wind and waves started to subside Saturday afternoon and we ended up checking out five humpback whales.

Diving humpback whale (above and below)

These individuals were darting around, including some familiar patterns of Pinball, Satula, Tripod and Dross.

Whale spout

Sunday was a special day. Sometimes, everything seems to line up and Mother Nature works her magic. Not to say each day doesn't hold its own memorable moments, but even the crew was taken aback today. On the morning trip, we were treated to some great looks at humpback whales (10+ in the area) and a pod of ~100 Atlantic white-sided dolphins. Conditions were stunning to enjoy these wild creatures.

One of the humpback whales, Zodiac, decided to be quite active. This whale started breaching in the distance and remained doing so once we maneuvered into the area.

A breaching whale, even from a distance, is impressive!

Whale breach!

Flipper slapping

Another breach!

The icing on the cake was the SEA TURTLE! A Kemp's Ridley turtle, the smallest of the sea turtles(!), was seen. We can go entire seasons without seeing a sea turtle. Wow. Just wow.

Kemp's Ridley sea turtle!!!!!!

The afternoon did not disappoint. The trip started with incredible looks at a pod of ~150 Atlantic white-sided dolphins zipping through the water.

Pile of dolphins!

This tight-knit pod was speedy and such a special sight to see slip through the water with such grace.

Atlantic white-sided dolphin (above and below)

We then saw at least nine humpback whales, sprinkled all around as we moseyed through the area enjoying them surfacing in all directions around us.

Afternoon humpback whale flipper slapping