August 21-22, 2023

The ocean was beautiful on Monday and continued to get even better as the day went on. Sightings were equally as stunning. On both of our trips, we were able to watch whales, with our engines off, as they circled around. Seeing these whales and hearing their spouts in such calm conditions can be an impressive experience. On Monday morning's trip, we saw three humpback whales (Clamp, Pinball and her 2023 calf), an ocean sunfish, and two minke whales.

Humpback whale

Clamp diving

Pinball and her calf

On Monday's afternoon trip, sightings included humpback whales Clamp, Pinball and her 2023 calf and Jabiru, at least five minke whales, and a small pod of approximately six Atlantic white-sided dolphins.

The ocean could not be more calm!

Pinball's "big-winged" flippers!

The ocean on Tuesday showcased its variety of movement. In the morning, we made our way offshore after a quick stop through the Isles of Shoals.

Seals at the Isles of Shoals

Offshore we found whales and plenty of waves. We passed by a fin whale before coming across humpback whales Jabiru and Pinball and her 2023.

Whales and waves (above and below)

Jabiru the humpback whale

As we made our way back inshore we were able to check out an ocean sunfish in less motion-focused movements.

Ocean sunfish

The forecast held true (in a good way!) and in a matter of hours, the "action-packed" ocean felt like a different day for our afternoon trip on Tuesday. The wind was minimal and the waves had subsided. There was plenty to look at, in a few different locations, offshore. In total, we saw at least five minke whales, nine humpback whales, a pod of ~75 Atlantic white-sided dolphins in numerous sub-pods, and an ocean sunfish.

Pair of humpback whales

Adorable Atlantic white-sided dolphins!

Afternoon ocean sunfish

Some of our humpback whale sightings were new visitors, and if they were just passing through, thanks for doing so! Individuals included Clamp, Piano, Valley and her 2023 calf, Gunslinger, Kickoff, Pinball and her 2023 calf, and Jabiru.

Pinball and her calf moving in different directions

Our trips continue to be unique and the start of this week certainly provided that affirmation!

August 19-20, 2023

On both our trips on Saturday, we spent time watching three humpback whales which included Clamp, Pinball and her 2023 calf. Here are a few photos from our morning trip:

Diving humpback whale

Whale spout

Grey seal

While the breezy conditions added a little extra movement and spray into the mix, the whales were busy moving through the area, being their sleek selves. Here are a few images from Saturday's afternoon trip:

Clamp diving in her own unique way

Clamp

Pinball and her calf

Sunday's trips included a few different types of marine life. On the morning trip, we came across four humpback whales (Pinball and her 2023 calf, Clamp and Jabiru), a pod of ~30 Atlantic white-sided dolphins, two minke whales, and a few grey seals.

Pinball and her calf diving

Dolphin

Humpback whale

These creatures were moving through the water effortlessly giving us some great looks at these marine mammals.

On Sunday afternoon, we got the opportunity to check out three humpback whales, a pod of ~50 Atlantic white-sided dolphins, two minke whales, and a few grey seals.

Whale spout

Dolphin!

Most of our sightings were circling around including our humpback whales Jabiru, Clamp, and Patches.

Patches the humpback whale

Grey seals at the Isles of Shoals

August 16-18, 2023

 August 16-18, 2023

Wednesday morning, we got a report of some whales much closer to home than they have been recently! We headed to the area and got waylaid by some Atlantic white-sided dolphins! This was a group of about 50-75 individuals with many calves! So cool! Lot of jumping out of the water and gliding right next to the boat!

As we got near the reported area, we spotted a large fin whale in the distance.

 

Then a pair of humpbacks surfaced near the fleet of tuna boats. To our happy surprise, this was Pinball and her calf! As you may have read, Pinball was entangled on Saturday and was rescued by the amazing Marine Animal Entanglement Response team at the Center for Coastal Studies. Disentangling whales is a dangerous job, and we are thankful to that team for saving our Pinball!  Today we found the pair quite a distance from where she and her calf had been spending time prior to the entanglement. She and her calf acted like nothing happened, just moving around the area as typical whales do! What a sigh of relief!

 

We continued along and found another humpback whale, Clamp! She has been seen around a dozen or so times this season and was our most frequently seen humpback whale last year. Some more dolphins came into the area and seemed to check out Clamp for a moment before moving on.

On our way home, we saw another small group of dolphins, and then some grey seals as we passed through the Apple-Smut Gut in the Isles of Shoals!

Wednesday afternoon, we returned to where we had seen Clamp on the morning trip; fortunately, she was still in that area! 

After several looks at her, we moved on and relocated Pinball and her calf! The pair is still doing well and even exhibited signs of nursing! We saw a grey seal napping at the surface and several minke whales darting through the area.

 

Great day with lots of variety!

Thursday morning, we passed by a couple groups of harbor porpoises. These small animals are generally shy of boats, so we kept going. The flat calm seas made spotting marine life pretty easy. We saw a blow in the distance, and it turned out to be Pinball and her calf again! We are so glad that they have chosen to stay in the area! The calf was apparently nursing while Pinball took short dives and spent time at the surface. 

A couple of minke whales darted around the boat, possibly feeding on the same schools of fish that Pinball was. 

After we left Pinball and her calf, we spotted a blue shark cruising along the surface! Blue sharks can be skittish, but this one stayed near us for a little bit! Cool!

Then we found Clamp again, and in the same area we saw her yesterday! Lots of schools of fish were seen on our fish finder instrument, and also lots of tuna boats were anchored in the area, so that is turning out to be quite the hotspot! Clamp was taking short dives and spending a good amount of time at the surface between dives. She even did a little high fluke/tail flick at the end!

On our way home, we got a call from one of our boater friends about a pod of dolphins not too far from our course home. We ventured over there and luckily found these speedy critters! What an amazing group! It was fantastic hearing the kids on board screaming with joy! The dolphins even surfed in our wake for a while when we left!

Thursday afternoon, we headed offshore through the Isles of Shoals and got terrific looks at these historic islands. It wasn’t too long before we had our first whale – a humpback named Clamp!  Clamp was circling around slowly, moving back and forth among the tuna boats.  The first time she dove, she flipped her tail in the air and we got a great look at her distinctive markings.  

After spending some quality time with Clamp, we went a little south and spotted Pinball and her calf!  They were also moving slowly, circling around. At times the calf was right next to Pinball, possibly nursing, and occasionally they drifted apart. It is always exciting to get great looks at one of Blue Ocean Society’s adoptable whales!  

We also had a couple minke whales during the trip, one which traveled slowly parallel to us and we spotted its pointed snout and dark back several times.  Thanks to everyone who joined us this afternoon!

Friday, the storms kept us on shore, but we will try again tomorrow!