September 6, 2023

 Wednesday, September, 6, 2023

 Today, we headed out towards Jeffreys Ledge with a lot of haze on the water. We weren’t sure what we’d find for visibility on the ledge but were pleasantly surprised. After passing by a couple of harbor seals, we came into an area with several humpback whales. First, we saw Satula, who we all know well by this point in the season. 

We then saw a mother and calf pair- Pinball and her calf yet again! This was the 47^th day this season that we have seen the pair! The calf even breached twice!

Mogul was also in the area and we were eventually able to get some looks at him as he was moving around the area quite a bit. At one point, he let us know that he had been recently eating krill as his poop was very different looking than the typical brownish poop that is more common when whales are feeding on herring/mackerel. This poop was chunky and red! Oh, how we love science!

Then he ended up almost associating with Satula! Very cool.

On our way home, we checked out some other areas and got a brief look at a minke whale!

No whale watching trips Thursday, but we will be back out on Friday!

Labor Day Weekend: September 2-4, 2023

Happy Labor Day weekend all! Hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable time. There was plenty of marine life to watch over the course of the past few days. On Saturday morning, we briefly saw a minke whale, spent time with four humpback whales, and even checked out a small pod of approximately six Atlantic white-sided dolphins. 

Dolphin

Humpback whales included some recent familiar "friends" including Sword, Pinball and her 2023 calf, and Clamp. 

Humpback whale surfacing

On Saturday afternoon, waves and whales picked up slightly. We saw two minke whales, seven humpback whales, and even a fin whale! 

Moments before many of our passengers got covered in whale snot!

Diving humpback whale

Humpback whales included Pinball and her 2023 calf, Chromosome, Valley and her 2023 calf, Othello and Dashdot.

Pinball and her calf

Chromosome lob-tailing in the distance

Fin whale sightings have been sporadic this summer, so it was a fun surprise to come across one during our travels home on Saturday.

A distant, but nonetheless exciting, sighting of a fin whale

While there was a little swell leftover on Sunday morning it continued to subside as the day went on. We first attempted to spend time with a fin whale, but this whale was remaining under the surface for long periods of time and moving in the opposite direction we wanted to go. Instead, we pressed on and came across eight humpback whales: Valley and her 2023 calf, Clamp, Satula, Pinball and her 2023 calf, Othello and Dashdot. 

Midway through the trip we were fortunate to watch a pod of ~40 Atlantic white-sided dolphins. 

Atlantic white-sided dolphins

On Sunday afternoon, we started the trip with dolphins, but this time it was a pod of ~10 Atlantic white-sided dolphins. 

Dolphins

We had a brief look at a blue shark (conditions were ideal for fish sightings!) before watching seven humpback whales. 

Blue shark! Its dorsal fin is on the left side of this image, its tail on the right.

Humpback whale calf

Many of the same individuals remain in the area as our sightings included Pinball and her 2023 calf, Satula, Valley and her 2023 calf, Dashdot and Othello.

Pinball and her calf

Pairs of humpback whales (above and below)

We only had one trip on Monday and the ocean was gorgeous. We checked out an ocean sunfish, two blue sharks, saw at least six minke whales, and ended the day with three humpback whales. 

Ocean sunfish

Blue shark!

All three humpback whales, Satula, Sword, and Diablo, were crossing paths with each other as they navigated around the area. It was such a beautiful day to wrap up the holiday weekend.

Whales moving in different directions

August 29-September 1, 2023

Tuesday was a beautiful, flat, calm day with whales feeding near the surface and also resting! Humpback whales included Clamp, Satula, Pinball and her calf. 

We also saw a beautiful fin whale surface several times! Fin whales have been rare lately, so this was a welcomed treat! 

We ended the trip with a group of Atlantic white-sided dolphins, some of whom were even playing in the wake behind the boat as we left! 

Wednesday, the mid-day rain, wind and storms kept us on land, resting up for a fantastic day on Thursday! 

Thursday, we found several humpback whales, starting off with Satula! Even from a distance, he is easy to identify by the concave curve on his back where his dorsal fin used to be. 

We watched Satula for a while as he blew some bubble clouds and then saw Pinball and her calf nearby. Another humpback, later identified as Watchtower, was swimming into the area and we saw a couple more blows off in the distance. 

Out there, we found Sword, who was swimming in towards Pinball and Satula. 

Then Clamp was seen a bit to the south. As we watched her, we saw something breaching repeatedly in the distance. 

Sometimes, whales will breach just once or twice and be done. This one kept going so we took our chances and left Clamp to explore who was making all the commotion. It turned out that this was Pinball’s calf! Pinball was around, but likely busy feeding, and the calf was having a ball at the surface (maybe trying to get mom’s attention!). Multiple breaches, flipper slaps, tail lobs (some even belly-up!), tail breaches, you name it! The calf was doing it! 

This went on for about a half hour before we called over another whale-watching boat to check out the action. At this point, it was time for us to leave anyway. What a memorable trip! Thank you Bably Pinball! 

Friday, humpback whales again were out in force! We started with Pinball and her calf and watched the peaceful calmness of a mother whale nursing her calf. 

We moved on and found an ocean sunfish (sorry you missed this, Nancy and Barb!) lounging at the surface.

Then a pair of adult humpbacks: Othello and Dash Dot. These two have been hanging out together on and off for a while now! They were acting pretty sleepy at the surface. Then then dove together and several minutes later we were shocked by a perfectly synchronized double breach! Wow!! No photos, unfortunately, as it was so unexpected! The pair then when back to their lazy ways. 

Some of us saw a blue shark below the surface but close to the boat as we waited for the whales to resurface. Moving on, we saw multiple whales moving into the area, including Satula, who nicely surfaced close to us after blowing a feeding bubble cloud. Sword and Freckles were also spotted in the area before it was time for us to head for home.