October 4, 2025

You've heard it before. Every day is different. Every day, a new adventure. We may be into October, but the marine life continues with surprises, moments, and memories made on every trip. And what a trip it was today. We spent time watching THREE species of toothed whales!!! Our first sighting of the day was a pod of dolphins. Not just a pod, a mixed pod. We had approximately 12 Common dolphins amongst a pod of approximately 20 Atlantic white-sided dolphins! It was awesome watching these two species maneuver around each other and us! 

Hello Common dolphin!

Common dolphin zipping through the water

Atlantic white-sided dolphin

As we continued offshore, we were diverted by another pod of approximately 75 Atlantic white-sided dolphins. This pod had numerous gulls, Northern gannets, and shearwaters soaring and diving overhead. 

Cory's and Great shearwaters

It was a frenzy of activity from above and below. Next up, another large pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins. 

More Atlantic white-sided dolphins!

This pod was fully surrounded by Great and Cory's shearwaters. There was so much bird life today, it was fantastic. 

Great shearwater doing what it does best - shear!

This particular group of dolphins had us interested well before we got to them. There was something else nearby. PILOT WHALES!!!! We ended up checking out two different pods of these whales. 

Massive fin of an adult male pilot whale

Not only was today the first time all season we have seen Common dolphins, it was also our first time seeing pilot whales. Unbelievable. 

Pilot whales

This group of pilot whales was such a tight-knit group at times; they blended together when they surfaced

In this moment, these pilot whales are sleeping, but (as mentioned by those on the boat), they also looked like an offensive line ready for the next play. 😉🏈

As if our sightings weren't enough, we wrapped the day with a pair of humpback whales, Pylon and Quill. Wow. 

Humpback whale (above and below)

October 3, 2025

 October 3, 2025

Lots of whales are still in the area! We found six humpback whales just over an hour from the harbor!

Our first sighting was a pair of whales – one surfaced regularly while the other barely appeared.

Humpback diving

Next, we found a trio of whales moving slowly around the area, often changing directions.

Humpback whale trio

Then a solo humpback showed up, taking short dives.

Humpback diving

Humpback whales were identified as Pluma, Grommet, Partition, Quill, Pylon and GOM 1827.

As we headed home, we found another whale. This wasn’t a humpback, but instead was a very rare visitor- a North Atlantic right whale!!! North Atlantic right whales are critically endangered with only about 350 individuals in their population. We got one quick look at this rare whale and moved on to avoid disturbing it with our presence.

Such a fantastic day!

September 27-28, 2025

While Saturday's trip had plenty of whales once we found ourselves offshore, many of these whales were spending A LOT of time under the surface. The fun aspect was that most of the whales were in pairs when they eventually decided to show themselves. The day included eight humpback whales and two (brief looks at) ocean sunfish. 

Humpback whale surfacing

Ocean sunfish

Pair of humpback whales

Distant lobtail

Diving humpback whale

The whales we did identify included Satula, Fan, Victim, Solo, and Littlespot. Littlespot quickly became the fan-favorite when this whale breached (sorry, it was so unexpected, I didn't get a photo). For our birder friends, nothing like a Northern Flicker flying by to say hello. 😀

Northern Flicker!

On Sunday's trip, our first stop for wildlife was just past the Isles of Shoals. We spent time with a pod of approximately 55 Atlantic white-sided dolphins. 

Atlantic white-sided dolphins

This tight-knit pod was fun to watch moseying back and forth. Further offshore, we spent time with a pair of humpback whales: Littlespot and Pylon. 

Humpback whale

We attempted to check out a couple of other spouts we saw out in the distance, but these whales appeared and disappeared just as quickly. We ended up crossing paths with Littlespot and Pylon again, along with an ocean sunfish, during our travels home. 

Humpback whales

Ocea sunfish

Friday, September 26, 2025

Today felt more like a summer day on the water than one in late September. Clear skies, warm air, and a slight breeze made for optimal conditions. We started our trip by finding a group of about 75 Atlantic white-sided dolphins who appeared to be feeding—moving quickly at the surface and frequently changing directions. Several times, the dolphins approached our boat and swam right next to us! Beautiful!

Soon, we saw some spouts in the distance. A pair of humpback whales was moving slowly around the area. In the same spot, just 100 yards off our bow, we caught glimpses of a minke whale lunging through the surface waters!

We found another humpback whale by itself before finding another pair! Also in the area was an ocean sunfish, but it disappeared before most of us could admire it.

 

As we were thinking about heading in, we saw yet more blows not too far away. This was the third pair of humpbacks! All the humpbacks were pretty chill today, maybe starting to stockpile their energy for their upcoming migration later this fall.

Identified whales included Fan, Spoon, Pylon, Victim, and Littlespot!

September 20, 2025

 Saturday's whale watch got off to a very early start with a trio of humpback whales resting near the surface, accompanied by a pod of at least 50 Atlantic white-sided dolphins!

Humpback surfacing behind dolphins

Trio of humpback whales

Our trio of humpbacks consisted of Valley, Victim and Solo. Much of our time with these animals was spent watching them rest. That was until we were about to continue along. Our whales were back behind us, then all of the sudden there was a footprint formed right off of our starboard side, and finally all three whales lunged horizontally at the surface right off of our bow!

Aftermath of surface feeding

It all happened so quickly, we barely had any time to process what was happening before it was all said and done. After this, our whales resumed their naps near the surface, with the exception of Victim, who decided to tail breach and tail lob once respectively before resting again. 

Juvenile dolphin

Finally, we pressed on to do some more searching, eventually coming across two more humpback whales, Clamp and Streetlight. 

Clamp diving

While Streetlight was traveling out in the distance, Clamp was surfacing very close by, evidently doing some feeding beneath the surface, seen through old bubble clouds rising up to the surface shortly after she would. Finally, it was time for us to head home. A truly excellent way to spend our Saturday out on the water!

September 21, 2025

The ocean provided a stunning backdrop for searching for whales today, and the whales were just as beautiful. The day included 10 humpback whales(!), a couple of ocean sunfish, a few brief looks at a couple of blue sharks, and plenty of seals along the way. 

Ocean sunfish

Pair of humpback whales

Diving humpback whale

Most of our whales were in pairs or trios, with many of them napping. Individuals included Spoon, Chromosome, Quote, Satula, Partition, Grommet, Littlespot, Owl, and Clamp. 

Satula

Trio of humpback whales

Clamp

Add in multiple flipper-slapping events from two whales (Spoon and Grommet) for some special sights to an already top-notch day.

Spoon flipper-slapping (above and below)

Grommet flipper-slapping

Friday, September 19, 2025

Beautiful day for watching whales today! 

On our way out, we passed by two large pods of harbor porpoises before finding some large whales. We saw four humpback whales at our first stop—two singles and one pair. 

One whale was slowly traveling while another was circling and even approached the boat! The pair was moving around the area, side by side, mostly coordinating their dives almost perfectly! These whales were Patches, Streetlight, Solo, and Spoon. 

We moved to a different area and found three humpback whales, slightly spread out. Most of our time was spent with Owl, while Clamp and Satula were seen in the distance. Satula breached once in the distance but quickly calmed down and swam alongside us before diving. 

    

As we were about to head home, a fin whale was seen nearby! Fin whales are enormous- the second-largest whale on the planet! But we were out of time and had to start our trek back to the harbor.

I’m looking forward to seeing what the weekend brings!