July 18-19, 2024

 Thursday afternoon was an exceptionally glassy one with pristine surface conditions for spotting marine life as we made our way offshore. Before we were able to spot any whales we first took notice in a fin breaking the surface, which belonged to a small ocean sunfish!

Ocean Sunfish

After getting some excellent looks at that sunfish, we continued on further east until we were able to spend time with our first humpback whale of the afternoon, Quote!

Humpback diving

This whale was spending most of her time feeding just beneath the surface, evidenced by the numerous bubble clouds she was blowing all around the boat. After leaving Quote, we were able to do a bit more searching before making our way back towards Rye. As we were about to make our turn for home, we spotted distant blows, which revealed themselves to be a mother/calf pair of humpback whales!

Mom/calf humpback whales

Friday morning began with a long journey out towards the southern end of Jeffrey's Ledge. Once there however, all the pains of traveling were a distant memory as we were able to spend time with three fin whales and five humpback whales! 

Fin whale diving

Humpback mom/calf pair

Three of our five humpbacks actually turned out to be all of the adoptable humpback whales through the Blue Ocean Society. Those whales being Satula, Owl, and Pinball! After sitting in one spot with our engine turned off for an extended period of time, we eventually had to say goodbye to our whales and start our journey home. On the way however, we passed by three different minke whales, and finally getting to spend some time with a pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins. A truly exceptional morning of whale watching!

Owl the humpback whale

White-sided dolphin mom/calf

Friday afternoon took us right back to the southernmost regions of Jeffrey's ledge. Once again, we were able to spend time with several different humpback whales, individuals including Pinball, Satula, and Mudskipper and her 2024 calf. These whales were very busy traveling and chasing down schools of fish. 

Satula diving

While we were spending time with the humpbacks, we noticed some distant splashing and decided to investigate. That splashing turned into a pod of well over 150 Atlantic white-sided dolphins! This pod was quite mellow as they slowly passed on through the area. We eventually got some last looks at Satula before we made our turn back towards Rye Harbor. 

White-sided dolphin surfacing

As we made our way back towards home, we were stopped by three different fin whales. One of them traveling on its own, while the other two were moving as a pair. We were able to get excellent looks at these three whales before continuing along. A beautiful way to end a whale-filled day!

Pair of fin whales

July 17-18, 2024

July 17, 2024 

 he Jeffreys Ledge region is teeming with marine life these days! The abundance of species and bait has been phenomenal. Daily trips are finding harbor porpoises, Atlantic white-sided dolphins, harbor seals, grey seals, basking sharks, ocean sunfish, bluefin tuna, minke, fin, and humpback whales!! Oh, and the krill have been fabulous to see! Giant rafts of red krill blanketing the ocean are rare in our area but are always welcome as they are one of the many links in our food chain! Also, two of Blue Ocean Society's adoptable whales were spotted in the same area, Pinball and Satula!

        Morning trip photos:

Fin Whales

Atlantic white-sided dolphins

Krill!

Great Shearwater taking off

Satula, the humpback whale!

Pinball diving

        Afternoon trip photos: 

Fin Whale

Humpback Whale diving

Humpback Whale exhaling

July 18, 2024 

This morning we went in a different direction to check out some reports of whales in another area that we hadn’t been to in a while. We found several pods of Atlantic white-sided dolphins, some harbor porpoises, a basking shark, and four fin whales, including the same trio that was spotted yesterday!

Atlantic white-sided dolphin

Basking Shark swimming away

Fin Whale

Fin whale

July 15-16, 2024

Whales continue to be plentiful, and we are so grateful to witness wildlife at its finest. On Monday, we spent time with three different trios of humpback whales!

One of our trios of whales

Occasionally we see baleen whales form associations, but what a sight to see all of our sightings in groups.

Humpback whales

Individuals included Nile, Entropy, Zodiac, Mudskipper and her 2024 calf, Springboard, Patches, and Crossbeam. 

Humpback whale diving

Some whales were filtering water, and others were moving around the area. A few lucky passengers even got a look at a breaching basking shark! On Monday afternoon, we had some quick looks at a minke whale breaching(!) before making our way to Jeffreys Ledge. Once on the Ledge, whales were everywhere. We saw two additional minke whales, six fin whales (including Crow!), and numerous humpback whales including Satula, Pinball, Mudskipper and her 2024 calf. 

Humpback whale (above and below)

Spouts could be seen in all different directions and whales circled the area in full force!

Fin whale

On our travels home we were sprinkled with another treat a pod of 50 Atlantic white-sided dolphins. 

Dolphin

Tuesday morning was fin-tastic! During our travels, we saw three ocean sunfish before seeing six of the second-largest mammals on Earth - fin whales! 

Fin whale

Ocean sunfish

The fin whales were circling the area. At one point we even got a chance to see three fin whales associated together! 

Massive fin whale spout

Fin whale

Tuesday afternoon we had a couple of distant looks at fin whales, and this time, now had multiple humpback whale sightings. At least nine humpback whales were sighted including Satula, Mudskipper and her 2024 calf, Owl, and Scylla and her 2024 calf.

Humpback whales diving (above and below)

A pair of humpback whales

July 14, 2024

 Absolutely beautiful conditions on Sunday morning first gave way to a rather spread out pod of  a hundred or so Atlantic white-sided dolphins. While spending time with these dolphins, we also noticed a different fin breaking the surface, so we took a small detour to check out a nearby ocean sunfish!

Atlantic white-sided dolphin

Ocean Sunfish

After spending time with the sunfish and reconnecting with the dolphins for a short while, we decided to press, taking advantage of the stunning surface conditions. After travelling a ways we stumbled upon our first large whale of the trip, a fin whale. Not long after spotting this fin whale, we started to see distant blows from other whales in the area, so we continued further offshore to investigate. This gave way for us to spend time with a pair of humpback whales, identified as Springboard and Crossbeam.

Fin whale diving

Pair of humpback whales

Both humpback whales occasionally returning to the surface, filtering out saltwater as they continued to feed down in the depths of the ocean. Finally, before making our return back towards Rye Harbor, getting to spend some time with a very familiar whale for us, Pinball!

Sunday afternoon kicked off with some early looks at a fin whale as we made our way out towards Jeffrey's Ledge. We were able to sit still while this whale surfaced on both sides of the boat for some excellent looks before we continued our journey. 

Fin whale diving

After making our way towards the southernmost regions of the ledge, we approached our second fin whale of the trip as a school of bluefin tuna crashed through the surface off of our port side. Ultimately, we pressed on to spend time with a humpback whale, who was very busy chasing down bait beneath the surface. 

Humpback whale diving

Distant fin whale

As we made our turn back towards Rye, we were able to pass by at least three more fin whales before we continued home. 

July 13, 2024

 July 13, 2024

Saturday morning, we found three species of baleen whales as well as some harbor porpoises and elusive basking sharks! The rain and fog were no match for our expert eyes, and some help from a guest on the bow!

We passed by a small group of harbor porpoises before stopping on a basking shark. As we were waiting for the shark to reappear, a minke whale popped up! This minke surfaced close to us several times, although the basking shark wasn’t relocated.

Minke Whale

Then we saw a blow from a large whale. This was a humpback whale named Polaris! We haven’t seen Polaris since 2009 so this was an exciting sighting for us!

 

Humpback Whale

On our way home, a guest on the bow pointed out a whale behind us. This turned out to be a large fin whale! We got a few looks at this animal before heading back for the harbor.

 

Fin Whale

Saturday afternoon, we also passed by a small group of harbor porpoises before finding the larger whales. Our first whale was a minke whale followed by a humpback whale named Footfall. We hung out with the humpback for a bit and then continued along.

 

Minke Whale

Humpback Whale

We then found two fin whales, the second largest species of whale ever!! At one point, one of these whales surfaced right next to us! Super cool!

Fin Whale

Fin Whale

Fin Whale

On our way home, we relocated Footfall briefly, and then saw a few bluefin tuna splashing just a few miles offshore! 

We are heading back out tomorrow morning! I can't wait to see what shows up!