Blue Ocean Society's Whale Sightings

Greetings! Thanks for visiting our blog. Our staff and interns will be posting their experiences here working on whale watch boats in NH and MA.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Glowstick and the Granite State...

Whale sightings aboard the Granite State have continued to be in large numbers, and it still surprises me everyday. The heat finally subsided yesterday, and it was very pleasant aboard the boat. In the morning we found 1 Minke, 8 Humpbacks, and 19 Fin whales. Our Humpback sightings included Filament, Clipper and her calf, Patches, Glowstick, and another new arrival for the season, Obtuse. We started with Filament kick-feeding along the surface. Here she is raising her tail high above the surface before stunning food underneath the water.


Patches, the Humpback, is actually the whale featured on the cover of our brochure at Granite State Whale Watch, and it was nice to share with our passengers that we haven’t seen this whale on Jeffery’s Ledge for a number of years.

We were also treated to many fin whale sightings throughout the morning, including several groups of 3 or more. Later in the morning as we were enjoying Clipper and her calf, we noticed a whale breaching about a mile away. We decided to try and check that whale out even though there is no guarantee the whale will continue the behavior, but we wanted to give it a try. As we arrived the whale went for a deeper dive raising it’s tail above the surface. It was Glowstick, a Humpback first seen in 1997. To our surprise, this whale breached a few minutes later! It continues the behavior several times, and also chin breached as well. This is when whales raise their heads high above the surface and smack it down along the water. This whale also treated our passengers to repeated flipper slapping. In all, this whale exhibited 9 behaviors during the time we were watching it. Here are some of my favorite photos.












It was difficult to leave, but we had to get back to Rye to board passengers for our second trip. In the afternoon we found 2 Minke’s, 11 Humpbacks, and 11 Fin whales. Our Humpbacks included Sword, Scylla, Tigris, Clipper and her calf, Chromosome, and Tripod. Highlights included seeing 7 Fin whales in one area including a group of 5 traveling together. It’s not everyday that we are surrounded by the second largest animal in the world.


Our passengers were also treated to Clipper tail breaching next to the boat. Here she is with her new baby.

I want to thank all our passengers for coming out with us today. It was another unforgettable day on Jeffrey's Ledge.



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