Monday, Sept 21 on the Prince of Whales

After a trying weekend of whale watching, we were rewarded with a gorgeous day on the water and were treated to lots of sightings! We began the trip with a fabulous look at the largest species of bony fish in the world- an ocean sunfish (also called the Mola mola). Although from a distance, this fish may somewhat resemble a sea turtle, upon close inspection, one can see it is distinctively a fish!

Ocean sunfish

As we made our way towards Jeffreys Ledge, we passed by a couple of minke whales and some small groups of harbor porpoises. In the deep water (500 feet) just before the shallow ledge, we found literally tons of whales! Fin whales were seen in every direction, and two humpback whales were scooting about as well.

Of the fin whales we saw closely, none of them have been seen yet this season. Notice the two very differently shaped dorsal fins below:

We also found a fin whale that had lost its dorsal fin! We will have to search the master catalog in Bar Harbor to determine if this whale has been seen before without its fin, or if recently lost it.

For the humpback whales, the first one was pretty sleepy- just surfacing once and then sinking a bit under water for several minutes before taking another breath. We aren't sure who this youngster is but will hopefully find out soon.


Another larger humpback surprised us and came up very close by as we were waiting for a fin whale to surface. Who was this curious friend? Flask!! Flask is our buddy- one of our adoptable whales and our unofficial mascot (his tail adorns the back of our t-shirts and sweatshirts). Flask was first seen in 1982, though we do not know how old he is. Flask was blowing some bubbles deep below the surface, a technique used by humpback whales to corral their prey.

Flask's distinctive tail!

Our trek back to Newburyport was busy as well as we passed by several more fin whales and pods of harbor porpoises. Thanks to the curious group of students from Philips Exeter Academy, and the adventurous group of seniors who made this trip a success.


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