Welcome to the 2011 Whale Watching Season!

Today marked the first trip of the whale watching season for the Granite State and what a day it was! Even as we left Rye Harbor in the fog our crew and passengers were excited to see what Jeffreys Ledge had it store for us. The trip started with some skittish Minke whales barely making their presence known before disappearing into the fog beyond our viewing ability. We pressed on and passed alongside a few Harbor seals and Harbor porpoises before the fog decided to dissipate a little giving us a bit more ocean to scan for signs of more cetacean activity. It did not take long before we came upon a Humpback whale. It was Gondolier, a whale at least 19yrs old and slowly moving around the area. Having gotten some nice views of this animal we moved onto another whale not too far away.

Turns out we came across an actively feeding Sei whale, and this was only the beginning.

The upper jaw of a Sei whale with baleen plates hanging down

All in all we had at least 11 different Sei whales throughout the trip, all of them skim feeding!

A Sei whale's dorsal fin

What a sight. At one point the boat was surrounded on all sides by skim feeding Sei whales!

A pink lower jaw of a Sei whale on its side actively feeding at the surface

Two Sei whales skim feeding. Check out the blowholes of the whale on a collision course with the other (no collision actually occurred!)

As if this sight wasn't enough we got the chance to watch Atlantic white-sided dolphins interspersed within the feeding Sei whales! The Sei whales seemed to be so focused on scooping up as much food as possible (almost exclusively plankton feeders!!) that the dolphins did not seem to bother the feeding frenzy of Jeffreys Ledge.

The dorsal fin of an Atlantic white-sided dolphin (on the left) and an open mouth of a feeding Sei whale (on the right)

The whales were spectacular and the bird life was just as good. Large groups of Northern Gannets, Wilson's Storm Petrels, and Red-necked Phalaropes were just as impressive to pass alongside in the vincinty of all the surrounding whale activity!

Phalaropes

Fulmar

Many thanks to those who joined us aboard our first trip of the 2011 season! Our crew and passengers were equally as thrilled with all that we saw. Can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring!



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