July 11 Granite State

Our morning trip started off with a great look at one of the three Minke whales we encountered during our travels to and from Jeffreys Ledge this morning. This particular animal appeared to be quite relaxed as it wasn't constantly moving in different directions and coming up to breath every so often just off our port side.

Minke whale

With such nice looks, our passengers were ready for more activity as we all continued to scan the horizon as we continued further offshore.

Our next sighting was causing quite the ruckus at the surface of the water. We had come upon a pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins. There were approximately 30 of these whales intensely circling the area most likely doing a bit of active feeding. These social creatures will take turns corralling their food items, whether it be small schooling fish or even squid, before each animal takes turns darting through the ball of food catching one item at a time. Even though we were unable to see the food from our vantage point on the boat, they were probably not too far under the water, as many birds were taking advantage of the frenzy. Great, Sooty, a couple of Manx Shearwaters, as well as Terns and Seagulls, were all sitting on the water or flying overhead attempting to capture a bit of food for themselves.

Shearwaters looking for food as a dolphin's dorsal fin can be seen in the background

It never gets old when we get the chance to watch a multitude of marine life feed in the same area. The whole scene was a bit chaotic to look at as birds were zooming in and out landing and taking off again, while the whales were changing every which direction, going after the food of choice. Chaotic and yet almost orchestrated all at the same time as the dolphins and birds maneuvered the area with ease and cohesiveness. Quite the sight.

Atlantic white-sided dolphins with birds all around!

Our last stop was with a pair of Humpback whales, Sabot and her calf, still on Jeffery Ledge. We were even treated to a look at the underside of the calf's tail (something often times not seen from a calf as it is a learned behavior and just like humans, needs a bit of practice to master a new skill).

Sabot above and Sabot's calf's tail below

This afternoon created its own excitement as we had a bit more wind to deal with than expected. Though just about everyone got drenched at some point throughout the travels, we were able to get some great looks at the whales we came upon. Many thanks to our friends on the Atlantic Queen who also shared in our "wet" travels we both got a chance to check out multiple species. We got a few glimpses of a Fin whale that was on the move and captured a few moments of the time this whale spent at the surface.

One of the Fin whales we spotted this afternoon. Note the close up photo of this whale's dorsal fin with a few "striped" scars on the front edge of its fin.

We then continued on and came into an area where there were a few more animals scattered about. We saw 2 other Fin whales break the surface as well as 3 Humpback whales in the area.

We again were lucky enough to spend some time with Sabot and her calf.Sabot going on a deeper dive

Our passengers on board also got a chance to see the calf raise its tail above the surface of the water with quite the effort. I wonder if this animal used a bit of all the wave action on the surface of the water to time out its dive and get a little extra "push" as this animal did a really nice high fluking dive for everyone. Just trying to be like mom.

Sabot's calf going on a deeper dive

Just before turning for home we saw another blow close by and realized it was another Humpback whale. Turns out it was another adult female whale: Nile is still around. Even though this whale didn't show a great majority of its tail as it went on a deeper dive a quick look at her dorsal fin, and the portion of the tail we did see, was enough to know Nile was coming into the area.

The different shapes of our Humpback whales dorsal fins. Above: Nile and Below: Sabot

Thanks to everyone who joined us today as we had yet another adventurous day!

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