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.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

September 9 Atlantic Queen

Pilot whale mom and calf
What a day!  We had a variety of marine life in the Jeffreys Ledge area today, but the highlight for me was seeing pilot whales - a species that I haven't seen since 2008!  

But before we saw the pilot whales, we were surprised to find 3 fin whales, traveling very close together. One had a huge series of prop scars on its right side, evidence of an interaction with a boat, illustrating one of the main threats to whales - ship strikes.

Fin whale

Fin whale

Fin whale
We then moved on to see the pilot whales - there were 30-40 in this very active group.  We saw several calves, and witnessed multiple spyhops (when the whale pokes its head up above the surface to look around), and even a whale swimming on its back!

Pilot whale

Pilot whale swimming on its back!

Pilot whale on its back

Spyhop
Mom and calf
There were also a few humpbacks around - we got a good look at one of them, although it didn't lift its flukes up very high, so we haven't identified it yet.

Humpback whale tail
It was time to head for home, and as we headed back to Rye, it was under beautiful, sunny skies.  We got to see a few minke whales very close to the boat as we headed home - a perfect end to a great day on the water!

Keep in touch! Become a Fan on Facebook || Follow Us On Twitter

No comments: