July 9 Granite State

Two trips today and as usual both trips were very different thanks to the variety of life on and around Jeffreys Ledge. This morning we started our trip with an Ocean sunfish. This fish spent most of its time swimming around, but never sinking below the waterline for us to lose sight of this fish, giving us a nice chance to show our passengers this interesting looking creature.

Most of the time we could only see the fin of our Ocean sunfish at the surface while this fish was on the move this morning

We then ended up seeing 3 Minke whales throughout our travels to the ledge. Some on the move, some circling around, and some very nice looks at the only non-endangered baleen whale we typically have the chance of seeing during our trips.

3 Minke whales, all slightly different dorsal fins (above and below)

Minke whale #2

Minke whale #3

This afternoon we decided to head to slightly different areas of Jeffreys Ledge. Just beyond the Isles of Shoals we spotted some pelagic birds pestering a tern. A pair of jaegers were attempting to get some food thanks to the tern in the area.

Jaegers circling around a tern

While we have not verified the species we have fun seeing and checking out some of the interesting bird life offshore.

One of our jaegers on the move

Our sense of adventure to other regions of Jeffreys Ledge paid off as we ended up finding a very familiar Fin whale this afternoon. Comet was still around and yet no where near she had been seen only a few days ago! 

Comet

Whales like to move around searching for lots of food so seeing whales we've seen only days before can very much end up being in very different areas. Comet spent most of her time circling around and gave us all some very nice looks at such a large mammal.

Comet's scars

Before heading home we also got a chance to see a Minke whale; a whale that is similar in shape to a Fin whale (sleek dark body and pointed dorsal fin) but less than half the size of a Fin whale. Quite the size comparison!

One more Minke whale for the day

We ended with a special stop at Boon Island as it was on our way back towards Rye Harbor. There was quite the plethora of Harbor seals hauled out on the rocks and even a few Grey seals lurking on the island too!

Seals, seals, everywhere!



Grey seal in the foreground while a Harbor seal hangs out on the rocks in the background

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