August 23, Captain's Lady III

We had beautiful conditions on the ocean for this morning's whale watch but unfortunately the whales were not as cooperative as the ocean. In our travels we did come across at least 4 different minke whales as well as a small harbor seal pup. Though we didn't get any good looks at the whale it was a great morning for a boat ride.

One of this morning's elusive minke whales

After our uncooperative whales this morning we decided to go in a different direction in the afternoon to Stellwagen Bank where we had some whale reports. Upon arriving to an area with a few whale watching boats we saw a spout. This spout belonged to a huge fin whale. The closer we got we started seeing some smaller whales in the area, Atlantic White Sided Dolphins! This small pod of dolphins was associated with the fin whale, traveling just ahead of the whale as it surfaced. 

Fin whale with a pod of dolphins

Seeing dolphins associated with a large fin whale is an amazing sight to see and a great opportunity to appreciate the size of the fin whale. As we watched this group of whales we got another surprise. A second fin whale showed up in the group! All of a sudden we had a group of about 10-15 dolphins and 2 fins whales all traveling together, what a sight!

Our two fin whales side by side

Atlantic White Sided Dolphins

Thanks to our passengers who braved the 30+ mile journey to Stellwagen for what turned out to be a great day of whale watching and a great day on the water. And congratulations to Janna S. from Portsmouth NH for winning our raffle today!

By Amy Warren, Naturalist

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