Atlantic Queen, Sunday - Grand Slam!

Fin whale calf

A beautiful day on the water! We learned today not to take sightings for granted... After spotting a couple minke whales early on in the trip (and getting great looks at them), we searched for a LONG time and then heard from our friends on the Prince of Whales that there were some whales a little closer to shore. So we headed in that direction, and then it was like the activity exploded! Eventually we ended up with a 'grand slam' - sightings of 4 species!

First we checked out a blow, which turned into a small fin whale. We soon realized, as a huge fin whale surfaced nearby, that we were looking at a mom/calf pair! This was my first mom/calf pair of the season, so it was very exciting. Plus, the weather was super-calm and we got great looks at the calf as it hovered just below the surface near the boat.

We then moved on to spend time with a humpback, who I haven't identified yet - check back for updates on this whale! The whale has a cool fluke, with lots of "rake marks," which can happen when a shark or orca tries to chomp on a humpback whale! The whale was obviously feeding below the surface, as it kept coming up with water filtering out its mouth.

We then got another call from Capt. Billy on the Prince of Whales, reporting dolphins! So we headed in his direction and found a very active pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins - we saw several spectacular leaps, and they "surfed" right alongside us for awhile, affording spectacular looks.

Dolphins near the bow

Leaping dolphin!

On the way home, we passed more dolphins, another humpback, plus another fin whale and a minke whale! Plenty of life around!

Today's trip illustrated the cooperation that exists between the local whale watch companies - we initially spent a lot of time figuring out where whales weren't! But another day, we might be the first to find them. It's an arrangement that works great for passengers, as we can all cover more area together, and find more whales, than if we were acting just for ourselves. At any rate, thanks to all the wonderful passengers who came aboard and shared part of your holiday weekend with us! Thanks in particular to the ladies who were so excited about the possibility of seeing dolphins today. Hope to see you all again soon!

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Saturday's Atlantic Queen Trip

Fin whale

It was a thrilling day on the water, with a total of 5 fin whales, 2 humpbacks and 1 minke whale!

We got a quick glimpse of a minke as we passed the Isles of Shoals, and then moved on to an area with lots of fin whales and a couple humpbacks. It's always exciting to have so much life in one area. We get lots of time with the whales and don't have to cruise very far in between.

After getting great looks at fin whales, we came upon a feeding humpback - a whale I haven't identified yet (will post its ID when we know it!). The whale excited us by coming up right next to us several times with water cascading from its mouth - a sign that it was feeding! The whale was so close at one point that we could actually watch its blowholes open and close as it breathed!

Humpback surfacing next to the boat - the green is its flipper (pectoral fin), which is actually white. It looks green underwater because of all the plankton in the Gulf of Maine!

We then spent time with Anvil's 2009 calf, a young humpback we've seen several times this year already. After some great looks, we headed for home.

Anvil's 2009 Calf

As we headed home, it was gratifying to have a chance to interact with the passengers, and know that our educational efforts continued on the way in. Heather, one of our interns, and I spent time answering questions and introducing passengers to the wonderful sounds whales make, and many passengers helped Blue Ocean Society's efforts by purchasing merchandise like photo notecards, stuffed whales and apparel. Thanks to those who joined us!

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July 3- Prince of Whales- Newburyport

What an amazing day! Today proved that no two trips are alike, even on the same day.

In the morning, we found several fin whales early on, and then a pod of dolphins, and later a young humpback whale. This humpback, Anvil's 2009 calf, was feeding and frequently surfacing with its mouth full of food. A few times it came up really close, and we got amazing looks!

Check out the baleen between the upper and lower jaws!

Anvil's 2009 calf has already been the victim of an entanglement- note the white scars and fresh wound on the edge of the flukes

On our trip back to Newburyport, we came across several huge fin whales and lots of bait fish and krill. These whales were seemingly mellow in spite of all the food around. Little did we know....

On our afternoon trip, we found these same fin whales only 8 miles off shore! They were no longer acting mellow. These whales were hungry! We began with 3 fin whales- a mom and her calf, plus another adult. Sometimes these whales were feeding side by side, other times alone. The calf is still too young to eat the fish and krill but was keeping up with Mom while she was consuming part of the 1-2 tons of food she needed to catch today.

This was honestly the best looks at feeding fin whales I have ever had in my 16 years of watching whales, both here and on the west coast. Fin whales amaze and inspire me on a daily basis and today was extraordinary. The frequency and proximity of these giant open mouths were unlike anything I have experienced. Check out these images!

fin whale on its side, mouth open, right side down

Mom/calf fin whale, side by side

Ventral view of a fin whale, right side down, lunging at the surface, mouth open! Those ventral pleats are what allows the whale to consume all the food it does. Note the hairy baleen inside the upper jaw!

Another great view of a fin whale on its side- pleats extended, and flipper in the air!

Leaving these whales, we reluctantly continued on. Not sure of what we would find next, we were completely surprised to find 2 North Atlantic right whales in our path! Right whales are highly endangered, and only ~425 exist today (historic populations were 10,000-50,000). It has been said that if no further actions are taken to protect right whales, that this population could be extinct within our lifetime. We all felt extremely lucky to witness 2 of these survivors slowly swimming south. We kept our distance but watched them for a couple of surfacings before heading for home.

A truly wonderful day on the water with our whale friends. I feel very blessed to be able to do what I do, watching whales for most of the year, and love being able to share these experiences with you!

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July 3 on the Granite State

We had another "Grand Slam" day today. We came across many different baleen whales as well as a pod of toothed-whales during our trips to Jeffreys Ledge today.

Our morning trip included our Atlantic white-sided dolphins as they actually crossed paths with one of our Humpback whales we were watching. What a size comparison! Since dolphins give birth to their young in the Spring some of these whales were only 3-5ft long and seen next to an animal upwards of 20-30ft long, it was quite the sight! While we have yet to identify our Humpback whale, its size was on the smaller side relative to some of the adult Humpback whales we see in the area, and so we believe it may be a juvenile whale. The blowholes and tail of our unknown Humpback whale

Time will tell when we get a chance to match up our tail shots with the Humpback Whale Catalogue and see just how old this animal is!

We also had an amazing sighting of a mother and calf Humpback whale pair. After seeing this calf nurse several times close by we discovered it was Diablo and her 2010 calf. We watched as the calf would alternate which side it would surface in relationship to its mom, swimming underneath to consume some very fatty milk before coming up for a breath and continuing the process. Incredible. It was a crazy morning and I hope all of passengers truly enjoyed their experience.

As for the afternoon we seemed to come across a hot spot for whale activity when at one point we were surround by 5 different whales! We kept seeing whales spouting at the surface in almost every direction around the boat. We had mostly Fin whales cruising around the area but also found the Humpback whale Hornbill, a whale we have seen a handful of times so far this season quickly becoming one our of "regulars" to the Ledge for the time being. Since whales are always searching for food many times whales will come to Jeffreys Ledge and then continue on towards other feeding grounds in the Gulf of Maine. For whatever reason Hornbill has been spending quite some time here on the Ledge and we have enjoyed seeing this whale for the past few weeks. While spending time with this adult (Hornbill was first sighting in 1977!) we got a few close looks at a Fin whale as it surfaced close by before continuing on its way.

Can't wait to see what awaits all of us tomorrow for another journey to Jeffreys Ledge!

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The whales love the Atlantic Queen!

Today did not disappoint. We started with 2 Fin whales who were a bit shy today, actually they were quite hungry and stayed down a bit searching for food. Our Humpback of the day was Cardhu, she was first seen between 1980-81, she has had 9 calves! There names are Ember,Comma,Slope, Treasure, Skewer who was her first born, born in 1991, Nudibranch, Speedometer, Mallott, and Venon. She was the biggest Humpback I have ever seen, maybe she's pregnant? We won't know until next summer, lets keep our fingers crossed! I was so happy to get this photo of a very active Atlantic White Sided Dolphin, I normally only get water so I was thrilled! Every day keeps getting better, don't miss out, come out and see for your self!!

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July 2 on the Granite State

The weather was wonderful and the whales were just as good during our whale watches today. Our morning trip started with a Fin whale spending a lot of time circling a concentrated area. It did not take long to realize why. Just below the surface of the water was KRILL! Krill are small bright red crustacean-like critters and they were everywhere! Whether this whale was feeding only on the krill or a combination of krill and small schooling fish (most likely eating the krill as well) we were unable to determine, but it was a great look at the food chain in action out on Jeffreys Ledge this morning.

With Minke whales popping up and schools of Bluefin Tuna splashing at the surface our passengers had lots to look at as we travelled in and around the Ledge in search of even more activity. We spotted a couple of whale spouts out in the distance after some travelling and were beyond excited once we got a little closer. We had not one, not two, but THREE Sei whales! All three of these animals were on the move together. Sei whales are actually the fastest baleen whales in the world and because of this can be VERY challenging to get even one good look at. While our three whales were definitely headed in a constant direction, they appeared to be in no particular rush and thus provided us some fantastic looks at these whales. Note the distinct differences between the Fin whale we saw earlier and our Sei whales. While from a distance these two species may appear to be similar, closer examination show some very unique features between these two baleen whales.

A Fin whale's white lower jaw underneath the waterline veruses

A Sei whale's uniformly colored right lower jaw

A Fin whale's dorsal fin veruses

A Sei whale's large and broad dorsal fin

Our morning trip ended with a group of Atlantic white-sided dolphins. With such a nice morning and some unusual sightings, we were anxious to head back to the Ledge to see what may be around for the afternoon hours.

Our first sighting of a whale this afternoon turned out to be a 2-year old Humpback whale. It was the 2008 calf of Fundy, a whale that will be named this fall (suggestions are always welcome!) and a nice way to start our trip.

Do any of the marks or patterns on this tail remind you of anything? If so suggest a name! Just remember...no human names and no company names.

This whale was also circling around the area and a few times surprised us by surfacing with its mouth full of food and salt water! This whale was actively feeding and at one point even rolled over while filtering water out of its mouth so our passengers could see the "Big-winged New Englander's" flipper!
More Bluefin Tuna and more Minke whales scattered the horizon as we made our way to the Ledge. We came across a few Fin whales, 2 of which were moving through the water together. Whales everywhere and we still has some more time to explore.


The last portion of our trip we spent with 4 other Humpback whales. While watching our first whale, Cardhu, we saw in the distance a few more blows.

Cardhu's almost all black tail

With time running out before we needed to begin our journey back to Rye Harbor we decided to go quickly check out what other whales were nearby. We wanted to find out, and record, just what other Humpback whales were spending some time on Jeffreys Ledge. We were happy we went because we came across Tripod and her 2010 calf! We saw this pair earlier this week for the first time this season and enjoyed watching her again as these two whales cruised on past us. Unfortunately, we were out of time to go see our last cetacean in the area, but took a few photos which will hopefully help in getting a positive identity on our last whale.



As the holiday weekend quickly approaches we look forward to seeing what other adventures we will be going on during our trips and just what we could possibly spot during another day out on the open ocean!



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July 2- Prince of Whales- Newburyport

Leaving our dock today, I knew I was under a lot of pressure to find whales. First of all, we were missing our trusted whale spotters, Willy and Pam, who would spend 99% of the trip on the bow searching for whales. Secondly, my parents and Nana were on board. Every time my family is aboard, we see really cool things.

As luck or mojo or karma would have it we did find really cool whales today! Our first stop was relatively close to shore, where we found two fin whales circling around, with about 50 Atlantic white sided dolphins with them. One whale was moving very slowly, while the other was acting a bit goofy- lunging at the surface and rolling on its side, but not feeding. It wasn't until our last look at these two that we realize this was a mother/calf pair! And this calf was really big!! The dolphins with these two were a lot of fun to watch. They were happy to bow-ride the snout of the mother whale, and dive right along side both of the huge whales. No fear at all in these little (7-9 feet long) dolphins!

Fin whale calf rolling on its side

Mother fin whale- to be identified

Mother and calf fin whales (the calf is to the left of the huge mom)

Mom fin whale surfacing with 2 dolphins bow riding her nose!

Atlantic white sided dolphins

As we continued on, we found lots more fin whales- some close, some far away) in the neighborhood. Then a spout appeared that looked a little different- a little smaller and rounder- this was a humpback whale! Although smaller than the magnificent fin whales, humpbacks are sometimes referred to as the clowns of the oceans. They are known for their aerobatics and close-to-boat approaches. Those occurrences are rare, though they certainly do happen. This particular humpback whale was traveling, and though it did not do any of the aerial behaviors that are common of its species, we were lucky enough to see its flukes (tail). The pattern of black and white identified it as Milkweed, a 10 year old humpback born to Zeppelin in 2000.

Humpback whale named Milkweed

As we started our journey home, several more whales spouted, both near and far. More fin whales were moving into the area! Another young humpback was spotted too, just to the east. The trip home seemed very quick as Intern Heather and I spent most of it talking with our curious passengers. Thanks to all of our return visitors. We hope to see you all out here with us again soon for another chance to see whales in the wild!


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