What a day! We ended a gorgeous weekend with a terrific trip. We started off seeing some very active Atlantic white-sided dolphins. The pod just seemed to grow as we watched them, we estimated we ended up with about 75!
Then on to the craziness of the day. We came upon two sei whales, a species rarely seen here, and then were astounded when not one, but two, North Atlantic right whales came into view! At an estimated 400 remaining worldwide, it is always awe-inspiring when we see this species, which often only happens once or twice a season.
Two right whales together(note: this is a cropped photo)
Right whales were named because they were considered the "right" whale to hunt by whalers, who sought their thick blubber (fat) layer and their long (up to 8') baleen plates. The photos we took today will allow the two whales to be identified (when we get their ID's, we'll try to post more about them here!) using the master right whale catalog maintained by the New England Aquarium, and hopefully aid in our attempts to learn more about this species and how to protect them.
Update on 9/22: One of the right whales we saw has been identified as #2340- a male first documented in 1993 and seen on Jeffreys Ledge in 2004 by researchers from Whale Center of New England. This is the whale that we saw the most during the trip. I'll let you know if we identify the other!
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