New and Old Friends

On board the Prince of Whales today was an energetic and hearty group of students from New Boston Central School. After getting underway, and conquering the steep swells at the mouth of the Merrimack River, we headed east towards the central part of Jeffreys Ledge.

Our first stop was on a minke whale. No, wait...2 minke whales. Hold on, there's a third one...Three minke whales!! These "little" whales were scooting about and on a mission but surprised us several times by surfacing close to our boat! If you look closely, you can see the minke "mittens"!

After spending some time with our minke friends, we continued on to some deeper water just off the edge of the ledge. There, we found a few blows! The first was from a huge fin whale! The blow was 20 feet tall! The fin whale soon went down for a dive, but a humpback whale took its place not far away.

The humpback's blow was a little different from most. One blowhole exhaled breath straight up, but the other blowhole exhaled out at an angle. Could it be??? Yes!!! This was our old friend Flask!! Most humpbacks have a round, bushy-shaped blow, but not our buddy Flask! His blow is a little cockeyed, making him unique even from a distance. Flask is one of our favorite whales and his tail (or flukes) pattern adorns BOS's t-shirts.
After visiting with Flask, we headed for home, but not before another humpback graced us with its presence. A juvenile humpback named Trough appeared not far from Flask. And oddly, Flask and Trough have very similar patterns on their tails! Trough was first seen last summer, and was just given its name this past spring! It was named for the dip in the edge of the right fluke- like a trough! As of now, we do not know the gender of Trough but will continue to monitor this new friend as long as it is on the Ledge.
In addition to the fantastic whales, we also encountered a plethora of bird activity including greater shearwaters, Wilson's storm petrels, common terns and northern gannets. The Ledge is alive!

Thanks to all of the students, parents and teachers of the New Boston School who made this trip a success! We hope to see you again next spring for more whale adventures!