More food anyone?

What a day aboard the Granite State. We started out a few miles past the Isles of Shoals with lots of bird activity and a single Fin whale in the middle of it all. When we got closer, we noticed that there were small sand sharks (dogfish) underneath the surface as well. The sharks seem to be competing with hundreds of Shearwaters for food. It was a fantastic start to our day. Once offshore near a sourthern area of Jeffrey's Ledge we found 2 Adult Humpback whales travelling together. It was Tripod and our old friend Chromosome. These 2 whales were relaxed along the surface, most likely needing a break from feeding all morning. On our way back in, we found more Fin whales lunge feeding at the surface. It still amazes me that these 60+ ton animals can turn on a dime with little to no effort. There was so much activity on our return trip back to Rye, that we were anxious to get back out there.

Our afternoon started out similar to the morning, excpet we found a single Humpback feeding in the area that the Fin whale had been in. This whale, named Mud-skippper, was first seen in 1999. Mud-skipper was quite hungry, continually making bubble clouds to help corral food. All the birds in the area were taking notice as well, including three different species of shearwaters. After enjoying some close encounters with this whale, we decided to head to Jeffrey's in search of whales we had seen earlier in the day. However, we were unable to find any of them. Just goes to show you how unpredictable nature can be. With that in mind, we decided to head a little inshore where we received reports of more whale activity. We found 2 Fin whales travelling together, not to far away from where Mud-skipper had been ealrier that afternoon. We then saw a Humpback whale surface in ther same area a few minutes later. I assumed it was mud-skipper, but to my surprise, it was not. It was my boy Flask. This is the second time I have seen him this season and he treated everyone to more bubble feeding. Working with wild animals certainly has its surprises, but that's why we love it!