Friday on the Granite State

Well as we left Rye Harbor in the morning we were completely surrounded by fog. However, within a few miles after leaving land we were pleased to see that the fog lifted and we had plenty of visibility, allowing for more optimal conditions to search for whales.

It wasn't long before we were back in the area where we had been the day before and had success with whales. Within minutes we saw a blow from a large whale and turned course to head in that direction. Suddenly we saw blows in every direction around the Granite State! Right from the start we came upon 4 different Fin whales and at least 4 different Humpback whales. After taking a few minutes to determine where all the animals were and where they were going we began to ease our way to get some good looks at all that we could.

One of the Humpback whales we spent time with was Solas who was circling around close to the boat actively feeding. Our passengers got some great looks at all the baleen plates inside Solas' mouth as this whale kept coming up though the bubble net it was creating with it's mouth wide open. You can see in this photo Solas is filtering lots of water out of it's mouth as the birds scavenge for any left over scraps. Awesome way to start the trip!

We also found Valley with Tripod, Filament, Leukos and Upsilon during our morning trip. Leukos' dorsal fin is seen below. While we were watching some of these animals suddenly the Fin whales who had been in the area popped up, seemingly on a mission to somewhere. At one point we had 4 Fin whales surface together all at one time, including Fjord (pictured below),providing a great comparison between the 40-50ft Humpback whales and the 60-70ft massive Fin whales all in the same area! We continued to spend time with the whales but ended up getting socked in the fog that was beginning to form in the offshore waters.

We continued on our way in hopes of getting out of the thick fog but were unsuccessful as we were running out of time for further searching for our trip.

Our afternoon whale watch was free of fog but was replaced by a steady sea breeze giving our passengers a bit of a ride out towards Jeffreys Ledge. We started with a bit of difficulty when we kept seeing blows from animals but were unable to actually see the body of the whale. No worries though because we ended up with Valley and Tripod, still moving around together, but acting much differently than we had witnessed from our morning trip.

These two Humpback whales were sleeping, or logging, right at the surface. Our passengers got some amazing looks at both animals especially when both whales surfaced just next to the boat and continued their resting behaviors. Of course as usual as we were watching these two animals, 2 Fin whales surfaced just off our bow for several breaths before diving down back to the depths of the water column.

Once we were out of time and had turned back to the west and picked up speed it seemed as though both Humpbacks decided to wake up. Suddenly behind us some very observant passengers informed us that the whales were jumping clear out of the water!! Turns out that was exactly the case. Both Valley and Tripod breached multiple times and then started to flipper slap and tail breach. We could not head back to the area due to time constraints but we slowed down and situated the boat so that everyone had a good view of all the activity. What a great way to end the trip! A surprise to everyone and some great looks at some very rare behaviors to see from not only one, but two whales!

Looks like we will be hanging out with all the land dwellers for the next few days as we feel the effects of "Bill" and wait for the seas to subside a bit. I know we will all be anxious to get back out on Jeffreys after this weekend. Come on out and see what we will find!

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