With some early morning whale reports from our fishing vessels friends we had a good idea as to where on the 33-mile stretch of Jeffrey's Ledge to start our search. Before long a blow from a large whale was seen off in the distance which turned out to be a large Fin whale. A great way to start the season with the 2nd largest animal in the world near the boat! After spending some time with this animal we continued on toward the edge of the Ledge and were ecstatic to come across a pair of Humpback whales. The reason for our excitement was because this particular pair turned out to be a mother and her newborn calf! 
Knuckles, a whale yet to be sighting in the northeast this Spring, successfully migrated from the warm calving waters of the Caribbean to the feeding grounds of Jeffrey's all while travelling with her new calf. 
The trip was getting better and better but by no means were we done with the excitement of whale sightings for the day!
Knuckles, a whale yet to be sighting in the northeast this Spring, successfully migrated from the warm calving waters of the Caribbean to the feeding grounds of Jeffrey's all while travelling with her new calf. The trip was getting better and better but by no means were we done with the excitement of whale sightings for the day!During our time with Knuckles and her calf we kept seeing some more exhalations out in the distance and decided to make our way in that direction since we had a bit more time available to search the area. What a whale hot spot we found!!!
We ended up coming across a pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins swimming around with at least 2 Fin whales, one pictured below, in the area. 
Dolphins will use the pressure wake created by a Fin whale, much like a pressure wake of a boat, to gain momentum while moving through the water. 
Watching a 60ft Fin whale glide through the water while having 7ft dolphins pop up on either side of this creature is a sight that always amazes me. A Fin whale together with dolphins really helps to gauge just how large a Fin whale truly is; over 8X's the size of an Atlantic white-sided dolphin!!!
Dolphins will use the pressure wake created by a Fin whale, much like a pressure wake of a boat, to gain momentum while moving through the water. Watching a 60ft Fin whale glide through the water while having 7ft dolphins pop up on either side of this creature is a sight that always amazes me. A Fin whale together with dolphins really helps to gauge just how large a Fin whale truly is; over 8X's the size of an Atlantic white-sided dolphin!!! Not only where there Fin whales and dolphins in the area, but close by were 3 Humpback whales, and a Minke whale that popped up for a few surfacing before continuing on it's travels. Our Humpback whales included Sickle, Tornado and Highlighter. Sickle produced a few bubble clouds, while Tornado and Highlighter spent some time circling the area during our visit. Below is a photo of Tornado going down on a deeper dive. 
With Tornado making a few appearance on Jeffrey's Ledge last year it was wonderful to see this whale back in action so soon again this year. We were also thrilled to see Sickle and Highlighter considering these 2 animals haven't been documented on Jeffrey's in a few years!
With Tornado making a few appearance on Jeffrey's Ledge last year it was wonderful to see this whale back in action so soon again this year. We were also thrilled to see Sickle and Highlighter considering these 2 animals haven't been documented on Jeffrey's in a few years!Thanks to our enthusiastic passengers for joining us in marking our first whale watch for the 2010 season. I also want to send along a special thanks to our Captain and crew for working INCREDIBLY hard this winter and spring getting the boat ready for what has already exceeded expectations for the start of the 2010 whale watching season!
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