What a fantastic sight to see- a spout on the horizon- a sign of large marine mammal life nearby!Today as we ventured out of the Merrimac River, the Gulf of Maine greeted us with some hefty swells. The river mouth, being so shallow, is often a rough crossing and we expected the seas to lay down as we cruised to deeper water. Well, that never really happened today. A storm to the east created some nice swells that some folks equated to being rocked to sleep, while others had a different opinion of the gift from Mother Nature.
As we approached the ledge, we found a very nice fin whale who was taking short dives and not moving very far at all. As we examined our photos, we found this whale to be #9709, a female first seen as an adult by BOS staff in 1997. This means that this whale is at least 20 years old!
Fin whale #9709 showing her unique "squiggle" in her dorsal fin and new (as of 2009) scars behind her dorsal fin.As we were watching 9709 (we welcome any suggestions for a name for this beauty), our friends aboard the Atlantic Queen II came by for a quick visit.
Atlantic Queen, Rye HarborJust as we left the area, we noticed a small school of bluefin tuna breaking the surface. Tuna feed on herring, the same fish that this fin whale was likely feeding on! As we crossed new water on our way home, we also passed by a small pod of harbor porpoises! Life on the ledge is definitely picking up!
Hope to see you all out there with us soon!
Hope to see you all out there with us soon!
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