June 19 on the Atlantic Queen - Fabulous Fin Whales

Incoming fin whale!

I never get tired of watching fin whales. Sure, there are some species that seem more active, or friendly, but today's trip renewed my fascination with fin whales and my belief that, even at average lengths of 60-70 feet, they are some of the most graceful creatures on Earth.

After some search time, we saw our fin whale #9709 , who has a little 'squiggle' on the back side of her dorsal fin, which Dianna, our co-founder and Research Coordinator, discovered thanks to the wonders of digital photography. We also noticed a pretty fresh-looking wound on her tail, possibly from an entanglement. We got some great looks at this whale as it circled near the boat, likely feeding, but not too deeply as she was only diving for less than 3 minutes at a time.

Right around this time, we were also surprised to see a school of striped bass swim around the bow!

We left #9709 and came upon a pair of fin whales - one of our favorites, "Ladder" and his friend. Ladder's name came from a series of boat propeller scars on his right side:

Despite the fin whales' often solitary habits, Ladder is almost always seen with another whale.

We haven't identified his friend yet, but wow - did we get some spectacular looks at these whales as they circled around near the boat - coming so close we could see their whole bodies underwater!

Every time they came up, Heather (our intern aboard) and I were amazed at how synchronized their movements were. The photo below shows the two whales together - you can see Ladder's swirly gray chevron marking, along with the whales' lower jaws, which appears greenish-white.

The weather was beautiful today (albeit a bit choppy), and whales were close to shore. I hope it's a good sign of things to come. Thanks to all who joined us today!

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