June 22 on the Granite State

We had glass-like conditions out on the water for most of the day yesterday. Not only was this beneficial to locate whales (any sign of white water was a good indication of some sort of marine life!) during the time spent watching the whales people could look through the water to see just how large the whales were! On calm days on the ocean you can see just how much of the whale still remains under the water even when these whales come up for a breath of air.

Our first whale of the day was a large Fin whale. This animal was very relaxed. So much so we never even saw the dorsal fin! This whale would come up to breathe and ever so seamlessly disappear just under the surface again. Our crew members noticed very tiny and concentrated bubbles a few times when this whale surfaced, well behind where the dorsal fin is located, and were convinced this whale may have been so relaxed it was relieving itself of some gas. While I have never read, or heard, of a whale doing this behavior it was interesting to notice regardless of what may have really been causing those bubbles.

Our day continued on with a Basking shark sighting and Hornbill the Humpback whale.

Hornbill

During the afternoon we sighted 5 different Minke whales, 3 Fin whales, and a Humpback whale. While we were excited to see Doric, the Humpback whale still roaming around on Jeffreys Ledge, it was the Fin whales that surprised most of us. We were able to positively identify 2 out of the 3 Fin whales we found today, all of which had yet to be seen on the Ledge thus far this year!


The first Fin whale we watched during the afternoon hours was a whale named Trax. This whale was first seen in the Gulf of Maine in 1979 and thus at least 31 years old! Most of the large whales in our waters began being documented and individually identified within the last 40 years by research organizations all over the New England area. To have spent time with a whale today that has been in our catalogues for over 30 years is a incredible feat, mainly for the whale, who has continued striving in the open waters of the oceans for so many years. Even though 40 years is a long time to spend documenting whales it has not been long enough to accurately measure just how old these large whales can get. We therefore have continued to record each and every year we do get a chance to see an adult whale return to our area, adding another important piece of data to this still unsolved puzzle of the natural lifespan of large whales.

Trax, while looking quite normal on it's left side (see photo above), was so named for the propeller scars that travel along the right side of this animal. As was the case with the Fin whale Ladder (also recently sighted this year!), Trax is easily matched to our catalogue because of this scar pattern and sadly enough yet another indication of how dangerous boats can be to whales. Again, we are thankful and impressed that Trax managed to escape a tragic event with only a lasting scar as some whales are just not as lucky.


Also in our afternoon travels yesterday we saw Fin whale #9718.While this particular whale does not yet have a name, it was still an exciting sighting as this was the first spotting of this whale for us aboard the Granite State for the 2010 season. Having seen this Fin whale in years past on Jeffreys Ledge, it was great to know this animal is alive and back for yet another feeding season.


We had a great group of passengers with us yesterday and want to thank you all for your inquisitive conversations and thoughts regarding how intricately linked we all are to the world that surrounds us.


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