June 26- Prince of Whales- Newburyport

Greater Shearwater taking off

After a very long day of searching and finding elusive whales, our patience finally paid off! We started with a fin whale that was traveling and then changed directions, a couple minke whales scooting about, and then a few more very elusive fin whales. At one point, fin whale #0611 popped up right next to us but then we never saw it again! Another much smaller fin whale moved in and actually circled the boat and even rolled over underwater in the process! What a big white belly!! But soon this curious whale moved off as well.

We decided to try our luck on Fin Whale Alley- an area to the west of Jeffreys Ledge that we crossed over early in the trip but didn't see anything at that point. FWA was true to its name this time! With the full moon bringing stronger tides, the bait fish and krill (small shrimp-like critters) really get pushed around a lot, keeping us, and the whales, on our toes so to speak.

We found a blow ahead of us and before we got to it, a minke popped up. This was not just any minke, but SCAR MINKE! I have been watching Scar Minke on Jeffreys Ledge nearly every year since 1995! How excited I was to see this whale back for another year! Scar Minke gets its name from the huge scar/indentation on its back just ahead of its dorsal fin- likely the result of an entanglement when it was young. As we tried to get photos of Scar Minke, a pair of fin whales surfaces. We were quickly running out of time so we scooted to the pair, seeing a glimpse of them just before they dove.

As we waited for another surfacing, a third fin whale blew ahead of us. Looking through the binoculars, I could see that this whale had a handful of dolphins with it! We left the pair to see this awesome sight- one of the largest whales swimming with some of the smallest! I must admit, watching fin whales and dolphins together is one of my favorite whale watching moments. The size difference is amazing but really, it is the ease of keeping track of the big whale that is so much fun! The dolphins seem to follow the fin whale while it is down on a dive, so all we need to do is keep track of the dolphins, and the fin whale nearly always surfaces right with them!

Fin whale creating a "bow wave" while surfacing!

Fin whale #0532's chevron pattern

Fin whale #0532's dorsal fin

Fin whale #0532 surfacing with dolphin escorts!

Fin whale barely breaking the surface with dolphins in the background

Thanks to everyone for coming with us today and for your generous support to our organization!


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