July 15- Prince of Whales- Newburyport

Atlantic white sided dolphins

Yesterday we stayed tied to the dock while the rain showers passed. Today, with clear skies and calm seas, we headed out on our afternoon trip, not knowing what we would find. Whales move around a lot, even from day to day. A day on land means a missed opportunity to keep track of our marine friends.

Luckily, we came across a "grand slam" of whales (4 species) all in one small area!

We passed a minke whale as we were watching a humpback whale nearby splashing around. As we approached the humpback, a small pod of Atlantic white sided dolphins appeared! Today was the absolutely most perfect day to watch dolphins. These animals swam right along side the boat in crystal clear sea conditions, allowing us incredible looks.

Soon, the huge humpback whale appeared. It didn't take a second look to know exactly who this famous humpback was- Clipper! Clipper, a female humpback whale born in 1982, has a distictive "clip" in the top of her dorsal fin. She is a favorite of ours, and is seen regularly on Jeffreys Ledge. Last season, her calf was extremely active, often breaching near the boat, and swimming by to get close looks at us!

Clipper's dorsal fin

Although Clipper's calf is now on its own, she herself did not disappoint as she was flipper slapping as we approached.

Clipper diving with a dolphin in the background

Clipper

As we moved off to allow another whale watch boat to get a few looks, a fin whale surfaced in the area. After a couple of surfacings, I could see 2 notches in the dorsal fin of this whale. It was a familiar whale but I needed to check our catalog for the actual identification. Turns out this is fin whale #0813- first seen by Blue Ocean Society researchers in 2008, and also seen about 10 days ago. Keeping track of fin whales is very important to us, as we know so little about them, compared to the more heavily studied humpback whales.

Fin whale #0813

While waiting for another look at this fin whale, a second minke popped up, and just as fast, disappeared. We got some amazing close last looks at Clipper and began our trek back home.

Bird life was abundant throughout the trip. Three species of shearwaters were around, as well as the Wilson's storm petrel and northern gannet. We may have even had a guillemot sighting! Great day all around! Thanks for coming!

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