July 2 on the Granite State

The weather was wonderful and the whales were just as good during our whale watches today. Our morning trip started with a Fin whale spending a lot of time circling a concentrated area. It did not take long to realize why. Just below the surface of the water was KRILL! Krill are small bright red crustacean-like critters and they were everywhere! Whether this whale was feeding only on the krill or a combination of krill and small schooling fish (most likely eating the krill as well) we were unable to determine, but it was a great look at the food chain in action out on Jeffreys Ledge this morning.

With Minke whales popping up and schools of Bluefin Tuna splashing at the surface our passengers had lots to look at as we travelled in and around the Ledge in search of even more activity. We spotted a couple of whale spouts out in the distance after some travelling and were beyond excited once we got a little closer. We had not one, not two, but THREE Sei whales! All three of these animals were on the move together. Sei whales are actually the fastest baleen whales in the world and because of this can be VERY challenging to get even one good look at. While our three whales were definitely headed in a constant direction, they appeared to be in no particular rush and thus provided us some fantastic looks at these whales. Note the distinct differences between the Fin whale we saw earlier and our Sei whales. While from a distance these two species may appear to be similar, closer examination show some very unique features between these two baleen whales.

A Fin whale's white lower jaw underneath the waterline veruses

A Sei whale's uniformly colored right lower jaw

A Fin whale's dorsal fin veruses

A Sei whale's large and broad dorsal fin

Our morning trip ended with a group of Atlantic white-sided dolphins. With such a nice morning and some unusual sightings, we were anxious to head back to the Ledge to see what may be around for the afternoon hours.

Our first sighting of a whale this afternoon turned out to be a 2-year old Humpback whale. It was the 2008 calf of Fundy, a whale that will be named this fall (suggestions are always welcome!) and a nice way to start our trip.

Do any of the marks or patterns on this tail remind you of anything? If so suggest a name! Just remember...no human names and no company names.

This whale was also circling around the area and a few times surprised us by surfacing with its mouth full of food and salt water! This whale was actively feeding and at one point even rolled over while filtering water out of its mouth so our passengers could see the "Big-winged New Englander's" flipper!
More Bluefin Tuna and more Minke whales scattered the horizon as we made our way to the Ledge. We came across a few Fin whales, 2 of which were moving through the water together. Whales everywhere and we still has some more time to explore.


The last portion of our trip we spent with 4 other Humpback whales. While watching our first whale, Cardhu, we saw in the distance a few more blows.

Cardhu's almost all black tail

With time running out before we needed to begin our journey back to Rye Harbor we decided to go quickly check out what other whales were nearby. We wanted to find out, and record, just what other Humpback whales were spending some time on Jeffreys Ledge. We were happy we went because we came across Tripod and her 2010 calf! We saw this pair earlier this week for the first time this season and enjoyed watching her again as these two whales cruised on past us. Unfortunately, we were out of time to go see our last cetacean in the area, but took a few photos which will hopefully help in getting a positive identity on our last whale.



As the holiday weekend quickly approaches we look forward to seeing what other adventures we will be going on during our trips and just what we could possibly spot during another day out on the open ocean!



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