July 31 on the Granite State

Within the first 30 minutes of our whale watch today we had spotted a whale. It was a large Fin whale. This animal was within 5 miles of land and we were shocked at how far inshore one of the second largest animal's in the world was currently at the surface.

Our Fin whale going on a deeper dive with the coastline of New Hampshire in the background

It did not take long to realize this whale was "passing through" the area. The fact that this whale suddenly appeared out of nowhere, surfaced for 2 breaths, and then was under the water for 15 minutes was just the beginning. The next time this animal returned to the surface it was well in the distance! We had to make our way up to the area of this animal (and did so) just before it went down on another deeper dive. This whale was clearly on a mission, heading in a constant direction, and moving at a good speed. We attempted to wait for this whale to come back up for another look but after waiting 15 more minutes with still no sign of this whale anywhere nearby, and still very much inshore of Jeffreys Ledge, we decided to press on to give ourselves more time in the offshore waters.

As we approached the Ledge we got word of a whale spout not too far from our current location. Our offshore fishing friends had seen a whale and so we altered course and headed to the reported whale. When we arrived our friends on the Prince of Whales were getting a chance to spend time with this animal. We were both able to spend some time with this Humpback whale which turned out to be Pinball. This whale, born in 1989, is 21 yrs old and an Adopt-A-Whale creature for the Blue Ocean Society. While we have seen this whale on Jeffreys Ledge already this season, it has been just over 3 weeks since it's last sighting on the Ledge! As Pinball probably ventured off to other feeding areas in the Gulf of Maine over the past few weeks, regardless of her recent travels, it was wonderful to have her back in the area!

Pinball raising her tail as she heads down deeper in the water column

This afternoon we started with a real quick look at a Minke whale. This animal only surfaced twice before disappearing under the water, and with no luck resighting this whale, we continued on our way. As we headed further offshore we saw spouts from whales out in the distance. We headed to that area and soon realized we were seeing 3 spouts from whales out on the horizon. While we ended up a bit further from Rye Harbor than we were hoping, the extra few miles were well worth it. We ended up watching 3 large Fin whales!

One of the dorsal fin's of our Fin whale trio!

These animals were associated with each other, meaning they were moving through the water together, going down on deep dives together and surfacing next to each other! This was actually the first time this entire season we have seen THREE Fin whales on the move together! Such an amazing sight to watch these massive beasts glide through the water with such ease and power all at the same time. We were able to get some great looks, especially just before we left, as all 3 Fin whales surfaced right alongside the boat, took a handful of breaths, and then arched their large bodies to go into the depths of the ocean.

If that wasn't enough of a way to end our trip, on our way back towards the Harbor we came across a pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins! What a treat. These whales were also on the move, heading in the opposite direction of where we needed to travel, but we decided to divert course ever so quickly to allow our passengers a chance to get a look at these whales.
It was a great day talking to our passengers from all over the world. Whether you were locals to the area, folks from the East Coast, or visitors from Switzerland and Germany it was wonderful having you all join us for another successful day of whale watching on Jeffreys Ledge!



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