October 2- Prince of Whales- Newburyport

What a surprise!! After a week of being on land with lots of wind and rain , we had no idea what we would find today. As luck would have it, a couple fishermen who left ahead of us spotted a couple blows relatively close to shore. We cruised in that direction, and with the help of our friends on the Granite State (Rye Harbor), we ended up looking at 9 different humpback whales!!! A few of these whales had not been seen in our area all season, hence our excitement!

We began with Owl and her calf. Owl was born in 1986 and is one of our Adoptable Whales http://www.blueoceansociety.org/Store/store.html
We typically see Owl every year but this was the first time we had seen her all season!! She and her calf were moving slowly, and the calf may have been nursing while Owl was resting near the surface.

Owl's distinctive injury likely caused by a boat collision when she was just 2-3 years old.

Our next group of humpback whales included a trio: Pinball (another Adoptable whale), Spar and Victim- three females, and two of whom are rarely seen near Jeffreys Ledge.

Victim's distinctive flukes- notice the damaged right corner

Dorsal fins of the three ladies of the ledge

Next up was a great surprise for me- my all-time favorite whale, Spoon (first seen in 1977!) and Chromosome, the only male seen today (first seen in 1991). Chromosome was a familiar whale last season, having been seen frequently with Tripod (who had a calf this year). Spoon lived up to her notorious lazy nature by being very slow moving and barely lifting her flukes.

Spoon

Chromosome- the solo male of the day!

Also in the distance were two more humpback whales that the Granite State ID'ed for us as Trident and Nile- two more adult females!

Truly an awesome day with lots of slow moving, sleepy whales :)



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