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| Nile and Ivory's 2009 Calf (not yet named) Feeding |
What an unusual day! One minute we were watching whales feed right next to the boat, the next we were socked-in with fog... and then it was clear again. The weather and sightings underscored the fact that nothing is predictable on the ocean!
We started out with the humpbacks Nile (an old favorite - a whale born in 1987 with a river-like marking on her tail) and Ivory's 2009 calf (thanks to our Research Coordinator Dianna for that ID!), a whale with a nearly all-white tail.
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| Nile |
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| Ivory's 2009 Calf |
These two came up in vertical lunges right near the boat, which was amazing to watch!
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| Humpbacks are part of the group of whales called the rorquals. The origin of the word rorqual is uncertain, but may be from the Norwegian word "furrow" or Old Norse word for "red" |
Soon after that, though, the fog rolled in, and we lost the pair. A couple other boats joined the search, and we saw another humpback in the fog... only to lose it again. Suddenly, the fog lifted, revealing multiple blows in the area. We headed over to get great looks at a pair of fin whales - second-largest species on Earth! We headed for home, but caught a quick glimpse at another fin whale in the distance, and then a humpback whale as it dove near the boat.
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| Fin whale head |
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| Fin Whale |
We were happy to have passengers aboard today from as close as Portsmouth, and as far away as California and Peru... thanks to you all for your enthusiasm and patience as we waited out the fog this afternoon!
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| Our friends the Granite State as visibility improved a bit |
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