August 5 Granite State

We were fortunate enough to have sharks, Fin whales, and Atlantic white-sided dolphins on both of our trips today! Even with many of the same species today each trip was definitely unique in its own way.

We started our morning trip with a great group of Atlantic white-side dolphins. These whales were just milling about the area and surfacing so close to each other we were able to get some great looks at these toothed-whales. This particular group of dolphins included individuals that were most likely born just a month ago as a few of them were "tiny" in comparison to the large adults in the pod. With these animals in such a closely knit group you could get an amazing size comparison between the young and adult whales.
After leaving the dolphins our travels took us to an area where we ended up seeing 4 different Fin whales and even a few blue sharks swimming at the surface.

One of our morning Fin whales

As for the sharks, most of the time we have to ease our way over to any we see because as soon as they realize a large vessel is coasting nearby, they typically get a bit spooked and quickly go down into the depths of the ocean to get away.

One of our Blue shark swimming along the surface of the water. This shark is facing to the left as the left fin seen above the water is the dorsal fin and the fin on the right-hand side of the photo is the tail of this fish

The surprise of the morning was another baleen whale that at first glance was thought to be a Fin whale. As we made our way closer to this whale spouting we realized that's not a Fin whale, that's a Sei whale!

Above: The dorsal fin of a Sei whale is typically much taller and more pronounced than the dorsal fin of a Fin whale (below)

Sei whales do not feed on small schooling fish like Fins whale do but instead feed exclusively on animal plankton! We were not expecting to find this whale out amongst the Fin whales but here it was zipping around the area (Sei whales are the fastest swimming whales in all the ocean!) and we got the chance to spend a bit of time with it before venturing on to other Fin whales in the area. What a nice surprise for our passengers and crew!

This afternoon we were back out searching for wildlife and what was the first whale we see out in the distance, only the rarest whale in the Atlantic, the highly endangered North Atlantic Right whale! But that wasn't the only whale around. As soon as we slowed down and were about to maneuver through the area (as restrictions for boats of all shapes and sizes are in place) when in the vicinity of a right whale, a Fin whale surfaced just off the bow! This Fin whale was heading in the opposite direction of the Right whale and so we made our way over to get some looks at one of the 2nd largest animals in the world!

Fin whale #0926 surfacing just off our port side this afternoon!

Once clear of both large baleen whales we were off again in search of more activity. We had a bit of a challenge offshore as there were plenty of whales being seen in the distance but not once, twice, or even three times, but 4 times in a row(!) all the Fin whales we stopped to take a look at clearly wanted nothing to do with us! We would see spouts out in the distance watching as they would surface for a handful of breaths, dive, and return to the surface a few minutes later, but each and every time we made our way over to them they would disappear. Wildlife was definitely winning in the game of "hide and seek" this afternoon. But alas, our efforts paid off as we got some great looks at one of the Fin whales in the area.

And just as we turned for home our Captain spotted one of the 2nd largest shark in the world, a Basking shark!

The dorsal fin of our Basking shark as it swam just under the water

On our way home we saw a bit of splashing not far away and quickly knew what it was. There was a pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins nearby. What a nice way to end our trip. But that wasn't the only surprise. As we made our way towards the dolphins a Fin whale surfaced amongst the toothed-whales!

Above: A Fin whale associated with a pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins

Below: The close-up of a recent injury to this whale

Check out the large Fin whale meandering through the water as it is being escorted by the dolphins all around:

We often don't get the chance to see interspecies interactions such as these dolphins, which have average lengths of 6-8ft long full grown, swimming all around a Fin whale which is almost 10x's larger than the dolphins. Just spectacular! What a way to end our day out on the ocean.
Many thanks to our passengers today. We had many first-timers and lots of returnees that we enjoyed having join us once again for another wildlife encounter offshore! We look forward to every one's annual return once again, now with even more seasoned whale spotters for next time. A special thanks to "Ladder's Grandmother" Brenda, for adopting Fjord the Fin whale today for her dinosaur-loving grandchild. Nothing like giving the gift of an animal thought to be larger than any of the dinosaurs that ever lived on earth! And to Barbara for adopting Stripes as they certainly put on a show for us today!

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