Blue Ocean Society's Whale Sightings

Greetings! Thanks for visiting our blog. Our staff and interns will be posting their experiences here working on whale watch boats in NH and MA.

Saturday, June 23, 2012

June 23 Granite State

It was another beautiful morning on Jeffreys Ledge today.  The whales and weather were working hand in hand as the ocean looked like a lake and the whales were out and about!  Our trip started with a couple Minke whales perusing the area and after a few looks we knew we had to keep going and utilize the gorgeous conditions we were surrounded by to search for more marine life.
Minke whale
Next stop a Fin whale.  Can you guess who it was???  Low and behold we had found Fjord once again.  This animal was in a completely different location than where we had seen it just yesterday, but there it was moving through the area. 
Hello again Fjord!
What a pleasant surprise.  With some nice looks at such a familiar Fin whale we were off again to see what else was lurking on Jeffreys Ledge.

One familiar whale lead to another.  It was Halfmoon the Humpback whale.  Another animal we had seen less than 24hrs before in a section of Jeffreys Ledge miles away!  Halfmoon kept us keyed in on its movements as this whale created a few bubble clouds (something we have been seeing from this animal multiple days in a row no matter where on the Ledge we keep seeing this whale) all while meandering around the ocean for a bit.
Halfmoon


More Minke whales topped off this morning's adventure and before we knew it we were off again for our afternoon trip.  Sea conditions were still enjoyable as a light sea breeze picked up, cooling everyone down a few degrees as we ventured offshore.

Our first whales this afternoon were Pinball the Humpback whale and her calf.  Both animals were slowly moving around as we got some great looks as these two whales effortlessly swam in synchrony together. 
Pinball
With such great quality time spent with these two mammals we decided to move on to other areas of Jeffreys Ledge to search for more life.  Apparently Pinball and her calf had other plans...

With a flick of her tail, Pinball creates quite the saltwater disturbance
Pinball's calf showcasing the underside of it's tail for us
Within minutes of us leaving suddenly a frantic of activity occurred on the upper deck.  Our passengers informed us a whale was breaching out behind us.  With a quick turn of the head (and boat!) we all soon saw that Pinball's calf was jumping clear out of the water!  While the calf decided to go "aerial" Mom had her own plans as she started rolling over bringing her massive flippers above the surface and smacking them on the water! 
Half of Pinball's tail (left) and her large white flipper (right)
Pinball's calf breaches
What a sight.  Clearly we headed back to the area and got the chance to see these two whales continue to flipper slap the water (Pinball) and jump out of the salty sea multiple times (Pinball's calf). 

The behaviors of these two whales changed in a matter of moments and we had no idea how long any of it would last.  The thrill of all whales is the unpredicted nature these massive creatures exhibit and understanding the full luck and appreciation of any such movements these animals make.  Our time had been very much enjoyable before this pair started becoming active, making the whole experience that much more special as I hope you realize it was all luck to see such remarkable moments to begin with.

Many thanks to Pinball and her calf for permanently embedding quite the memory into so many of our passengers today as we also got to add to this trip 2 Fin whales and a couple of Minke whales as well into our afternoon outing.
Pinball's calf

Before making it back to the harbor we did get a nice fresh water rinse as the rain came down but had stopped before we even got back to the harbor.  Fact is, this was just the icing on the cake with all that we experienced today.  Nothing like Mother Nature showing her beauty is all kinds of ways today on the water.

Rainbow at Rye Harbor

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