We saw some splashing in the distance. It appeared to be a small pod of Atlantic white sided dolphins! As we got closer and spent more time with them, we realized we had at least 100 dolphins all spread out around us! Many times, these dolphins came right up to us, turned on their sides to look up at us! It is a pretty neat feeling to be watched by wildlife!
Next we found a minke whale but this little one wasn't all that interested in being watched so we continued on. After much searching and coordinating with other boats, we spotted our first blows from larger whales! Two humpback whales!!
One was a familiar tail- Patches, a 32+ year old male who is featured on the brochure for our friend's whale watch company, Granite State Whale Watch. Patches was hanging out with a 15 year old female named Springboard. We have only seen her once before- last week, and have never seen her in prior years! Great to have a new whale visiting Jeffreys Ledge! As fun as it was to watch this pair nap at the surface, we are always worried about our whales and the threats they may face. These two were in an area that was dense with fishing gear. Entanglement is a big problem for whales. About 3/4 of the humpbacks in the Gulf of Maine have scars from being tangled up in fishing gear at least once in their life.
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| Patches, swimming dangerously close to fishing gear |
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| Springboard (see the mark she was named for on the right side?) |
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| Springboard diving |
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| Blue Moon rising over Newburyport |
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