Whale of a Weekend!

Wow... if you had told me on Friday that we would have had such great sightings this weekend, I might not have believed it. Things were looking a little slim late last week - we always found whales, but always after a lot of searching. Not so for this weekend! Yesterday, we had several fin whales, all in the same area, and we finally got good looks at a few of them when they decided to slow down!

Two things were great about today's trip. There was lots of variety, and we were closer to shore than we've been in weeks, only about 17 miles out, allowing us lots of time with the whales. And there were lots of whales! We saw about 7 different fin whales, including a mother/calf pair and our old friend "Dingle," then spent time with a pod of Atlantic white sided dolphins.

Initially, it looked like there were only a few dolphins and they didn't seem too friendly, but soon we were surrounded by about 30 of them, who swam back and forth between our port and starboard sides for awhile. There were two active calves in the pod, always a treat to see. We were thrilled with this sighting, then got a call from the Prince of Whales saying they had a humpback not too far from us. We headed a few miles south to get a couple quick looks at "Hornbill," a humpback first sighted way back in 1977, and our first humpback sighting in nearly a month! It was great to have whales inshore of Jeffreys Ledge today, and see several different species. We're optimistic about the next couple weeks....!

(Photos from this weekend will be on here soon!)

I forgot about the sharks!

Somehow, I forgot to write in yesterday's post about one of the major highlights of our Atlantic Queen trip yesterday... sharks! We were searching for reported pilot whales, and came upon a blue shark feasting on some chum (or something resembling fish entrails) in the water! That one shark turned into two, and they were so excited about their snack that they didn't pay any attention as we came right upon them. This is the first time I've seen a blue shark in a long time. The sharks were about 6 feet long, but apparently can grow to 12 feet or so.

Here's some photos of the sharks and of the pilot whales yesterday. I was thrilled to see that I had caught a couple of the calves right as they came up to the surface, you can see the eye in one!

Blue shark

Wednesday's fin whale

Pilot whale calf and its mom

A tiny calf spouting behind its mom!

Pilot whales return!

We had a great day on the Atlantic Queen today, with sightings of two of my favorite species- a fin whale and pilot whales! The fin whale was definitely unpredictable - taking short dives, but reappearing in random places so that it was hard to get a very good look.

The pilot whales were a few miles inshore and were much more "cooperative," as we say in the whale watching world, spending lots of time at the surface. There were at least 2 calves in this pod of 15-20 whales. I generally try to be really scientific, but it is hard to describe them as anything but cute... They kept popping up, with their heads high out of the water every time they surfaced right next to their moms. There was also a couple huge males (they have very large dorsal fins), one with a big scar in its dorsal that looked like it was the result of an entanglement. I'll post photos here soon, just haven't had a chance to download them yet!

Minkes and Fins

Minke whales were everywhere this weekend! I just came off a successful trip on the Atlantic Queen. We got about 20 miles out and found ourselves in what looked like a pod of minkes (baleen whales aren't usually found in pods like toothed whales) - there were there were 4-5 at once, in all directions, circling around as they fed just below the water surface.

I got some of the most amazing looks at minkes that I ever have - several times they circled around the bow and we got to see their "minke mittens," the white band on each of their flippers. Honestly, sometimes it's hard to watch minkes, as they surface a few times and then will often disappear - they are so quick, it's hard to follow along. So to have this many whales, all in the same area, moving so slowly, was really amazing!

Here are a few shots of the minkes. One of them had a nasty scar, which looks like it might be the result of a boat strike.

Whale with scar

Minke whale, showing blowholes and "mittens"

Can you spot the marine debris in this photo? In the lower right corner, there is a piece of rope. One of our current research projects involves mapping the locations of marine debris along with the locations of whale sightings to see how often the two intersect.

Yesterday, there were several minkes around as well, and we also spent some time with our old friend "Dingle," who we've been tracking since 2003. There's a previous post about Dingle, as we saw this whale not too long ago.

Above: Dingle's back and dorsal fin. Below: Beautiful chevron and blaze pattern on Dingle's right side.

It's very strange that we had so many humpbacks early in the season, and they seem to have disappeared overnight. However, as we saw this weekend, there's still plenty of life around!

Fin Whales Galore

Today I saw several fin whales lunge feeding at the surface. It was amazing! Usually one just gets to see the back of a fin whale but today the fin whales' faces could be seen. The whales were doing other cool behaviors as well. At one point, a fin whale dove under the boat and its tail could be see under the water. This was the first time I had seen a fin whale's fluke! Another fin whale even rolled over a little bit. It is not everyday that one is surrounded by the second largest whale and animal on Earth. It is interesting to think that these enormous animals sustain themselves mostly on krill. This year has been the best year of whale watching in a while. Not only have we seen more humpback whales than usual but we have also seen pilot whales for the first time in a few years. Hope to see you on a whale watch!

Fantastic fin whales

We had lots of fin whales around again today, about 5 in total seen from the Atlantic Queen. There were also a couple minke whales charging around! We were also lucky enough to avoid a storm coming by that seemed to have drenched everyone except us! We did get a few raindrops, but things cleared up quickly and we got some great looks at the second-largest species on Earth! Photos from today's trip and yesterday's trip with the pilot whales:

Top: Chevron of fin whale from Sunday's trip, bottom: dorsal fin of Sunday's (not-yet-identified!) fin whale

Above, left: Pair of pilot whales. Above, right: A pilot whale surfaces, showing its eye and mouth!

Above: two spy-hopping pilot whales and one swimming!
Below: Fin whale (not yet identified) from Saturday's trip

Playful Pilot Whales

Pilot whales were out and about playing today. This active group was jumping, swimming upside down, hitting their tails on the waters surface, and giving the Atlantic Queen and its passengers curious looks. Often found swimming in groups or pods, the group seen today even had a few calves! We also sighted a finback whale which gave an excellent size comparison between the two different species. Its always exciting to see all the different whales that call the ocean and jeffrey's ledge home.