Great Day on the Atlantic Queen

After all the rain yesterday, it was great to get down to the boat and see sunny skies and fairly calm seas. It was my first trip out this season, and I was a little apprehensive after hearing that whales had been hard to find lately. But that wasn't the case today!

Fin whale #9709's giant blowholes

We got good looks at a fin whale, who turned out to be whale #9709 in our catalog - a whale we've seen frequently since 1997. After several surfacings, we headed out further on the Ledge to see what else we could find. After a loop around, we saw another blow next to the Prince of Whales, which turned out to be the fin whale #9709 again! Hey, it's quality, not quantity that makes us happy, and this was an amazing look. At one point the whale turned and headed straight for us and down our right side - from my vantage point on the fly bridge, I could even catch a quick glimpse of its eye.

Fin whale #9709's dorsal fin. It's hard to see in this photo, but the whale has a barely-perceptible "squiggle" on the back of its dorsal fin, along with scars in the front and back of the dorsal that were possibly from an entanglement in fishing gear that happened sometime over the last few years.

I'll never complain about seeing one of the largest animals on Earth, and having such a great sighting was terrific. Thanks again to Cutler School, whose students and teachers came 2 hours from Swanzey, NH to join us - hope you all enjoyed the trip and your afternoon at the beach!

Friends on the Prince of Whales: mate Ryan, BOS Research Coordinator Dianna and BOS summer intern Heather.

Keep in touch! Become a Fan on Facebook || Follow Us On Twitter

June 11- Granite State

Our long distance travellers from the state of Vermont joined us on the water today as we headed out of Rye Harbor with the 3rd grade class from Union Elementary. Excited kids and sunny skies provided a great start to the day.

Before we had even passed by the Isles of Shoals we had our first marine animal sighting of the day. However, much to EVERYONE's surprise it wasn't a species we typically encounter during our trips. We had come across a LEATHERBACK TURTLE!!! Leatherback turtles are the largest and capable of diving the deepest of all the turtles in the world! A leatherback can grow up to 7ft long and dive to depths of 4,200ft!!! In the complete state of surprise that we found this turtle, I am sorry to report I did not get a chance to take a photograph. I have a feeling however, that many of the children did as they were just as excited to have their first sighting of the day as the crew was in finding this creature. After a handful of breaths of air the turtle ever so easily slipped under the surface of the ocean disappearing from sight. Wow, this was definitely a sighting I will not be forgetting anytime soon and a reminder of how unexpected any sighting can be.

Our trip was only beginning and soon again we had another animal in sight, this time a blow from a whale. We found a Fin whale that was definitely on the move, in multiple directions, so our time spent with this animal was definitely a bit of a challenge. It is easy to get so caught up in seeing these animals sometimes that you forget these whales are wild, and can and do whatever they want, whenever they want. With a few good looks we decided to press on towards the Ledge.

Thanks to our fishing friends we had been informed of a large whale on Jeffreys and were pleased to find yet another Fin whale for all to see. This whale was particularly exciting to find because it turned out to be Dingle the Fin whale!



This whale was first sighted on Jeffreys Ledge in 2003 has made multiple appearances over the years to the Blue Ocean research affiliates, most recently last year! It is always a great feeling to see an "old friend" return to feast on these feeding grounds.

Thanks to a lively group of kids who were full of amazing and intriguing questions!

Keep in touch!Become a Fan on Facebook || Follow Us On Twitter

June 8- Prince of Whales, Newburyport

Ladder! A fin whale first seen in 1984

Leaving the dock in Newburyport this morning, we had no idea how far away from home we would travel in search of whales. We headed toward the southern end of Jeffreys Ledge, just east of Cape Ann. We arrived on the ledge and still hadn't seen a whale so we kept going...and going...and going! Finally, after running 36 miles from the dock (we usually run 15-20 miles out), we spotted a few blows. At first, the 4+ whales were seemingly elusive, spending a lot of time underwater and not being predictable. Then we approached a pair of fin whales who were taking short dives and just milling about. One dorsal fin shape looked familiar to me but it was as soon as I saw the tell-tale scars on the back of the whale that I knew exactly who this whale was...LADDER!!

Ladder is one of Blue Ocean Society's Adopt-a-Whales. (http://www.blueoceansociety.org/Store/store.html) We chose Ladder to be included in this highly exclusive group because we see him almost every year, and he is known for almost always being in the company of other fin whales (fin whales are primarily solitary, forming pairs/groups occasionally). Not surprising, today he was with another whale, whose identity has yet to be determined.

Ladder's friend

Ladder has a unique scar on his back that was caused by a small boat collision. (see the image at the top of this page) He gets his name from the propeller marks, that look like the rungs of a ladder. Sadly, boats and whales collide now and then, and many whales bear evidence of this potentially deadly threat. Fortunately for Ladder, the collision just left a scar...other whales aren't nearly as lucky.

As we turned to start the long journey back to Newburyport, we passed by another pair of fin whales. This pair turned out to be a mother with her new calf! How exciting to see a new baby fin whale!!! Hope this calf will be healthy and add to the endangered population of fin whales! With the clock ticking, no time allowed for images to be taken of this pair so we hope to see them again soon to determine who the lucky new mom is!

Thanks to all of our understanding and patient passengers today including the students from Bethlehem Elementary School and Northern Essex Community College! Also many thanks to everyone who purchased note cards or sweatshirts as all proceeds from those sales benefit our whale research and educational programs directly! To make a donation, become a member or adopt a whale (including Ladder!) please visit our website www.blueoceansociety.org. Thanks!!


Keep in touch!Become a Fan on Facebook || Follow Us On Twitter

Hard working interns on The Atlantic Queen

Heather Lewis and Reagan Byrne just two of our summer interns we have this summer are working together to get there time and locations on our school trip with the Ellis School from Fremont, NH. It was a beautiful day on the water, calm seas, and cool breezes! We covered alot of water today, working really hard to find a blow! We only had about 10 minutes left before we had to head back to Rye Harbor when we saw some splashing on the surface, those splashes turned out to be a small pod of Atlantic White Sided Dolphin, there were about 8-12 in the pod, they were racing through the water at really high speeds. We spent the remainder of the trip with these small toothed whales. They are so fun to observe and who doesn't love "dolphin" Thanks to the 6th graders we had today and to the 5th graders who will be going out with us tomorrow!

Keep in touch!Become a Fan on Facebook Follow Us On Twitter

A beautiful Friday on the Atlantic Queen

Thanks to our friends on the Granite State we came across a beautiful,huge Finback whale. Our day took us quite aways from Rye Harbor but we were kept very busy by our passengers from The Strafford school, 88 5th graders can make the time fly by! Our first sighting of this animal demonstrated how long fin whales can hold there breathe! He/she stayed down for 10-12 minutes in the begining then for only 6-8 minutes, as you can see from the photo we got a great close look! This whale has not been identified yet, we will leave that up to our expert research coordinator Dianna Schulte! Mother nature may not cooperate this weekend, but mark your calendars we are going out weekends and everyday begining June 19th. "Any day seeing a whale is a great day."

Keep in touch!Become a Fan on Facebook Follow Us On Twitter

Newburyport-Prince of Whales-June 4

Leaving the Merrimack River this morning, we were greeted by several harbor seals, and then dozens of northern gannets just outside the river mouth! The gannets were quite impressive. These sea birds are the largest in the area with a 6-foot wing span! They are known for diving from heights of 50 feet in an attempt to catch a fish. Above, you can see one gannet flying by (check out the black wing tips!) while two more just dove into the water!

As we arrived on Jeffreys Ledge, our friends on the Atlantic Queen passed on to us a report of a large fin whale in the area. We got a very quick glimpse of a minke whale as we headed to the deep water just west of the ledge. Our group of students from Strafford School were excellent whale observers:

With a little patience, we were able to get several nice looks at this huge fin whale!
I am still unsure of the identity of this whale but will hopefully find out soon. Or perhaps this is a new visitor and not yet cataloged! Fin whale research is exciting as very little is known about this species in spite of their huge size.

Ever looked down the blowholes of a whale? Check out this image:
Overall it was a beautiful day on the water! The weekend weather isn't looking conducive for whale watching but hopefully we will be back on the water soon!


Keep in touch!Become a Fan on Facebook || Follow Us On Twitter

Granite State- June 4

This morning we headed out to Jeffreys Ledge with a great group of kids from Laconia Junior High School. Ocean conditions were IDEAL with a clear horizon and very little wind on the surface of the water; a great combination to search for marine animals!

Our time out on the Ledge did not disappoint as we found a large Fin whale for all on board. At first it appeared this animal was on the move due to the fact that during our first few looks this whale was continually moving a direction away from us. With a little luck on our side, and good timing with the whale's behavior, this animal decided to stay put and circle around a more concentrated area soon after arriving on scene. We got some great looks at this whale during one surfacing as it slowly circled nearby, letting all of us get a sense of just how large this species really is.

During our last looks, as the Fin whale arched it's back to indicate another deeper dive we were lucky enough to get a glimpse of part of a Fin whale's tail! The tips and a small portion of the tail broke the surface of the water. As quickly as the tail appeared it disappeared due to a quick flick from the whale as this animal went down into the depths of the ocean. Though brief, for those watching, it was quite exciting as often times a Fin whale does not lift any part of it's tail out of the water. One of the many reasons why whales are so fascinating to watch. No one can really predict the constant behavior of one of these 60+ton animals.

No potential ID has been made for this whale at the moment but note the unique U-shaped scar and mark halfway down the back of this Fin whale. Stay tuned as our friends aboard the Atlantic Queen II and the Prince of Whales may have spent some time with this animal as well today and possibly recognized this individual with a match from our Jeffreys Ledge Fin whale catalogue.

Keep in touch!Become a Fan on Facebook Follow Us On Twitter