Monday, July 25 on the Starfish

Fin whale, showing its white lower jaw

Today I got to be a guest naturalist on the Starfish. It's always fun to get out of a routine and hang out on another boat for the day. The whales did not disappoint!  We had 2 fin whales in the area, and spent all our time with one - one of the best fin whale sightings ever!

We were totally in the right place at the right time - this whale was apparently feeding just under the surface, and it even dove underneath us a few times.  At one point, a passenger asked if these whales ever show their tails, and I said that they usually don't, because they're so streamlined and negatively buoyant, that they don't usually need to lift their tails up for extra leverage when they go on a deeper dive.  Only minutes after the words came out of my mouth, the whale fluked!  It was a low fluke, but still - very cool.

Just when it was time to start heading back to Hampton, we got the grand finale. The whale surfaced right next to the bow with its mouth full, and then swam right around the bow and to the other side, affording us terrific looks at the whale both above and below the water.

Whale breath!

 Thanks to all who joined us today!

Why we have to keep monitoring trash and doing beach cleanups - plastic bag 20 miles offshore

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Atlantic Queen July 25

This is Fin whale #0821 seen in 2008,2010, and now in 2011

I was all about Fin whales today! What a day with the second largest whale in the world. I have never spent such quality time with this species before, very cooperative, circuling, changing direction, only staying down for 2-4 minute dives, it does nor get better than that.

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Saturday and Sunday on the Atlantic Queen

The whales were a bit challenging this weekend, but it helped knowing that people on shore were sweltering in the heat while we enjoyed some cool ocean breezes!  Yesterday, I even had a sweatshirt on!

Saturday we spent time with our favorite humpback whale of the weekend - Hornbill, a whale presumed a male who was first sighted in 1977.  Hornbill was taking very long dives - a couple were 20 minutes!  But then he appeared to spend more time at the surface towards the end of our time watching him.

Hornbill on Saturday

On Sunday, we found one of the best fin whales ever!!  Maybe it just seemed great because we'd see Hornbill taking such long dives on Saturday. This fin whale was taking on 2-minute dives and eventually spent several breaths up at the surface, giving us great looks at its swirly gray chevron and distinctive dorsal fin. I haven't identified this individual yet, but if we do match it to our catalog, we'll post a note here!

Fin whale, showing its white lower jaw

Fin whale chevron

Fin whale back and dorsal fin

Then we found  Hornbill again, and again he was taking pretty long dives, although they were only about 8 minutes long this time.  We stayed for a couple looks, and then it was time to head back to Rye Harbor.

Hornbill on Sunday!

Thanks to all who joined us, and congratulations to Steven and Aaron, winners of our raffles this weekend!

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July 24 Granite State

The ocean conditions were about as good as you can get, almost lake-like conditions, for most of the day today! As for the whales, just as it seems to continue to be, we had two trips today and both were quite different from one another.

Our morning trip started out with a pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins. There were 10 animals in this group as you could count them under the water as they remained so close to each other (and to the boat!) a few times.Even with a smaller pod of these whales they weren't speeding through the water in any particular direction so we enjoyed our time as they kept showing up on either side of the boat.

Both dolphins and boats alike were out on Jeffreys Ledge searching for fish today!

We continued further offshore as our visibility and super calm waters made conditions ideal for sighting whales. We ended up coming across Hornbill the Humpback whale next. This animal was spending 9-10 minutes under the water and constantly changing direction when at last it returned up to the surface. With a little patience and a little luck we were able to get some really nice looks at this large adult whale as it swam around on Jeffreys Ledge.

Since Hornbill was being a little bit "squirmy" we decided to check out some other areas of Jeffrey Ledge. Turns out the next whale we sighted was on the way in and was a super cooperative Minke whale.

The dorsal fin of our Minke whale

This whale surfaced 8 times close to the boat before going on a deeper dive, just circling around our vessel, allowing for some awesome looks at sometimes a skittish species to watch.

Can you see the "Minke Mittens?" They refer to the white patch on each flipper, or the greenish sheen seen just under the water as this whale surfaces for a breath of air

What a nice treat to end our morning trip with as we also ended up passing a few Harbor seals too on our travels back home!

This afternoon we came across a Fin whale first. With just a sequence of looks at this animal above the surface we quickly realized who this was. It was #0622, a whale seen just yesterday morning in a slightly different location of Jeffreys Ledge!

The lower white jaw of #0622 as it begins the process of going on a deep dive

This animal wasn't traveling all that far during the time it was under the water so everyone on board was able to really appreciate just how large these mammals are since this whale surfaced many times close by our boat!

The left and right sides of #0622

Not only did we get some nice looks at this animal but just before leaving the area we saw this whale poop! A bright patch of red "muck" suddenly appeared on the surface of the water where this whale had just passed through. The defecation was red in color meaning #0622 had recently been feeding on krill. The more you eat the more you need to get rid of excess waste and that's exactly what this whale was doing!

The water "stained" red; aka. whale poop!

We got word from our friends on the Atlantic Queen that Hornbill was still around the Ledge so off we went searching for a different species. This Humpback whale was circling around the area probably trying to corral some of the fish underneath the water as we were seeing patches on our fish finder under the boat. Such a nice comparison to see two different baleen whales utilizing Jeffreys Ledge and the productive grounds of this habitat.

Hornbill's dorsal fin (above) and tail (below)

We will back out on the water tomorrow so come and join us for a trip offshore in search of marine life of all types!


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July 23 Prince of Whales

This heat has got to go! Many of you had the right idea today when you put on your sea legs and headed to the ocean with us!

Although I missed our morning whale/bird watching trip, I heard it was a success with several minke whales and a very huge fin whales (and many birds too!)

This afternoon we were treated to a hungry fin whale feeding fairly close to shore. This whale was surfacing with its mouth filled with water and fish, and was filtering out the water as it came up.

Fin whale blowholes

Fin whale surfacing, about to spout!

Further offshore, we found a second fin whale. This one appeared to be feeding as well, based on the short dives and staying in the same area. This is a new whale that we have seen several times this summer but hasn't been given an ID number yet.

Fin whale dorsal fin

As we headed for home, we heard from our friends on the Atlantic Queen of a humpback whale not far away. As we moved into the area, we saw Hornbill, one of our frequent humpback visitors!

Fabulous look at Hornbill's whole tail!

Hornbill has been notorious for not picking up his tail very much and sometimes being difficult to get close to but this afternoon we were lucky to get some very nice looks at this whale, who was first seen in 1977!

Thanks to everyone on board today's trips!
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July 23 Granite State

Another toasty day on land made for a great excuse to spend the day offshore in cooler temperatures in search of whale activity. With both birders and whale fanatics alike on board today we were off to spot all kinds of marine life.

We started our morning trip with a nice Minke whale as this animal circled around the area. With such calm seas we were able to keep track of this whale very easily and get some really nice looks at this animal before heading further offshore. As we got to Jeffreys Ledge we saw some splashing in the water. There was a pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins ahead of us! There were approximately 50 of these whales milling about the area, taking their time swimming through the water, providing some great looks at such maneuverable creatures.

Check out the prominent white stripe on these dolphins; hence the name Atlantic white-sided dolphin!

We then ended up finding 5 Fin whales as our travels took us around areas of Jeffreys Ledge. A few of these very large mammals were being a bit challenging as they constantly were changing direction with almost every surfacing and traveling a bit while on deeper dives. Our efforts paid off in the end though as we rounded out our trip with two of these animals associated with each other.

Two Fin whales simultaneously surfacing

The even more exciting news from this pair was that we recognized them (thanks to our Fin whale Master IDer, and recently updated Fin whale Catalog on board!) we were able to positively identify these whales as #0622 and #0911! Always exciting when we get the chance to document whales returning to Jeffreys Ledge over the years, and as for #0622, multiple times during this season! We even got the surprise surfacing from these two mammals as they came up for a breath of air right alongside us. Talk about seeing the whole length of these whales; wow!!!

#0622 arising from the depths of the ocean just off our port side!

As we headed back out for our afternoon trip we were excited to see what we might come across as recently each trip has been so drastically different in whale sightings we really didn't know what to expect. Looks like today was no different. As we made our way back towards the areas where we had seen whales in the morning we ended up coming across a single Fin whale. This animal also had quite the unique dorsal fin. While we do not know who this animal is just yet, we knew it was a different whale than any of the animals we had seen during our morning trip. Just another indication of just how quickly these animals can come, or go, in just a few short hours. Take a look below at a few of the unique dorsal fins from some of our Fin whales sighted today. They really are quite different from each other after a bit of a closer inspection!

Above: Fin whale #0911 as it was sighted swimming alongside #0622 (photo below)

Above: Another single Fin whale sighted from the morning trip
Below: Our Fin whale from the afternoon trip. Definitely a different animal than our sightings from this morning!

We also were able to spend some time with yet another animal that was not seen this morning, it was Hornbill the Humpback whale. This animal appeared to be staying in the general area as each time it surfaced, it was not far from us. We also got some great looks when this whale went on a deeper dive as it was bringing its large tail up above the surface of the water each time. As Hornbill has become an "old friend" to all of us over the years, this whale is pretty infamous for taking shallow dives and not showcasing its tail so many folks enjoy seeing. Today however was definitely a different case as Hornbill did just the opposite of what we typically see from this whale: shorter dive times and lots of fluking.
We thank Hornbill for being around today, as no matter what a whale does, or does not do, it is always wonderful to be in the presence of such incredible mammals.

We had lots of familiar faces aboard our boat today so thanks for returning for another adventure out on the open ocean as we enjoy seeing not only familiar whales but familiar folks as well throughout the season! Also, congratulations to all of our first time whale watchers who joined us today. It was quite the beautiful day to be on the ocean and spend time with life out on Jeffreys Ledge!

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July 22 Granite State

Hot, hot and hot! Thankfully if you got the chance to join us on a whale watch today you got the chance to head to slightly cooler temperatures and nice fresh salt air! Of course you also then got a chance to see some great marine life as well!

This morning we spotted 3 Blue Sharks on our way out to the Ledge, many of them being spotted from our eagle-eyed passengers on the front of the boat! With a bit of haze on the horizon sighting whale spouts was a bit more challenging but our first whales of the day turned out to be 3 Humpback whales.

We had come across Mudskipper, her 2011 calf, and Chickadee. All three of them were swimming together when we first came upon them.

Mudskipper (Mom) in the foreground while Chickadee is just beyond her

We were able to get some great looks at all three, all different sized (and aged!) animals surfacing and diving together. It was quite interesting to see this exact trio again, as we had gotten the opportunity to see these same three whales together on July 16, almost exactly a week ago! So fascinating! The pairing didn't last long as just before leaving the area we spotted Chickadee out in the distance heading in one direction and Mom and her calf heading in a different direction. Easy come, easy go. Thanks to Mudskipper's calf who decided to swim by us a couple of times as Mom was still on a deeper dive, allowing the calf to check out the scenery as it awaited for its Mother to swim up from the depths of the sea. Definitely an experience.

Mudskipper's calf surfacing along side our boat

Before heading for home we ended up watching a large Fin whale doing some deep feeding as this whale continuously circled the area, surfacing with water pouring out of its mouth. What a sight seeing such a large mammal have its lower jaw completely bellowed out capturing food inside and filtering salt water out of its baleen plates. Of course capturing that moment on camera was a bit more challenging but an idenitifcation photo of this whale's dorsal fin will help us to determine if the Blue Ocean Society has seen this whale before on Jeffreys Ledge or maybe a new animal to be sighted in our area!


With a few Minke whales sighted on our ride in we were back at the harbor, and the heat(!), and looked forward to heading back out to much more managable temperatures on the open ocean!

Just as it seems to go sometimes, the whales we saw in the morning were no where to be found this afternoon and places we hadn't seen whales in the morning, suddenly we had activity there this afternoon. Just incredible how in just a few hours, whales come and go, and we get to see what the Ledge holds for us on another adventure.

We too started off with quite the squiggly Fin whale. Longer dive times and sporatic surfacing made trying to get looks at this animal quite challenging. We managed to get a couple of decent looks and decided to cut our losses and check out other areas. Thanks to our other BOS affiliated vessels (all of those who post on this blog daily) had come across a pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins. Great! Off we went to make our way to these whales. Turned out the Prince of Whales had the same idea at the same time and both of us took turns watching these whales zigging and zagging between the boat wakes and zooming through the water.


The splashing these whales were creating at the surface of the water was great as you could see where they were going even from out in the distance. With some nice looks we pressed on further offshore. Little did we know we went searching and came up empty-handed. Again, such is what happens when you go searching for wildlife. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. We had run out of time for further exploration so we started to head back towards Rye Harbor. On our ride home, one of our constantly searching passenger saw a spout, and not far away, it was another Fin whale. This whale was also just circling the area, and gave us some great looks at this whale's chevron pattern and body as it surfaced just off our port side.

Above: The swirly gray pattern seen on this Fin whale is its chevron pattern, a unique pattern for each Fin whale that helps to dileniate one Fin whale from another.
Below: The dorsal fin of this Fin whale and some unique scars on its body that we use along with the chevron pattern to individual identify this animal

What a nice surprise and a great way to end our trip. While we were unable to match up this animal to our catalog on board, the scars along both of our Fin whales today is a sad reminder of how all types of life have daily threats.

Two different Fin whales with scars beyond their dorsal fins as a result of human impacts to these wild creatures

Even though these are the second largest creatures in the world, they are not invincible to the world they live in. Whales of all shapes and sizes unfortunately have scars on their bodies resulting from an incident from either ship strikes (of all vessels both large and small!) as well as entanglements in fishing gear. It is vitally important to these whales to be vigilant when out on the open ocean as so many of you have seen these animals can surface and disappear under the water just as quickly as they were sighted. These whale's threats are impacts from us humans and we need to respect, and share their world with ours.

Thanks to everyone who joined us today in hopes of getting away from the humidity and extreme heat on land and go searching for some massive mammals! It was a wonderful day out on the water. A special thanks to both Kathleen and PJ who adopted Pinball and Owl today! Two female Humpbacks whales that have already been sighted on Jeffreys Ledge this season. Lets hope we get a chance to see them again soon! Until then...

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