Thank you to all our passengers who joined us from London, Germany and Denmark, and to all of our local folks who spent the afternoon with us.
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Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Prince of Whales July 2 & 3
Greetings from The Prince of Whales! It has been terrific weather off shore, nice breezes and calm seas. For the past 2 days we have spent time with Minke's and Fin whales! Seeing the second largest whale in the world and the smallest that visit the gulf is a great way to compare and see size differences.
The Fin whale above is female we have seen the past 2 days. Sightings include the years of 2006, 08, 10, and 2012. She was with a calf in 2010. We also spent time with 7 Minke whales in the past 2 days. On of our Minke's was "Sockeye" Minke,named by the crew of The Prince of whales. This Minke has a turned up upper rostrum,not sure what happened to this guy but he/she looks happy and healthey dispite the abnormality. Congratulations to our raffle winner today Dylan Wade from Boxford who won "Comet" on of our adopt a whales,Dylan said his trip was "epic"
Thank you to all our passengers who joined us from London, Germany and Denmark, and to all of our local folks who spent the afternoon with us.
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Thank you to all our passengers who joined us from London, Germany and Denmark, and to all of our local folks who spent the afternoon with us.
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Sunday, July 1, 2012
July 1 Atlantic Queen Trip
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| Fin whales together |
We had a great day watching 2 fin whales, who were doing some circling around, apparently feeding somewhere below the water surface.
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| This fin whale has a distinctive "blotch" on its right side |
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| The beautiful chevron marking of one of the fin whales |
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| Fin whale's back and dorsal fin |
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Atlantic Queen June 30
Apologizes for the late post. Fin whales and Minke whales seem to be stealing the show lately, for several days now they have been around each other and letting us get good looks at them.
Our Minke whales were darting all around making it a bit more difficult to photograph. Our research coordinator, Dianna will have her hands full hellping me ID the amounts of Fin whales we have been seeing lately. Cheers to our raffle winners,the Miller family from Scotland. Thank you to all of our new and old passengers today!
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Our Minke whales were darting all around making it a bit more difficult to photograph. Our research coordinator, Dianna will have her hands full hellping me ID the amounts of Fin whales we have been seeing lately. Cheers to our raffle winners,the Miller family from Scotland. Thank you to all of our new and old passengers today!
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Saturday, June 30, 2012
June 30 Prince of Whale, Newburyport
Good evening!
Definitely a beautiful day on the ocean! We traveled to southern Jeffreys Ledge in search of whales today based on a report from a fishing boat. We found 2 fin whales in the area! The whales were busy- likely trying to catch a ton or so of food.
The first whale we encountered was #0112, a fin whale first seen in 2001. This whale is a regular to the area but today was the first day we saw it this year!
As spotted a second whale in the area, we also saw a cool avian friend! We think this is a Razorbill- a little out of place for this time of year, but still very cool!
The second fin whale was not all that cooperative and I am not sure of its identity but it may be #0611. I have a bit of work to do in order to figure that out. If it is #0611, it may have some new markings that we didn't observe in the past.
Overall, today was great escape from the heat and traffic on the mainland! Thanks to our very interested passengers for showing interest in both the whales AND birds!! And congratulations to our raffle winner from NY, NY! Enjoy your adopted whale, Flask!
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Definitely a beautiful day on the ocean! We traveled to southern Jeffreys Ledge in search of whales today based on a report from a fishing boat. We found 2 fin whales in the area! The whales were busy- likely trying to catch a ton or so of food.
The first whale we encountered was #0112, a fin whale first seen in 2001. This whale is a regular to the area but today was the first day we saw it this year!
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| Fin whale #0112 |
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| Fin whale surfacing- check out the blowholes! |
As spotted a second whale in the area, we also saw a cool avian friend! We think this is a Razorbill- a little out of place for this time of year, but still very cool!
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| Who is this avian-alcid friend?? Razorbill? I'm waiting for my Audubon friends to comment here.... |
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June 30 Granite State
The day was filled with more Fin whale and Minke whale sightings during both trips today. This morning we started our trip with a very familiar whale, it was Ladder again. Even before seeing this whale go on a deeper dive we knew who was nearby just from capturing the smallest portion of this whale's body above the surface.
Ladder was definitely on the move as this whale was constantly heading in the same direction each time it surfaced. We were able to get some great looks at this adult Fin whale (thanks to our great Captain and his "whale-sense!") before heading to other areas of Jeffreys Ledge.
After spending time with some different Minke whales we ended up coming upon another Fin whale. This whale was definitely utilizing the area as this whale was relatively staying in the general area each time it returned up from the depths of the ocean. We were far from home and needed to start the journey back but we were able to get some nice looks at this whale who we were able to match to our Fin Whale Catalog as being #0417! How exciting to have another Fin whale sighting match an animal in our catalog!
This afternoon we also started with a Fin whale but this whale was taking such short dives as it was literally returning to the surface every 2-3 minutes! We were able to enjoy this whale from all sides of the boat as this animal kept surfacing every which direction not far from the boat! Turns out it was one of the same Fin whales we had gotten the chance to see yesterday. Great to know this animal is still swimming around Jeffreys going after lots of food in the water!
With Minke whales surfacing all throughout the afternoon, we documented 9 different Minkes, we also got the chance to spend time with another Fin whale. As we made our way towards a spout in the distance we quickly realized there were two spouts; two Fin whales were swimming together! They continued to follow alongside each other for two different surfacings and then on the third time they split apart. One whale surfaced behind us and one off our port side. We made our way to the animal a bit closer to us and got the chance to watch this whale do some filitering as this animal surfaced a couple times with a mouthful of food and ocean water inside its mouth!
As seems to be the case oh so often, each sighting provides different behaviors, different experiences, and most importantly different memories for all when having the opportunity to witness such enormous mammals just going about their day! Wonder what memories are to come tomorrow... Only time will tell!
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| The dorsal fin and beginnings of Ladder's scar pattern just breaks the surface |
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| Ladder |
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| #0417 |
This afternoon we also started with a Fin whale but this whale was taking such short dives as it was literally returning to the surface every 2-3 minutes! We were able to enjoy this whale from all sides of the boat as this animal kept surfacing every which direction not far from the boat! Turns out it was one of the same Fin whales we had gotten the chance to see yesterday. Great to know this animal is still swimming around Jeffreys going after lots of food in the water!
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| No official ID # yet but this whale can still easily be identified from other Fin whales we spot! |
With Minke whales surfacing all throughout the afternoon, we documented 9 different Minkes, we also got the chance to spend time with another Fin whale. As we made our way towards a spout in the distance we quickly realized there were two spouts; two Fin whales were swimming together! They continued to follow alongside each other for two different surfacings and then on the third time they split apart. One whale surfaced behind us and one off our port side. We made our way to the animal a bit closer to us and got the chance to watch this whale do some filitering as this animal surfaced a couple times with a mouthful of food and ocean water inside its mouth!
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| Fin whale's right profile. Note the lower portion of the jaw line is bright white! |
As seems to be the case oh so often, each sighting provides different behaviors, different experiences, and most importantly different memories for all when having the opportunity to witness such enormous mammals just going about their day! Wonder what memories are to come tomorrow... Only time will tell!
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Friday, June 29, 2012
June 29 Granite State
This morning brought a little bit of everything in terms of weather, everything that is except wind. Clouds, rain, sprinkles, and eventually the sun finally came out. Luckily whales are constantly surrounded by vast amounts of water so a few rain drops here and there do nothing to affect them, they just cause us humans to put on the jackets and pull up the hoods. We got the chance to get some incredible looks at mulitple Minke whales and Fin whales this morning through, and around, the raindrops.
The sunshine continued for our afternoon trip and while the wind was barely even noticeable on the ocean this morning, this afternoon it continued to pick up the further offshore we went as the day progressed. We also ended up getting the chance to spend time with multiple Fin whales this afternoon but wow, they never stayed in one spot for long! Our whales were constantly shifting around in every which direction possible. However, with some good predictions of boat placement, and a little bit of luck, we ended up getting some really nice looks at both of our Fin whales. Best part was we were able to positively identify both animals! Our first Fin whale sighting of the trip was #0402.
This whale was first seen on Jeffreys Ledge in 2004 and it wasn't until 2010 that we learned its gender. #0402 is a female as she was seen in 2010 moving around Jeffreys Ledge with her calf! While see was alone today we are thrilled to have her back on the Ledge!
Our other whale was being just as "skirmish" at first. Constantly moving around and spending a bit of extra time under the water it took a bit of time to get some looks at this whale. The dorsal fin looked familiar but it wasn't until later on that I realized who this was. It was Ladder!!!!
Seeing the less obvious side (non-scarred side) of this animal tried to throw us for a loop but sorry Ladder we still figured you out! Today documented one of the few instances Ladder was sighted swimming on its own as opposed to usually being seen in association with another Fin whale. We last saw Ladder June 9 so it has been almost 3 weeks to the day since we last saw this adult animal. What a great surprise and a great way to wrap up our afternoon!
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| A very unique dorsal fin and marking on this Fin whale |
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| Rain doesn't affect Minke whales either! |
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| Fin whale just breaking the surface as it comes up from the depths of the ocean for some air |
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| #0402 |
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| The spout from #0402 gets pushed away by the wind we were surrounded by this afternoon |
Our other whale was being just as "skirmish" at first. Constantly moving around and spending a bit of extra time under the water it took a bit of time to get some looks at this whale. The dorsal fin looked familiar but it wasn't until later on that I realized who this was. It was Ladder!!!!
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| Ladder |
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Atlantic Queen June 29
For the second day in a row we were deep in Fin whales! When we saw our first blow we were excited then it turned in two then three! There were exhales all around us near and far.
I think fluke prints or foot prints are quite cool especially when it as big as the one above from 1 of our Fin whales
Though the picture above is not showing much of this Fin Whale it is because this is the whale who popped up directly in front of making it difficult to fit a 60-70 foot whale in the photo.
Above is the Fin whale who got my heart pounding today! Congratulations to Abigail from Maryland who won out raffle today "Trigger" a female Fin whale. A special thanks to Ryan from Small Town Pictures who was aboard filming a spot for The Blue Ocean Society, look for us on the big screen!
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Though the picture above is not showing much of this Fin Whale it is because this is the whale who popped up directly in front of making it difficult to fit a 60-70 foot whale in the photo.
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