July 6 Granite State

Mother Nature continues to bring us beautiful weather and great whales as today was no different.  Both trips today gave us the opportunity to see, and spend time with, some of the 6 Minke whales seen, 1 Fin whale, and 1 Humpback throughout our travels to and from Jeffreys Ledge!  As we always say, every trip can, and is, very different from each other so even though our totals matched up for both trips (quite unusual as I am realizing this fact as I am currently typing) we got the chance to see different whales doing different things today.

This morning our Fin whale was identified as being #0021.  This animal was first spotted on Jeffreys Ledge in 2000 and has such an interesting curvature to its dorsal fin, it didn't take long to match this animal up to one of our known whales in our Blue Ocean Society Fin Whale Catalog. 

#0021

Close-up of #0021's dorsal fin

This Fin whale was on the move so while we originally got some nice looks at this whale, it was on a mission to somewhere so we let it continue on its way and we continued further out to the Ledge.  Thanks to our fishing boat friends we had reports of a whales a few miles away.  Once we got there guess who we found?  It was Halfmoon the Humpback whale! 

Halfmoon

In two days (we last saw Halfmoon during our morning trip on July 4), this animal had moved to a completely opposite area of Jeffreys Ledge!  We soon calculated that this whale was 25nm from where it had been seen only 48hrs prior!  Not only does this go to show us that the whales truly are constantly moving around on Jeffreys Ledge, and the Gulf of Maine, but that it also does not take long for a whale to "relocate" to other areas of the ocean.  Had this animal moved 25nm in any other direction we would not have been able to spend such quality time with this whale.  A whale's movements are so unpredictable and if you really think about it, it does not take long for any whale to easily move out of the reach of a whale watching boat (aka, further offshore) at any point in time! 

Our afternoon trip also started out with a Fin whale but it certainly wasn't #0021.  This time we got the chance to see Dingle, a Fin whale first seen in 2003 on Jeffreys Ledge. 

Dingle

Close-up of Dingle's dorsal fin

This large whale surprised us during one surfacing as it came up just beyond the back of the boat, circled around, and then pressed onward to the South.  We followed this whale for a bit before continuing on and going in search of other activity. 

It wasn't long before we were once again in the presence of Halfmoon the Humpback whale.  Still circling around the area and making bubble clouds we spent most of our time with this animal with the engines shut off just floating nearby.

Hello again Halfmoon

This greenish looking cloud (and bubbles at the surface) is a feeding mechanism Atlantic Humpback whales use to catch their food!

Halfmoon spent so much time circling the area we did not need to move as this whale just kept surfacing nearby allowing us to just float along as Halfmoon made the only noise: breathing and diving.  No matter what the species, when you get the chance to float in silence, with the engines shut off, as a whale goes about its day right next to you is by far my most absolute favorite type of experience and something that happens only now and again.  It is a moment/minutes like no other.

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July 6 Prince of Whales

We couldn't have asked for a better day on the ocean! Weather and whales treated us well.

Our first whale was a very nice minke whale. As I mentioned, minkes can be a bit elusive at times but this one was fantastic, repeatedly surfacing for air close to our boat. We could see the minke mittens (white patches on flippers) a couple times and got a surprise look when it popped up right behind us!

Minke whale surfacing

Minke whale

As we were spending some time with the minke, we saw a humpback whale nearby. The humpback already had 2 boats looking at it and we certainly do not want to crowd a whale so we stood off until the boats gave us some space. Fortunately, the humpback whale, known as Halfmoon, seemed to appreciate our patience and actually swam towards us! This was our first sighting of a humpback whale since June 23! 

Halfmoon, the humpback whale

Halfmoon was great- he was feeding by blowing clouds of bubbles to trap his prey. As we watched Halfmoon go about his business, we spotted another minke whale in the area. It was a very nice day on Jeffreys Ledge! 

Thanks to you all for joining us and we hope you have a great weekend!


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July 5 Prince of Whales

As many folks may have been nursing a post-holiday hangover, we were up bright and early in search of whales on a most-perfect summer morning. Whale watching was easy on our 8:30 departure with whales popping up all around us with little effort on our part! Just look to one side- there's a minke! Look to the other side- there's a big fin whale! In total, 5 minke whales and one
fin whale, Dingle, were in an area relatively close to shore. Dingle was alternating between long, 10-minute dives, and short, 3-minute dives. The minkes were scooting around as minke whales do.

Fin whale #0369, Dingle

Dingle off the Isles of Shoals!

The 1:30 departure was a little different. We decided to take the southern route to Jeffreys Ledge since more whale watch boats were out and were covering the area we were in during the morning trip. Those boats weren't having much luck so we continued on to the very southern-most part of the Ledge. After what seemed like eons of searching, the captain spotted a "low-profile" fin whale but before we could get to it, a minke whale surfaced nearby. We waited for the fin whale to reappear....and waited....then another was seen to the south, a bit further away. Quickly, as we approached, we noticed this was not just one whale. It also was not just two whales. It was two huge fin whales escorted by a small pod of Atlantic white sided dolphins!!!

Fin whale with dolphin in the background

Atlantic white sided dolphins

 This is one of my favorite sighting opportunities! We call it cheating. All we needed to do was keep an eye on the dolphins and the fin whales would surface in the middle of them, over and over!

It didn't take long to identify these fin whales. One was our good friend, Ladder, one of our adoptable whales, and his new friend who has yet to be ID'ed but has been seen in the area for the past couple weeks.

Fin whale with patchy mark on back

Ladder's blowholes!

Ladder!

The group of large and small cetaceans (whales and dolphins) impressed us but soon it was time to move on and head for home. En route, we stumbled upon a couple more fin whales, a minke whale, and a couple of young harbor seals! 

One fin whale was a bit aloof while the other was a bit more cooperative. After a look at this whale close to shore, near Cape Ann, we identified it as #0112, a fin whale first seen in 2001 and who is seen on Jeffreys Ledge almost annually! Hopefully this reoccurring whale will be named soon!

Fin whale #0112 off Thatchers Island

Certainly a great day on the ocean!  Thanks to our awesomely enthusiastic passengers on both trips and special thanks to our gracious raffle winner (on the afternoon trip) Ann who transferred her whale adoption prize to young Sean!! Good karma is all around!

July 5 Granite State

The weather was spot on today as throughout our travels, both during our morning and afternoon trips, the sea was as calm as calm could be and the temperature just right!  Add into the mix some great whales sightings and you have yourself a wonderful Thursday.

This morning we had a few sneaky Minke whales popping up.  We would see them out in the distance, make our way over to the area, and then poof gone.  This didn't happen just once, it kept on happening almost every time we attempted to watch one.  Eventually we got a couple good looks at our Minke whales as we traveled throughout areas of Jeffreys Ledge where we've recently been spending time with the whales.  We ended up doing a bit of searching as the whales clearly had moved (which is sometimes the result after passing through the area and seeing no sign of whale life anywhere) and so we ventured on.  We did end up spending time with two Fin whales in addition to our elusive Minke whales over the course of our trip. 

Fin whale

Both Fin whales spent a bit of time circling the area before continuing on as a few times we had to travel towards the whale as it had moved a bit before coming back up for another breath.  With some very nice looks at our whales it was soon time to get ready for the afternoon trip.

One large portion of this Fin whale as it swims from right to left!

This afternoon we decided to head to a different section of Jeffreys Ledge to search for whale activity since it was such a nice day.  Our first two animals were Minke whales as we ended up getting some very nice looks while these animals were circling the area (and the boat) allowing all of our passengers to see such a whale.

Minke whale

A few hours earlier we could barely spend more than a few minutes in an area where Minke whales were before they disappeared.  Now they were barely spending any time underneath the water.  Oh Mother Nature, you certainly do enjoy keeping us on our toes!

Crazy close look as this Minke whale decides to bring lots of its body above the waterline (swimming from right to left)

Our friends aboard the Prince of Whales made mention of more whales further offshore and so we decided to head that way to see if anything would still be around by the time we got there.  With the glass-calm ocean conditions against the constant splashing of the water we quickly knew we had spotted the activity.  It was a small pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins! 

Atlantic white-sided dolphins

But dolphins weren't the only whales around.  By the time we made our way offshore we got the chance to see the dolphins swimming with a Fin whale.  Better yet, that Fin whale was Ladder!  Seeing these two species together is definitely not commonplace and is such an incredible sight. 

The tiny dorsal fin of an Atlantic white-sided dolphin (left) as Ladder the Fin whale surfaces for a breath of air

Ladder surfacing close to the boat as this photo was taken through the pilothouse window, over our passengers heads, to the whale itself!

Ladder once more surfacing along side the boat

As we continued spending time in the area we realized there was more whale-life around!  Another Minke whale was close by and we saw another Fin whale move towards Ladder.  Soon Ladder, this second Fin whale, AND the dolphins were all swimming together!  What?!?!?  So completely unexpected to see and such an experience. 

Ladder

Second Fin whale joining in on all the "whale fun"

Only 20-25% of the time we are whale watching (mid-May through mid-October) do we get the opportunity to see Atlantic white-sided dolphins just on their own so to see them intermingled between two of the second largest animals on the planet was quite special and quite rare.

It was such a beautiful day out on the ocean today and the whales made it even more exciting.  Hope you too will get the chance to come join us for a future trip in search of the unexpected!

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July 3 on the Atlantic Queen

What a day for minke whales! We had three minke whales during the first half of the trip on the third. These whales were actively feeding around our boat and giving the passengers a few great looks. It was an incredibly calm day out on the water which made it easy to get some looks at the whale footprints. We even had a young passenger call out the whale footprints of the fin whale we saw later in the trip. It's always nice to know someone has been listening. Keep up the good work kids!

We ended our trip with a fin whale that was traveling, and a little more focused on finding food than giving us the best looks. We did manage to get a few nice looks for the passengers.

Thank you to everyone who joined us on this beautiful day out at Jeffreys Ledge. We hope to see you again soon!

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July 2nd on the Atlantic Queen

Another lovely day out at Jeffreys Ledge! We started the day off with a fin whale. This whale was feeding and doing a bit of traveling which made it difficult to get some close looks. Fin whales spend their entire summers feeding in the Gulf of Maine, and this whale was no exception. Luckily we were able to get some looks at the right side of this animal to see the white coloration.

Next we found a cooperative minke whale. This whale was actively feeding, and passengers were even able to get some good looks at the top of this whale's head. Thank you to everyone who joined us out on Jeffreys Ledge and escaped the heat with us! We hope to see you soon.

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Atlantic Queen July 5

The whales were spending time through out the Gulf of Maine today.  We started with a minke whale who was a bit shy.  We did our best to get our passengers the best looks they had to offer and then continued on our search.  We headed toward Cape Ann with a report from our friends on The Prince of Whales, they had 2 fin whales and some dolphin!

Above is the dorsal fin of "Ladder" one of our adopt a whales from The Blue Ocean Society.  Ladder had some friends tagging along, dolphin.  This was only my second sighting of dolphin so far this summer.  The dolphin would surface first then right behind them Ladder would spout.  A long trip today but well worth the ride.  Congratulations to our passengers from Vermont today who won our raffle!








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