July 9 Starfish

Another calm day out in the Gulf of Maine. We headed out of the harbor in search of some whales out at Jeffreys Ledge. Just about 5 miles off shore we came across a minke whale. This minke whale was spending a great deal of time below the surface of the water, and so we motored on further out into the Gulf of Maine in search of more species of whales. Soon we found a fin whale. This fin whale was also spending a long time below the surface of the water taking multiple dives. Luckily in the distance we had a report of a humpback whale. 

What a show this humpback whale, later identified as Dyad, gave the passengers on board. Dyad was feeding in the area and passengers were able to see the bubble clouds this whale uses to corral fish into a smaller school. During this feeding behavior, Dyad was continually taking short dives giving us a great chance to take photos of the underside of its fluke (or tail). We even got to see Dyad perform a few half rolls as well! Overall a great trip with three separate species sightings. 

Thank you to everyone who joined us aboard the Starfish. We hope to see you soon! 

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July 10 on the Atlantic Queen - a Grand Slam Day!

Today was one of the best trips I've had this season!  It was made even more so because honestly, as we were cruising out, my expectations weren't too high - after what seemed like pretty early sightings yesterday, today we cruised for nearly 2 hours without seeing anything, and I began hoping just to see something!  Suddenly - bam!  We hit the right spot!

We got some good looks at a minke whale, and then saw blows in the distance. We cruised up to find some Atlantic white-sided dolphins - my first dolphin sighting this season!  So that was great - but then a fin whale popped up in the middle of them.  To our excitement, this fin whale turned into 3 fin whales, all swimming near the dolphins!  When we see fin whales, we usually see just one, maybe 2 at a time - so to see 3 together, and surrounded by our favorite toothed whale species, was very special and spectacular to watch!

Two fin whales, with a dolphin

One of the fin whales turned out to be our #0354 - a whale we first saw in 2003, and have seen pretty regularly since then. We haven't identified the other 2 yet, but it was great to see a whale that we recognized!

Fin whale #0354 (a whale that needs a name... can you suggest one?)

After watching the fin whales and dolphins for quite a while (and getting plenty of glimpses of whale poo- an indication that they were feeding), we turned for home.  We had another fin whale in the distance, and as I pointed it out to our interns and volunteers, we noticed another blow - then, a tail!

Half Moon

We turned back East, being careful to slowly cruise around the fin whales and dolphins, and headed out for a look at a humpback - Half Moon, a whale we've seen several times already this season, and a whale who was first sighted in 1978.  Half Moon was feeding, too - as evidenced by bubble clouds (a feeding technique that humpbacks use to "corral" fish) and... more whale poo.  After some great looks at Half Moon (including when he did an about-face and headed straight toward us and ended up circling around to our stern) we headed home - another gorgeous day on the ocean, and a GRAND SLAM - 4 species in one trip!

Half Moon - incoming!

Thanks to all the great passengers who joined us!

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July 10 Granite State

It was a "Grand Slam" kind of morning today.  When all was said and done we had gotten the chance to see, and spend time with, 4 different species of whales out on Jeffreys Ledge this morning.  We started our trip off with three species all in the same area.  We had a couple Minke whales surfacing near by and made our way over to a pair of Humpback whales.  It was Pinball and her calf. 

Pinball's tail and her calf's back and dorsal fin

Once again it was a delight spending time with these two animals who gave all of us a nice look as both Mom and her calf swam along the entire length of the boat from stern to pulpit at one point!  Wow.

Once our pair had moved further away from the boat we started the engines and eased our way out of the area to go check out the other spouts we were seeing just out in the distance.  We got the chance to see two different Fin whales as they were making their way through the area.  No wonder there were whales around.  We were going over HUGE patches of bait!

We were in less than 200ft of water and sometimes the food encompassed the entire water column!

Not only had we witnessed Pinball making bubble clouds to corral the schooling fish, we also witnessed a large Fin whale creating its own massive cloud of bubbles!  The population of Atlantic Humpback whales are known to make bubble clouds to catch their food but to see similar clouds being caused from a Fin whale... really???  While we don't really know what/why this particular Fin whale was doing under the water we saw quite a large cloud of bubbles appear just before it would return to the surface for a breath of air (which is extremely similar to what a Humpback whale does as well when it is feeding further down in the water column).  Maybe Fin whales in the Gulf of Maine are learning some techniques from the Humpback whale population they share the area with?  It was something completely unique and very exciting as we wonder about the mysteries that still exist with some of these majestic mammals.

The super unique chevron pattern (silver/gray shading pattern) from this Fin whale as it swims from left to right

Our ride home took a slight detour as our "eagle-eyed" captain spotted splashing out in the distance.  Though we had heard of dolphins moving through the area earlier in the morning we also knew those whales were on the move.  We thought we were out of luck since Atlantic white-sided dolphins are such fast swimmers they can easily be out of sight in a very short period of time.  But alas we saw the tell-tale sign of splashes!

Atlantic white-sided dolphin

The dolphins were feverishly trucking to the south and knew we only had minutes to spend before they took us further from home.  It was a nice surprise to end the trip with and an affirmation that it is very possible to spot marine life really at any point during the trip when you are out on the open ocean!

Dolphins on the move!

This afternoon we first stopped on an extremely cooperative Minke whale.  This animal kept surfacing on either side of the boat giving folks all around the boat views of this mammal. 

Minke whale

A few times our whale surfaced so close alongside the boat you could see the "Minke mittens," a white patch on the flippers of these animals that is unique to this species.

Minke whale as it rises to the surface for a breath of air.  Can you spot the Minke mittens in the two photos(above and below)?

Our friends aboard the Prince of Whales were finishing up their trip and once they maneuvered out of the area we got the chance to spend time with a few other marine mammals.  It was two Humpback whales out in the distance.  Both whales were taking short dives and not moving terrible far.  We first spent time with Doric, a whale born in 2001. 

Doric

A few bubble clouds later we let Doric continue on with its day and we went to go investigate what other Humpback whale was lurking around.  Turns out Dyad was also circling the area.  We got some very nice looks at Dyad before it was time to head home. 

Dyad going on a deeper dive

Dyad's black and white pigmentation pattern

Plenty of life continues out on Jeffreys Ledge.  Feel free to come check it out for yourself sometime!

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Prince of Whales July 10

Female humpbacks treated us with a wonderful day of whale watching.

Dyad

Doric

These 2 females spent some time together blowing bubble clouds and filtering, then they separated and both went there own way.

Bubble cloud

We found evidence that there was food just below the boat!  Not only did we see the bubble cloud,which is used to scare bait fish,we knew what they were eating. 

Whale poop!

From the photo above we knew the whales were feeding on krill,a small shrimp only about 1 to 1.5 inches long,hence the color orange/red.

Congratulations to Joyce from Methuen,  Ma who won our raffle today,I think she said it best.  "Truly enjoyed it. This was on my bucket list to do.  Thank you for making it happen" 









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July 9 Atlantic Queen Trip

Wow, it was a beautiful day on the ocean!

Fin Whale

We had great sightings today - starting with a fin whale, who had a large, hooked dorsal fin.  These huge, graceful animals are my favorite species to watch. But there were lots of other things to see today - there were several minke whales near the fin whale, and we got great looks at one of them, and even got a chance to see the "minke mittens" - the white patches on its flippers!

Dyad

We then headed further offshore to find Dyad, a female humpback first sighted in 1987. Dyad didn't spend much time at the surface, but we got great looks at her flukes every time she dove down, and were treated to the always interesting sighting of whale poo- a sure sign that she was feeding!

Dyad

With a little time left, we headed further offshore to find one of my favorite humpbacks - the adoptable whale Pinball and her calf - the sixth calf she has had!

Pinball and Calf

We got great looks at this pair, and toward the end of the trip, the calf even rolled over on its side and we got a look at its flipper!

Pinball's calf''s flipper and fluke

All in all, a terrific day. Thanks to the ladies on board for suggesting we name Pinball's calf Wizard - glad you're thinking, and wish there wasn't already a Wizard so I could suggest it for you!  And thanks also to the girl who asked so many great questions - I'm sorry I didn't get your name, but found an interesting timeline on whale evolution that you can check out here!

Thanks to everyone who joined us today!

Pinball

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Prince of Whales July 9 2012

Grand slam today on the ledge.  We started the day with a small pod of dolphin, only about 4 in the pod, 2 moms and 2 calves.  They were exciting to see but they had other plans, they only gave us a few looks and then they were off.   We continued on our journey and found a humpback whale, Ebony.

One of our dolphin surfing in our wake

Ebony's dorsal with a large scar

Ebony is a female humpback who was first seen in 1980/81.  She had her first calf in 1983.  Since then she has a total of 9 calves!

Ebony's fluke

Our data shows she has not been seen with a calf since 2007.  We also had 4 fin whales and 5 minke whales.  They were all together then they were all gone, searching for some breakfast.

A fin whale demonstrating a "close to boat"

The seas were calm, the breeze kept us cool and the whales were wonderful.  Safe travels to our passengers heading back to Texas and Colorado!  Congratulations to Evan from Waterford CT who won our raffle today, "Stripes"  Each day keeps getting better come on out and see us and some amazing whales!








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July 8 Atlantic Queen

The best trip of the 2012 season by far! We started our exploration out to Jeffreys Ledge, and within 5 miles of shore we had our first minke whale sighting! It's always so exciting to start seeing whales so early in the trip. After spending a little time with this particular whale we decided to continue on in our search for some larger species out on the ledge.

It's a good thing we continued because after another 10 miles or so we came across a very special treat. Pinball and her 6th calf of the season were in the area. This was my first calf sighting of the 2012 season, and it never seems to get old. Mom and calf were doing well, and giving the passengers on the boat quite the performance. We were even able to see the new calf lift its tail up out of the water. Not an easy task for a newly born whale, but what a treat! I'm sure the passengers were able to hear the excitement in my voice.

Not long after seeing Pinball and calf, a third humpback came into the area. At this point we were treated to some very close to boat behaviors by all three of our humpback whales. Some of the surfacings even surprised the crew!

Meanwhile we saw 11 different minke whale sightings. A few times we were able to see the minke mittens--or white patches on the minke pectoral fins--just under the surface of the water. Finally we found Halfmoon a little further to the east.

 This male humpback has been hanging out in the same general area for a few days, and we hope that he sticks around! Thank you to everyone who joined us on the Atlantic Queen yesterday. We had a great trip and hope to see you soon!



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