July 5 Captains Lady III

It was a super hot day on land and we were very anxious to head off shore to cool down and see whales.  As we were leaving the mouth of the river the captain pointed out this boat that ran into the jetty last night, this is the results of what can happen when you mix alcohol and boats!  Luckily no one was seriously injured.

As we heading out the breeze finally started to cool us off and we headed out to the ledge.  Our morning trip we had Dingle a fin whale who we believe is a male.

Our afternoon trip we headed back to the area and again spent again with Dingle and a couple shy minke whales.  Thank you to all you joined us today we appreciate your support and all of your positive comments.

It is going to be anothe hot one tomorrow come out and cool off and enjoy the whales of The Gulf of Maine

Cheers!













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

July 4 Atlantic Queen

Happy fourth of July to everyone who joined us out on the water for a whale watch. It was extremely hot on land, and we were all excited to make our way out to Jeffreys Ledge for a much needed escpape from the heat. Once we left the harbor you could feel the offshore winds start to cool everyone down. Apart from being a wonderful temperature out on the water, the conditions had cleared up from the previous trips this week. As we headed out to the ledge we came across two minke whales. Minke whales are a type of baleen whale reaching lengths of 20 to 30 feet long and weighing around 5 to 10 tons. This pair of minke whales was giving the passengers some wonderfully close looks as they were lunge feeding around our boat.

After spending some time with these individuals, we decided to make our way east a little more in search of some other animals. Yet again we came across a minke whale. Some of the looks at this particular whale were so close that you could see the minke mittens, white patches on their pectoral flippers.

We then got word of a larger whale in the area and decided to leave the minke whale for other whale watching vessels to watch. We could see a large spout in the distance and eventually came across a fin whale. It's been a few weeks since I have seen a fin whale out at Jeffreys Ledge. It's always nice to come across such an incredibly large animal.

Fin whales are the second largest animal on the planet reaching lengths of 60 to 70 feet long! They really are spectacular to watch as they glide through the water. This particular animal was relatively cooperative, staying near our boat, but also kept abruptly changing direction. Passengers on board were also given the surprise sighting of whale poop. From the color of the poop we could tell that this fin whale had been eating fish such as herring and mackerel.

Thank you to everyone who joined us today on our whale watch. We hope to see you again soon!







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

July 4 Granite State

Happy 4th of July everyone! We finally had some favorable conditions to work with today. No fog and not a lot of wind had us all eager to go searching for whale life out on Jeffreys Ledge. Turned out our first stop of the day wasn't a whale at all. We came across a Blue shark circling around a milk carton that was bobbing up and down on the ocean's surface. At first we thought maybe this shark was attempting to eat the debris! Not only is a milk carton not food it is an extremely scary object for a piece of this jug could do some serious damage to this shark if swallowed potentially even causing its death. All debris (including ALL the balloons we keep seeing out there...so sad) can be extremely detrimental to all creatures in the ocean. Watching this shark be so involved with this particular item was very disturbing indeed. Luckily it turned out this shark wasn't trying to eat the carton at all. It was actually using the carton as a rubbing rock. 

White milk carton at the surface while our Blue shark swims next to it

Blue sharks have been seen, not often but occasionally, using floating logs as a much more natural item to rub themselves on. Whether this shark was trying to get something irritating off its skin or perhaps just had an itch I have no idea but, it was still a very cool look at this Blue shark. While we left the carton for the shark to continue with its exfoliation process we did retrieve a balloon in the area to help do our part to save marine life. Unfortunately we can't pick up every piece of trash we see out there (we would seriously be out there 24/7 doing so!) we all get very saddened to see so many potential health hazards floating around out there. Please be mindful of all trash on land so all the living things in the ocean can continue to thrive.

This morning we also got a chance to see 5 Minke whales throughout our travels. At one point we had 4 in the same general area. We ended up getting some great looks as the whales surfaced along side the boat and circled all around.

Minke whale

This afternoon we headed to where we had seen all the Minke whales from the morning and were once again still in the area. Guess what? We even saw a couple of the same ones! Just like some of the other whale species we see on Jeffreys Ledge we can use their dorsal fin shapes, body scars, or small nicks found on the fins to tell Minke whales apart from each other. Granted we've been focusing more on this aspect for just the past couple of years but it was still fun to see that at least one of the whales from this morning was still circling around this afternoon. 

The same Minke whale seen on both trips. Above: the morning trip. Below: the afternoon whale watch.

As we spent a little more time with the Minke whales in the area, word on the radio that one of our other Blue Ocean Society affiliated whale watching boat, Starfish, had found another species. A Fin whale was out on the ledge! Can you believe it? We literally went through the same area in the morning and did not seen any signs of a Fin whale. Then just hours later a whale! It just goes to remind us that these whales truly can easily move into or out of an area at any time! The sighting got even more exciting when we realized this was Dingle the Fin whale. We last saw this whale almost a week ago on June 26. Dingle was also constantly changing directions and circling around very similarly to the Minke whales we had spent time with earlier in the day. We even saw this whale surface filtering out lots of salt water from its mouth. This whale's lower jaw was extended out allowing for a lot more surface area to gulp in as much food and subsequently lots of salt water in one giant mouthful! What a special treat to end the trip with today.

Dingle surfaces while filtering out all the salt water in its mouth and keeping the food inside!

Hope everyone has a safe and joyful Independence Day and remember to properly dispose of all your trash wherever you may be. And an extra special thank you to one of our passengers today who so matter-of-fact-ly stated he would never allow a balloon to fly away ever again...Absolutely fantastic. The ocean thanks you!
 
Keep in touch! Become a Fan on Facebook || Follow Us On Twitter

July 4, Captain's Lady III

Happy Independence Day!!

What a scorcher on land!! It was great to beat the heat offshore! We found an area that seemed to be filled with minke whales today!! At least 4, maybe 5, whales were in a small area near Jeffreys Ledge. At one point, you could see a minke whale in almost every direction! We spent some time with one that seemed to be at the surface a little more than the rest. This one was familiar- I'm pretty sure we've seen it in the past few weeks. Minke whales are not very distinctive, but it is possible to differentiate between individuals based on scars and markings.

You can just barely make out the "mitten" on this minke!

 We headed out a bit further but didn't see much other life offshore so we headed back to visit with the minkes again. This time we got close looks at 2 which were hanging out near each other! We saw our friend from earlier again, along with this beauty-

Minke's pointed nose

Minke whale with small nick in its fin

What a great way to spend a holiday! Thanks to everyone on board who supported Blue Ocean Society! And be sure to check out our website if we didn't have the t-shirt you wanted :) www.blueoceansociety.org

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

July 3 Atlantic Queen

What a nice, calm day on the ocean!  Today, we had 2 minke whales, and got amazing looks at one of them.  This 20-30 foot whale circled the boat, and gave us great looks at its "minke mittens"!

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

July 3, Captain's Lady III

As we left the Merrimack River, the fog was getting thicker the farther out we went.  Searching for whales in the fog is more than difficult- it is down right painful. None of the fleet has special electronics that tells us where the whales are. We find them by looking for them, so with only a few hundred feet of visibility at best, fog makes our job pretty tough.  Fortunately, the weather gods cooperated and we found some areas of better visibility/less fog!

Some sharp-eyed passengers spotted our first minke whale! This whale was surfacing for a couple of breaths at a time and not moving too far in between surfacings!

Also in that area we found several species of pelagic birds including northern gannets, great shearwaters and Wilson's storm petrels!!

Northern Gannet

Great Shearwater

We were even treated to a cute harbor seal that popped up near the minke and our boat!!

We continued on and the visibility continued to get better! We found a second minke whales that was awesome- perhaps the best minke we have seen all season!! This whale was taking many breaths before diving and came close to the boat a few times! We could even see the white "minke mittens" as the whale swam by us.

Check out the minke mittens (white patches on the flippers)

It ended up being a really nice day and thanks to all of our curious passengers for making the trip even better!

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

July 2, Granite State

We left the dock today with little wind and grey skies looming above.  We were unsure as to how the weather would be throughout the trip, but where it wasn't raining, we were anxious to search for whales. 

We headed to Southern Jeffrey's Ledge where whales had been over the last couple of days, but really did not know what to expect.  Whales move around constantly searching for food, so every trip is truely a new adventure. 

After searching for most of the morning with no whales in sight, we started to worry that we may come up short.  We travel to as many different areas of Jeffrey's as we possibly can to increase our chances of seeing whales and as we changed direction we started to see a few pelagic birds in the area.  With a few Wilson Storm Petrel's flying around and spotting a Greater Shearwater, we were hopeful that our luck would soon change.

Shortly afterwards, a disturbance in the water was noticed ahead of us.  We had found a Minke whale, and it had a visible blow!  Minke whales being smaller among the baleen whales, it can sometimes be difficult to visualize their spout.  This Minke whale was taking short dives, allowing our passengers to get great views along both sides of the boat. 

Minke Whale

Minke whale swimming by the boat

We were soon running out of time and as we turned for home, a fog bank started to move in.  The wind direction changed and our ride home turned out to be a bit bumpier than anticipated.   Thank you to the passengers who joined us today.  Mother Nature always has a way of keeping us on our toes.

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