September 13 Granite State

While fog blanketed the harbor all day today we were lucky enough to find out the fog didn't last long for we were surrounded by the sun, no wind, and plenty of marine life out on Jeffreys Ledge today. We managed to record 8 Minke whales, 9 Harbor seals, and lots of Harbor porpoise throughout our travels today. 

A rare opportunity to capture a couple of Harbor porpoise we passed on our trip today

This Minke whales has such a distinctive dorsal fin we can match it up to being the same whale we saw just earlier this week!

While we did get a few nice looks at a couple of these different types of mammals we were also fortunate enough to get some even better looks at other types of whales today. Perhaps the photograph below helps to explain all of our sightings today:

Check out this sample of animal plankton caught while we were watching whales on Jeffreys Ledge today. All that food is a great way to bring in more food...schooling fish for the whales!

Two Humpback whales were lazily moving around the ocean today. And do you want to know who they were? Well, Patches and Victim of course! Another day and not only were these two whales still on Jeffreys Ledge, they were still seen side by side, AND once again both of these whales were napping at the surface! A few times these whales ended up turning into, and surfacing so close, to the boat that we were all able to get some incredible looks at these marine mammals.

Victim and Patches right alongside the boat!

Victim diving just past our passengers

And not to worry, any time they (or any other whale) moved in our direction or came up close by, we would shut off our engines and just float on the surface while the whales moseyed on by. Another great day spending time with these two, for now, lazy whales. 

Such a serene view: a beautiful ocean and a lazy whale. Perfection.

With everything we were able to get looks at today we also had one last surprise for on our ride home our trusty crew saw some dolphins near by. A pod of 20 Atlantic white-sided dolphins were darting around the area. 

Dolphins at the surface

While these whales clearly had other things on their mind (only spending a few minutes at the surface) we were able to get some great looks at these toothed-whales.

A nice look as to how these dolphins got their name; Atlantic white-sided dolphins!

The dolphins were even seen coasting down the swells a few times

Since these, and all the other whales we encounter during our trips, are wild animals there is no guarantee you will/can get nice looks at them. The whales have their own agenda and sometimes are moving through an area with such speed it can be quite tricky to catch a glimpse at something we might see. No training, and especially no feeding, occurs when we are out on the open ocean. It is the decisions of the whales if they allow us to see them in action. It is because of this never-ending, completely unexpected, behaviors that makes our time out with such incredible wildlife that much more appealing. And today was once again proof of just that.

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September 11, Granite State

Geez, Mother Nature is doing a great job reminding us that summer is still not over! Hot, hot temperatures made for hopping on a boat a great idea to sneak away from the humidity on land today. We dealt with a bit of fog at the start of the trip but ended up breaking free of it further offshore. More visibility and just a bit of wind made looking for whales much more feasible than the fog we initially encountered after leaving the harbor. 11 Minkes and 2 Humpback whales were around as we spent time around Jeffreys Ledge today. Most of the Minke whales were darting around as they were probably in search of lots of whale food; small schooling fish! 

One of the many Minke whales seen popping up all around us

Our Humpback whales on the other hand were the complete opposite. These two whales were super relaxed. So relaxed they were napping! No matter the time of day when a 20+ ton whale wants to sleep, it stops and sleeps. 

Patches and Victim hover at the surface of the ocean; a great indication these whales are getting some rest

These whales remained extremely stationary, bobbing up and down in the water, as the whales, and us, sat there watching them rest. Since the whales were far from exerting energy and swimming in various directions we instead got some incredible looks at their large bodies just below the surface of the ocean. It was a great day to enjoy nature in such a calm and relaxed manor.

Check out the large flipper from our Humpback whales. The green sheen you see are the whales' giant white flippers (they only appear green because of all the plant matter/algae that makes up the base of the food chain in the ocean!)

Victim taking a breath of air as Patches goes on a dive

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September 8 Captan's Lady III

Sunday's trip started out beautifully with a light breeze from the west. As the day continued, the weather forecasters were actually correct and the wind increased dramatically. As we all know, higher wind speeds bring higher sea states! Fortunately, we got great looks at many whales before the seas really built up.

Our first pair of whales were humpbacks! One was named Victim- a female who has had at least 3 calves that we know of. Her companion wasn't lifting its tail so we haven't been able to positively ID it yet but we are working on it with only the dorsal fin to go on. **This just in- we identified Victim's friend as another female named Bat!

Victim diving

Victim

Bat!

 As we were watching this pair, we saw lots of other spouts around us. We moved on to look at another pair of humpback whales but those two were not being cooperative for our purposes and we never relocated them! I guess they didn't want to be watched today :)

As we went in search of another spout, a minke whale surfaced nearby, and then surprising us, we saw a fin whale!! Quite the variety of life out there today! At one point as we were waiting for the fin whale to surface, we spotted a blow a little further away. We were about to move towards it until we saw something huge right in front of the boat- the fin whale had come to find us!! Incredibly amazing looks at this whale- the second largest on the planet- as it passed just feet from the bow.

Fin whale spouting right in front of the boat

Fin whale dorasl fin

Fin whale swirly chevron/blaze marking

As we waited for the fin whale, another minke popped up right next to us! The whales were certainly making our job easy today!

Minke

Minke with notched dorsal fin

Soon it was time to head for home as the seas were starting to build. But on our way home, we spotted more blows so we had to stop! Another pair of humpback whales!  These two were not into lifting their tails either, but based on their dorsal fins, one was Pina, a female, and the other I believe was Chablis- a male.

Chablis

Pina

 Wow- what a day! Three species of whales. Nine individuals! Fall whale watching always brings us surprises! Can't wait to get out there again soon.


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September 7 Granite State

Jeffreys Ledge had no shortage of whales today. Both trips included Humpback whales, Minke whales, and even one of the second largest animals in the world this afternoon!

Our morning trip started off with a few Humpback whales moving around. We got the chance to spend time with Pepper just moseying around the area before spotting Patches out in the distance.

A nice way to start the day with a "rainbow-blow" from Pepper

Neither of these Humpback whales were moving in any particular direction quickly which allowed for some great whale gazing to start the day with today.

Pepper

Patches

Soon we were seeing more spouts in the distance. There were two other Humpback whales in the area! Turned out it was Chablis and Piña. This duo had been seen with each other during yesterday's trip; what fun to see both whales still on Jeffreys Ledge.

Piña in the foreground moving in synchrony with Chablis

Piña

For the most part these two whales spent most of their time napping at the surface but we were fortunate enough to see Chablis flipper slap at one point. Boy oh boy are those flippers large! 

Chablis rolling over while Piña continues to be close by

Chablis' flipper!

After leaving this pair and doing some more searching we ended up getting the chance to watch a Minke whale swim right along side us. This whale was just coasting nearby giving us some great looks as we ended up seeing 5 Minke whales in total this morning.

Minke on the move

This afternoon we were shocked to learn a Fin whale had been seen recently. This whale was on the move, and not just in any direction, directly to the West (straight in towards land)! We were lucky to grab a couple good looks at this enormous species before it ventured off in the direction we had been coming from.

Fin whale in the area (above and below)

Once again further offshore we ended up spending time with the same 4 Humpback whales we had seen during our morning travels. However, this time 3 of the 4 were all swimming in tandem! 

Piña and Pepper

Pepper, Chablis and Piña were side by side. Seeing two whales maneuver through the water together is impressive, seeing three is even more amazing. 

Humpback whale trio: Pepper, Chablis and Piña

Piña napping at the surface while Chablis brings its large flipper high above the water (and brings some other human onlookers into the area)

Chablis

With some nice time spent with this group we knew it was time for us to proceed on and let the whales continue with their movements in a different direction. We headed over to an area where we had originally seen a spout, prior to heading to the trio, and came across a lone Humpback whale; Patches!

Patches

This whale was still nearby but was instead content in moving around on its own. While in the area with Patches we ended up having a few different Minke whales surface nearby as well. We ultimately ended up seeing 7 Minke whales during the entire afternoon trip as these whales continued to dart around the area as we explored Jeffreys Ledge today. On our way home we were privy to one last look at a couple of Humpback whales as our travels crossed paths with their movements. The trio had split apart as we watched Piña and Chablis move off together.

Chablis' tail and Piña as we passed by this now duo on the way home

Whales together, separate, napping, flipper slapping, or just plain old breathing is still a spectacular way to witness some incredible wildlife. Thanks to all the whales for allowing us to watch you just go about your day today!

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September 7 Atlantic Queen

What a fantastic day!  The weather, seas and whales were all great. And there were plenty of different species around, including some of the largest animals in the Gulf of Maine!

We headed offshore towards Jeffreys Ledge, and a fin whale popped up right in front of us! This is one of my favorite species, as I'm always amazed at how graceful - and huge- these whales are.  At average lengths of 60-70 feet, they are the second-largest species on the planet!

Fin whale

After some fantastic looks at the fin whale, we got some looks at a minke whale. In all, we saw 3-4 minkes during the trip. We even got some great looks at their bright white "minke mittens!"

Minke whale

At one point, a harbor seal popped up near us, and we watched it watch us for a bit before it dove down.

We then headed further offshore to do some more searching. Then I saw a little splash, followed by a blow, and an enormous white thing sticking up above the water - a humpback whale flipper!  This whale slapped its flipper a couple times and we saw another humpback near it, before both dove down.  As we got closer to where they dove, not two, but three humpbacks appeared!

The whales we saw - Pepper, Pina, and Chablis are all whales that were originally identified in 1990 or earlier - a great sighting! In Pepper's case, this was one of the first whales ever cataloged in the Gulf of Maine, back in 1976. Below are photos of the whales with their names.

Piña, a female first seen in 1990 

Piña, a female first seen in 1990

Pepper, a female first seen in 1976 - one of the first 2 documented humpbacks in the Gulf of Maine

Chablis, a male first seen in 1990

As we were watching the whales, we got a good look at things whales have to deal with every day in the Gulf of Maine, especially if they are close to shore - traffic from fishing, whale watching and private boaters (some of which got way too close to the whales today today), fixed fishing gear like lobster buoys and gillnets, tuna fishing, and marine debris.  Hopefully these whales will continue navigating these waters as successfully as they appeared to today.

Two humpbacks with a fishing boat

What appeared to be a plastic bag at the surface

We spent some time with these three humpbacks, who stuck pretty close together. There was a minke whale around as well, along with another blow. We went to investigate the other blow and it was a fourth humpback!  We spent a little time with this whale and got some great looks off the bow. I believe this whale was Patches, another old friend - a male first sighted in 1980. He has also been in the area for the past few days.

Patches?

We then moved back to the three humpbacks to get some final looks before we headed for home. The whales were together at first, and then one separated, leaving Chablis and Pina together (interestingly, as I was reviewing our blog today, I noticed these two were seen together on August 24 last year!). After some last flukes from the pair, we headed back to Rye Harbor after another great day on the water!

Thanks to all who joined us, and congratulations to Steve for winning our daily drawing - enjoy your Owl adoption!

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