Atlantic Queen October 5, 2013

A chilly fall day out on the water yesterday, but the crew and passengers braved the chill in the air in search of some wildlife out at Jeffreys Ledge. We had a few visitors who were experiencing their first whale watches ever, and I certainly think the whales delivered! We started our trip with a few minke whale and harbor porpoise sightings. Unfortunately they were all moving quite fast, and we wanted to make our way out to Jeffreys Ledge so we decided to press on. Once we made it out to the ledge, we came across two humpback whales, Echo and Cacophony.

Echo is a female humpback who was born in 1990, making her 23 years old! You can see how she gets her name by the 'echo' lines on her left fluke.

Cacophony was also with Echo, and was first sighted back in 1988. We are not sure if Cacophony is a male or female, although has not been seen with a calf since their first sighting in the late eighties. Cacophony gets its name from the noise marks on its fluke.

We had some activity from these two whales, like flipper slapping and a few roles from Cacophony. Everyone on board was surprised, including the crew. But the surprises didn't end there. We decided to leave this pair behind and investigate more of the ledge. Eventually we came across a fin whale, we believe to be 9618. Notice the large notch in the dorsal fin.

This whale was very active, and very unpredictable as it kept changing directions and catching both the crew and passengers off guard. It seemed to be feeding, and would filter water out of its baleen plates as it reached the surface.

What a wonderful day! Thank you to everyone who joined us. We hope to see you next season.

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Captain's Lady III 10/5/2013

The month of October continues to bring great whale sightings! There was a great variety of life out on the ledge. Our first stop was with Valley along with her new calf who was born earlier this year. This makes calf # 7 for Valley! As we were watching the pair, out of no where Valley breached right next to us! Valley is a large full grown female, weighing in between 40-45 tons. She managed to breach and get her whole body out of the water, very impressive! As we all caught our breath, she tail breached for us! Activities like these are a special treat, we do not see these every day!

Valley and calf

We left the pair to go check out some other blows in the area.  We came across more humpbacks not to far away, they were "Echo" and "Cacophony" Echo was first sighted in 1988 and had her first calf in 1993, to date she has had 6 calves.

Echo

"Cacophony" and "Echo"

"Cacophony"

Cacophony is believed to be a male and was born in 1990.  We also had a great look at a Blue Shark who Captain Bob did a great job of sneaking up on!  Blue Sharks can reach up to 12.5 feet and are the most plentiful shark in the sea.  During our trip home we passed by 2 different pods of Harbor Porpoise, 5 seals off shore and in the mouth of the Merrimac River a huge Ocean Sunfish!

Resting Harbor Seals off of Salisbury Beach

Sadly our 2013 season is coming to an end after Columbus Day weekend, be sure to make your reservations for the upcoming weekend and see all The Gulf of Maine has to offer.  Thank you to all who spent a wonderful day of whale watching with us and we wish all of our German students safe travels.

Cheers!
















































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October 5 Granite State

During our trip today we got the chance to spend time with a Fin whale, 4 Humpback whales and a few Minke whales scattered around the outskirts of the area. Our first whale of the day was a large Fin whale on the move. Eventually this whale slowed to circle around giving us a chance to get some nice looks at this animal. After checking out this whale's uniquely shaped dorsal fin we now know it is #0808, a whale that has been spending some time around Jeffreys Ledge recently. What a nice whale to start our trip on before heading further offshore. 

Fin whale #0808 moving through the area again today!

Since our other whale watching friends passed along reports of other types of whales not far from our current location soon we were off to look for some more marine life. We first spent some time with Valley and her calf. 

Valley

It has been so nice seeing such a familiar whale to the area (we have seen Valley on Jeffreys Ledge many times over the years!) still spending time here as she and her calf continue to utilize the area.

Valley and her calf

Both Valley and her calf at one point even turned right in towards us, swam underneath the boat, and popped up on the other side. What a moment as you could see their bodies move so easily through the water!  

Valley and her calf just before they both decided to swim right underneath us!

Soon we let these whales move away and went to check out a couple of other spouts in the distance. Two more Humpback whales were in the area. It was Echo and Cacophony! 

Echo

We last saw these two whales over a week ago swimming side by side just like today's sighting! No one knows for sure if these two whales have been together this whole time but what a fun find to see them associated with each other once again today. 

Echo and Cacophony at the surface

At one point these two whales were in such synchrony with each other that they went down on a deeper dive pretty much simultaneously! Such a beautiful moment.  

Simultaneous dives from this pair of Humpback whales (above and below)

Our ride home provided us with one more sighting for the day but this time it was a fish, not a whale, we stopped to check out. We got a quick look at a big Ocean sunfish! What a nice way to wrap up another journey out to Jeffreys Ledge.

Ocean sunfish on its side

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October 4 Granite State

One trip with 4 different species means we had a "Grand Slam" kind of day! Among the multiple pods of harbor porpoise and even a few harbor seals we got the chance to see four of the most commonly seen whale species all wrapped up during one trip! To see all of this activity on a single whale watch is not normal so when it happens we like to pass along this noteworthy type of day. Conditions were spectacular for whale spotting for the ocean was almost lake-like (no wind) and the cloudy skies made spotting whale spouts stand out incredibly clearly even from miles away. All in all we saw 6 Minke whales, 2 Humpback whales, 5 Fin whales and two groups of Atlantic white-sided dolphins.

Our two Humpbacks of the day were actually spotted due to the fact that there was an enormous splash out in the distance. Turns out there was a pair of whales lobtailing! Basically the animals were smacking their tails onto the surface of the ocean over and over and over again. Once we got into the area this activity stopped and we got a chance to spend time with Valley and her calf. 

Valley

Valley and her calf

Valley's calf's tail

It had been a mother and her calf that had been creating such the ruckus on the ocean! After some nice looks at this pair we ventured further offshore to go in search of more wildlife. 

Valley swimming past the boat

Our next stop ended up being a large group of toothed-whales. We came across a pod of ~125 Atlantic white-sided dolphins! 

Atlantic white-sided dolphins gliding with such ease through the ocean (above and below)

While this group was on the move we enjoyed moving along the water with them as they swam all around us. What a fun sighting! 

Dolphins

With still some more time we pressed on as we cruised by a few Minke whales and had some bad luck with a few Fin whales who appeared to be holding their breath for much longer amounts of time. Eventually our patience paid off for we ended up watching a Fin whale spending only a few minutes under the water and circling around the area. It was #0718 again! Since this whale was spending so much time at the surface we were able to get some very nice looks at this whale before we needed to head for home.

Fin whale #0718

On our travels in we passed by a few more whales including Fin whale #9709, a whale that until today had only been seen by one of our whale watching friends at the start of this season, and yet another pod of 35-45 Atlantic white-sided dolphins!

Great to see you Fin whale #9709

What a wonderful day surrounded by so much wildlife. Thanks to all who joined us!

It is always such a special treat to see dolphins on a trip for we only see them about 25% of the time we are out whale watching!

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October 2 Granite State

We got the chance to spend time with 3 Humpback whales and 3 Fin whales while out near Jeffreys Ledge today. Our Humpback whales were spending their time with each other giving us all a great opportunity to watch this trio move through the water together. It was an even more exciting sighting to see it was a mother, her calf, and a "friend" all on the move together. Rattan, her calf, and Tectonic were spending time with one another today. Better yet, all three of these whales are new visitors to Jeffreys Ledge this year! 

Rattan

All three Humpback whales swimming side by side

Rattan and her calf's rainbow-blow at the surface

With some nice looks at this trio we decided to catch up to a pair of Fin whales that were moving around together as well. Once again our great crew identified our whales as we soon learned Fin whales #0808 and #0718 were associated with each other. 

Fin whale #0718

Fin whale #0808

We saw Fin whale #0808 swimming around with a different Fin whale yesterday but today was instead in synchrony with yet another newcomer for the season; #0718! 

Fin whale #0718 passing by us

Digested krill dissipating at the surface as these clouds were left behind from one of our Fin whales



Large Fin whale at the surface!

Even though our season may be winding down (we will be running through Columbus Day weekend!) the whales are still moving into and around the area. With all these different whales around who knows what we might find on our next travels out. Stay tuned to find out!

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October 1 Granite State

Happy October everyone! Today we ended up doing some searching around Jeffreys Ledge as the whales we have been seeing recently decided to be a bit sneaky for us today. So instead we ventured offshore and ended up coming across 4 Fin whales throughout our travels. Our first whale of the day was spending 10+ minutes under the water and constantly changing directions. We decided to leave this "uncooperative" creature and try our luck elsewhere. Our patience paid off as we ended up in an area where there were 3 Fin whales around, including a pair on the move together! 

Fin whales at the surface

These whales were spending a lot more time on the surface allowing for us to keep track, and get some great looks, at these massive animals! 

Fin whale spout

At one point we even had one whale cross in front of us and one behind us all at the same time; we were sandwiched in between two of the second largest animals on earth! Awesome. Thanks to our incredible Fin whale matcher we were also able to identify these whales as two newcomers for the season. Welcome back to Jeffreys Ledge Fin whales #0627 and #0808! 

Fin whale #0627

Fin whale #0808

Before heading for home we also were able to show our school trip a bright red "cloud" on the surface. Nothing like a large amount of whale poop present for all the kids to check out.

Just a small section of the bright red cloud left behind one of our whales!

We will have to see what the whales have in store for us as we will be back out on Jeffreys Ledge soon!


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September 29 Atlantic Queen

We had a clear blue day for today's trip. As has been the case this whole month, the whales did not disappoint.  As we headed offshore towards a spot where we had a report of whales seen earlier, we passed a harbor seal, some harbor porpoise, and a couple minke whales.  We were intent on getting to our destination, so we kept moving, and eventually found Valley and her calf, who are still in the area!

Valley and her calf spent most of their time at the surface. Even when they dove, they were only underwater for about 4 minutes at a time.  The calf seemed especially content to stay at the surface. Just about the whole time we watched it, it rolled lazily on the water surface, often giving us a great look at its flipper that it would wave in the air before flopping it back down to its side.

Valley

Valley's Calf

 Several times, the calves was belly-up and we could see both flippers!  At one point, it was belly up and raised its head above the water, which looked like an unusual position!

Since they weren't too far offshore, we got to spend lots of time with Vally and her calf, but eventually it was time to head home. As we turned west, we saw another humpback dive just off the port side of the boat!  We waited nearly 10 minutes, but the whale never reappeared.

After a nice cruise through the Isles of Shoals, we were back in Rye Harbor after another fantastic weekend of Fall whale watching! Thanks to all who came aboard today!

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