July 27 Granite State

The good news of the morning...there was sunshine! Rain was nowhere in sight and with the wind finally calming down, we were able to head out to Jeffreys Ledge this morning. The not so good news...where were the whales? Both ourselves and our friends on the Captain's Lady 3 were out in search of whales this morning. Knowing that none of us had been out on the water in a couple of days meant we were out on a scouting mission to explore as many areas of Jeffreys Ledge as possible between our two boats giving us greater chances of finding whale activity. Keep in mind even though whales are large mammals the ocean they reside in is a whole lot larger so the more people out looking most definitely helps to maximize the searching efforts!  Well we looked, and looked, and looked some more. We had stopped in an area in the morning as many of our passengers were adamantly pointing close by. A whale! Unfortunately, this Minke whale wanted nothing to do with us. It surfaced only a couple of times and after a while we cut our losses and continued on.  However, we were coming up short everywhere else we were traveling. There were just no signs of whales. We decided our best bet was to head back to the area where we had seen the Minke whale hours ago and hope it was spending more time on the surface so that all of our passengers could get a chance to see a wild whale. Once back in the area we slowed down and took a really, really, really good look around. All was quiet. We were almost out of time when out of nowhere we saw a spout! A Fin whale was at the surface, and not far away at all! Where had this whale been only hours ago when we had stopped and looked around this area earlier? Where had it been as we eased our way into the area in the slight hope we might re-find our Minke whale from just minutes earlier? While we cannot answer these questions (only the whale knows) we were elated to have a whale in our midst. Not only did it turn out to be a familiar fin, we got some absolutely incredible looks at this whale as it swam right next to us multiple times! Dingle the Fin whale was back in the area!

Dingle's white lower jaw can be seen as this whale swims at the surface to get some air

Dingle's dorsal fin and part of its body

We last saw this particular whale July 6! Three weeks later it surprises us by being only 13 miles from home! What a great turn of events as our morning trip ended in a wonderful success.

This afternoon we were off again to where Dingle had been from the morning trip. This time however it was not Dingle we watched. Another Fin whale had come into the area. It was another familiar Fin whale. Comet was spending time in the area as well! 

Comet

We got some incredible looks at this whale too as Comet spent a good amount of time on the ocean's surface when it came up for some breaths of air. 

This is not even all of Comet's body at the surface; what a large whale!

Due in part to Comet's maneuvering in the water, and probably a bit to do with the swell, we were fortunate enough to catch a few looks at a Fin whale's tail! 

Check out the back part of Comet's body all the way down to this whale's tail seen just above the waterline!




Comet once again bringing her tail to the ocean's surface; an incredibly rare treat to see from a Fin whale!

Comet's tail broke the surface a few times as it could be seen just above the waterline as this large whale moved around the ocean. Incredible.

One again Jeffreys Ledge held us in suspense as the whales seem to appear, and sometimes disappear, just as quickly this season! We'll be back out expecting the unexpected tomorrow!

Fin whales certainly are large, amazing, graceful mammals, like Dingle seen here.

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July 27 Atlantic Queen

What a fantastic day on the ocean!  We had both great weather and whales, which hasn't always been the case lately. And even better, the whales weren't too far from home today!

We spent most of our time today with two fin whales - the second-largest species on Earth!  The first whale was identifiable almost immediately - it was Comet, a female who has spent time in this area intermittently over the last few weeks.  Right off the bat, we got an amazing look at Comet as she cruised just off our port side and in front of the boat.

The other whale took awhile. It spent most of its time underwater for about 10 minutes at a time, and only took a few quick breaths when it did come up to the surface.  After some looks, we think it was Dingle - another whale who has been seen this season, although not for some time. We first spotted Dingle in 2003.

Along the way, we also got some nice looks at a smaller baleen whale species - a minke whale, right off the starboard side of the boat!

It was so nice to have familiar whales, calm seas and enthusiastic passengers. Thanks to all who joined us today!

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July 24 Captain's Lady III

Today was a beautiful day on the water and thanks to our friends on the Granite State, we watched humpback whale, Pinball, for a bit while she was feeding. Pinball was fantastic and had no concern of our presence as she repeatedly surfaced close to us and even turned in towards us many times!

Pinball, showing off her "big wings"

Pinball crossing the bow

 As one of our adoptable whales, we are always excited to see Pinball in our area. She can go wherever she wants and is seen in other parts of the Gulf of Maine regularly.

Pinball!

 But today she was right on top of Jeffreys Ledge!

Pinball diving

Such a great day! Hope to see you all again soon!



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July 24 Granite State

Minke whales were most definitely out and about today as we spotted 7 Minke whales this morning and 9 this afternoon! 

First Minke whale of the day

This Minke whale's dorsal fin is definitely unique due to some interesting indentations seen on this whale's fin from our morning trip.

Along with all of these whales sighted today we also had a few extra stops on marine life this morning. We were fortunate to find a small group of Atlantic white-sided dolphins during our travels to Jeffreys Ledge today. 

Dolphins swimming in towards us

This group of 10-12 whales were being so mellow we were able to get some incredible looks as they would swim in towards the boat, circle around, and mosey around the area with minimal speed. There were even a few mother/calf pairs with some super tiny young ones in the mix! Our last sighting of Atlantic white-sided dolphins was on July 6 so it was definitely a special treat to once again get a chance to spend time with these toothed whales. 

Atlantic white-sided dolphins (above and below)

Not soon after our dolphins we also found another creature-feature in our area. An Ocean sunfish was at the surface. 

Ocean sunfish

This fish swam full circle around the boat giving all of our passengers some nice looks at this large bony fish. 

Dolphins weren't the only types of marine life swimming around the boat. This Ocean sunfish also spent time circling us!

Before heading back home we were lucky enough to find one more species spending time on Jeffreys Ledge this morning. A humpback whale suddenly made itself known off of our starboard side. Low and behold, guess who it was??? Pinball was apparently on the move as this whale, in which we had just seen on Monday morning, was miles and miles from her last sighting. Whales are constantly searching for large amounts of food so it is quite normal to see the same animal in different locations. The major questions always ends up being when do they decide to move and what direction do they decide to swim? That is something only a whale can answer, all we can do is attempt to predict/guess some of these answers. What a lucky sighting of one of the familiar individuals seen this year.

Incoming Pinball!



Pinball's large tail as she dives next to us

This afternoon we once again stopped, watched, and sometimes even passed a few Minke whales as they kept showing up! A total of 9 of these whales were seen throughout out travels this afternoon getting some great looks at so many whales. 

Minke whale beyond the Isles of Shoals

Another Minke whale

We then headed a bit further offshore in attempts to relocate Pinball from our morning travels. Our luck paid off, not a moment too late, for just as we turned for home one of our crew members (AW) saw a spout! Pinball was still around as she was actually 6 miles away from where we had left her this morning! 

Pinball

Luck, a bit of predictions as to her movements, and a lot of hope helped us search as much as possible in order to find this whale once again this afternoon. What a nice way to end our day with some more looks at this adult female Humpback whale. 

Deeper dive for Pinball

Thanks to all the whales, and all of our passengers, for searching and enjoying today's sightings as much as we did. 

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July 22, Captain's Lady III

Minke Mania today on the Ledge! Seems every where we looked, we were surrounded by minke whales!  At first they were a bit shy (or probably just busy feeding) but then we got some really great looks at them.

Minke blowholes

 As I mentioned, minke whales are not endangered yet, but are still being hunted by a few countries. We were lucky to see at least 5 of them today!

Charging minke

Cool markings!

 We got some great ID images of a few of the minkes today to contribute to our catalog- in our attempt to learn more about this under-studied species!

Minke coming up for a breath

Thanks to all of our great passengers today!  We hope to see you back on another adventure!

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July 21 Granite State

This season has shown time and time again that whales are unpredictable. They appear they disappear. They show up in one place and in no time suddenly are found miles away from their previous known location. Whales move and as they do so we attempt to predict their movements and check out areas of Jeffreys Ledge that might be conducive to a whale that can easily eat a million calories a day! Today showcased the sometimes random/chaotic/unknown agendas these wild whales have.

This morning we began our trip with a Minke whale just beyond the Isles of Shoals. After only a couple of looks at this whale a spout was sighted not far away. A Fin whales was only 8 miles from Rye Harbor! It didn't take long to realize who this whale was. It was one of Blue Ocean's Adopt-A-Whale's...Comet! While she was charging around the area, constantly changing directions, we got some amazing looks at this large female as multiple times she would surface right next to us and swim alongside us during her entire time at the surface! Wow.

Comet surfacing right next to the boat!



What a Fin whale looks like when it surfaces right next to the pulpit! Believe me, there were a lot of surprise reactions from some of our passengers at the front part of the boat...Awesome.

We did some exploring after leaving Comet to continue on with her day but turns out she ended up heading our way. While spending time a bit further offshore Comet once again surfaced close by allowing for yet another look at one of the second largest animals ever to roam the earth!

Comet swimming along off the coast of Maine



Hello again Comet!

This afternoon we had all intentions of spending time with Comet, except for one thing. She disappeared! In a matter of hours, and multiple whale watching boats looking for her, no one could find her. Maybe she swam on out of the area, maybe she was heading towards other areas of Jeffreys Ledge, only Comet knew her actual travel plans. After learning this news we went for our next best option: head to where we had seen whales most recently. In this case it was going to be quite further offshore. It was a plan as good as any...head to where we had seen Pinball a few days ago. Last time we were there (yesterday morning) we came up short. We found no whales and traveled lots of miles. We knew it was a gamble to take. And yet we figured now was as good as time as any. Sometimes our adventures to areas less traveled turn up short since we are in pursuit of wild animals but today our gut instincts were right. We ended up finding multiple Minke whales and 2 Humpback whales. Pinball, another one of Blue Ocean's Adopt-A-Whale's, was still around. 

Pinball swimming just off our starboard side

Pinball's tail

This whale was making a few bubble clouds and even leaving some brown defecation (yep, whale poop!) at the surface. What made things even more exciting was that as we spent time watching Pinball suddenly another whale surfaced out in the distance. Soon Pinball and this other whale were almost next to each other. Who was this mystery Humpback whale? As we saw this whale raise its tail and go on a deeper dive we quickly knew a new visitor was on Jeffreys Ledge. Sword was swimming along with Pinball! What a surprise.

Even without seeing this whale's entire tail there are enough markings to recognize this whale as being Sword the Humpback whale!



Unbeknown to my knowledge three whales were captured in this photograph. Two Humpback whales and a Minke whale can be depicted (and are so labeled) only after looking through the day's photos once back on land.

Even though some whales can weigh 20+ tons it is incredible to see them effortlessly move through the water which can cause them to sometimes appear, or disappear, just as quickly. Who knows what tomorrow will bring but once again it was a pleasure showcasing to our passengers the amazingness wildlife has to offer on Jeffreys Ledge.

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July 21 Atlantic Queen

Beautiful day out at Jeffreys Ledge. The temperature was a wonderful relief from the sweltering heat of last week. We started our trip with a minke whale that was very evasive, but we were able to get a few good looks.

At the end of our trip we came across a small pod of common dolphins who stole the show! They were jumping and riding the bow of our boat giving passengers wonderful looks! It's always nice to hear "ooh" and "aah" during a whale watch. Here are some of the best looks of the day.

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