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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September 29 Captain's Lady III

The foggy conditions this morning were a bit ominous as we arrived to prepare the Captain's Lady III for another whale watch. But soon the sun began to poke through the clouds and the fog rapidly burnt off, just in time for us to arrive at Jeffreys Ledge where whales had been reported! Our trip out brought several small groups of harbor porpoises (notoriously shy animals) as well as some seals. Then we saw the tell-tale black fin flopping up and down- an ocean sunfish!! We pulled up near it and this large fish swam right up to the boat! Ocean sunfish (Mola mola) are "interesting" looking fish and the largest species of bony fish in the world!

Ocean Sunfish

As we approached an area where whales were seen the day before, we slowed down and took a good look around. No whales, but we did see several seals including 3 harbor seals and a pair of gray seals! This harbor seal might have thought it was too bright out since it has one eye closed.

Harbor Seal

We headed further out to the Ledge and made our way through the fleet of tuna boats. We try not to disturb the tuna fisher-people as the tuna industry can be quite lucrative depending on the size and quality of bluefin tuna caught. But in the area with the tuna  boats were several humpback and minke whales!

Our first whales were a pair- Echo and Cacophony! Although Cacophony has been seen earlier, this was our first sighting of Echo for the year!  And just after the pair lifted their flukes and dove, a third humpback popped up close by! This was Trowel! She has been seen prior this year but hasn't  been a regular visitor to our area. She has only been seen here during the 2009 season!

Check out the variations in pigment on the flukes below:

Cacophony

Echo

Trowel

Such a variety of life out there today! Today reminded us that we never know what to expect from nature, yet we were happily pleased with the outcomes today!

Whale Breath

 We hope to see you all back again soon! We only have a couple weeks left before we hang up our  binoculars and cameras for another long winter season.


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September 29 Granite State

We have been so lucky this fall to be surrounded by such beautiful weather and today was of no exception. I am pretty certain we could all get accustomed to these conditions and hopping on a boat to go whale watching certainly is a fantastic way to get the full effect of these wonderful temperatures. Our travels today actually brought us back to Jeffreys Ledge; a place we have not travelled to in a few weeks! The whales had previously been spending so much time inshore of the ledge that we were getting spoiled! Today it looks like some of the whales decided to move a bit further offshore and back to more typical places we tend to find such beings.  Thanks to our other whale watching friends we ended up in an area where there were 3 Humpback whales around. One was spending a lot of time under the water so we ended up sticking with the two whales swimming along together and watching the lone whale circle around the outskirts of the area. Trowel seemed content moving around on its own today while the pair we watched consisted of Cacophony and Echo. 

Echo

Cacophony

Echo has not been seen in our area all season so what a nice surprise to come across yet another whale to add to the animals spending time around Jeffreys Ledge this year. 

Cacophony and Echo

Deeper dive for our pair

These two whales were providing us with some incredible looks at them for many times the two whales would be in complete synchrony as they moved through the water together. 

Simultaneous whale spouts!

In addition to watching these whales we also had a few Minke whales pop up around us as they too were moving on through the area. 

Super pointed dorsal fin from this Minke whale

With some wonderful looks at the two adult Humpback whales we decided to do a bit more searching before we needed to head for home. 

Can you make out the slight rainbow-blow from Echo?

Soon another spout was visible and it belonged to yet another Humpback whale. Patches was still near by! We have not seen this whale in over a week so we were happy to learn Patches may not have moved far from the area over the course of the past eight days.

Hello again Patches!

As we headed for home and passed by a few more Minke whales (6 in total for the day) the ocean still had a few more surprises awaiting for us. Our travels brought us into view of 2 more Humpback whales. It was Valley and her calf. We spent a little time with this pair and even got the chance to see both Mom and her calf raise their tails above the surface together (a behavior that is learned many times causing the calf to not quite figure out this body movement all the time). 

Valley and her calf (above and below) both raising their tails above the surface. Even whale calves like to do whatever Mom does.

With a few nice looks at this pair we were off once again back towards Rye Harbor. Turns out we had one last stop along the way. Past all the groups of harbor porpoise a large fin kept breaking the surface. We had an Ocean sunfish ahead of us! Conditions were absolutely perfect to check out this fish, the largest bony fish in the ocean. 

This Ocean sunfish swam right along side the boat giving everyone the chance to snap a few pictures of it!

So much marine life on such a beautiful day was once again cause for a wonderful day spent out on the water.

A pretty perfect combination: a beautiful calm ocean and a whale spout

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