October 2, 2004: Whales continue to be fairly plentiful in the
Jeffreys Ledge area. Today there were several humpbacks around,
plus a fin whale. Our affiliates on the M/V Granite State report
that there were also multiple humpbacks, finbacks and minkes over the
week! We only have a couple trips left, so join us now before
we're done for the season!
September 25, 2004: Sightings were great again today - there were
several fin whales inshore of the Ledge, along with a few humpbacks,
minkes and a small pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins.
 September
24, 2004: Due to weather and our reduced fall schedule, we haven't
been out much lately, but when we have, it's been great! We joined
Newburyport Whale Watch for their pelagic bird trip on 9/20, and there
were many whales in the area along with a variety of bird species
(Wilson's storm petrels, manx shearwaters, northern gannets, common
terns, and even a juvenile puffin and a peregrine falcon!) and an ocean
sunfish. Our naturalists were also out on the Granite State
and Prince of Whales during the week and saw several finbacks,
humpbacks and minkes. Today there was one young humpback feeding
in the area (see photo to right) plus several fin whales. Whale
watchers on the Atlantic Queen were treated to the sight of a fin
whale mother and calf feeding.
September 12, 2004: September is usually a great time for whale
watching, and this year is no exception so far. There were several
fin whales in the area today, and we got terrific looks at one finback
that had obviously been feeding recently. We also had a hungry
humpback in the area, that was coming up to the surface with its mouth
full of food. It was great to get such wonderful looks at two
endangered species today!
September 6, 2004: We finished up our full-time season with
nice looks at a couple finbacks throughout the day. We are looking
forward to whale watching in the fall, which traditionally has been a
time of good sightings.
 September
2, 2004: We've continued to see a variety of species. Today we
got terrific looks at a finback whale just south of the Isles of Shoals,
along with a quick glimpse of a minke whale. We also saw the same
finback on August 28 in about the same spot! On Monday, we saw a
very sleepy humpback whale who spent the majority of the time "logging"
(resting) near the water surface. Occasionally this whale poked
its head up (see picture above, the bright green is the whale's white
flipper underwater!), almost as if it was wondering if it was still
being watched!
August 26, 2004: Sightings continue to be good. Today we traveled
down to southern Jeffreys Ledge/northern Stellwagen Bank where there
were a few humpback whales in the area. We spent time with
humpbacks who were deep feeding, often coming up to the surface with
their throats full of food! Even though we had to travel far, we
were rewarded with great looks at a humpback that didn't move far from
one spot throughout the 30 minutes or so we were watching it.
August 23, 2004: We've continued to have several finback and minke
whales in the area, with humpbacks scattered throughout the trips.
We've also been seeing Atlantic white-sided dolphins a few times each
week. Today we saw a 4-year old humpback named "Beanie" who breached
twice right in front of the boat! We were very lucky to witness
this rare sighting. We also saw a pair of big (70 feet or so) fin
whales on our way home!
August 18, 2004: We continue to have great sightings. Over the
past few days, humpbacks have moved into southern Jeffrey's. Yesterday
we saw three different humpback whales, and today we had several
humpbacks and finbacks sighted by our affiliate boats. A promising
thing is that several different humpbacks were sighted between the last
two days, which is more than the few individuals we've sighted this
whole season so far! We have not identified all of the humpbacks
yet, but know one whale is "Geometry", a whale born in 1997. Stay
tuned... if we identify the whales sighted after going through our
catalogs, we'll post them here!
August 16, 2004: Sightings have been great over the past week.
On Saturday,
we had an influx of Sei whales, a whale similar to the fin whale, but
not often seen in our area. One thing distinctive about these whales is
their sickle-shaped dorsal fin. Sunday's weather kept us at the dock,
but today we saw several species - the Prince of Whales saw
several fin whales and a humpback on their morning trip, and this
afternoon the Atlantic Queen and Granite State were
thrilled to find 4 species near the ledge, which included a small pod of
about 25 Atlantic white-sided dolphins, a minke whale, a huge finback
whale and another Sei whale!
 August
10, 2004: While there seemed to be several fin whales around
yesterday, they were fairly scarce today. We did get a good look
at one finback whale. However, our naturalists were thrilled by
seeing a terrific pod of dolphins - one of the most active pods we've
seen in several years! The pod seemed to be comprised of mostly
females and their calves, but there seemed to be a few acrobatic males
present. There were about 150-200 dolphins in the pod, and they
spent most of the time cruising near the bow and stern of the boat,
leaping several feet in the air, and engaging in cool feeding behaviors!
It is unbelievable that some passengers argue that these toothed whales
"don't count" as a sighting on a whale watch! This was one of the
most exciting encounters of the past two weeks!
August 8, 2004: Over the past couple days, finbacks have been
more plentiful, and we've also spent time with a humpback known as
"Tulip". Tulip is a female who was first sighted in 1988.
Yesterday Tulip actually breached several times, a very rare sighting!
August
4, 2004: Minke whales continue to be plentiful, with several
sightings today. The larger finbacks and humpbacks have been a bit
scarce lately, but hopefully they will return to the Ledge soon! August
3, 2004: Minke whales and Atlantic white-sided dolphins have been
plentiful over the past two days. We spent some time today with a
great dolphin pod comprised of about 50 dolphins, including many tiny
calves! Over the past week, "Satula"
the humpback was sighted a few days in a row. July
26, 2004: Lately we've been sighting minke whales near the Isles of
Shoals and fin whales further offshore on southern Jeffrey's
Ledge. Yesterday passengers
on the Atlantic Queen saw a humpback whale along with several
minkes. July
12, 2004: Finback and minke whales have continued to be fairly plentiful
inshore of Jeffrey's Ledge. Yesterday our naturalist on the Prince
of Whales was lucky enough to see several finbacks and minkes, plus
a right whale and her calf! Today
we were delighted to see two very familiar humpback whales, "Satula",
a male first seen in our area in 1988, and "Pinball", a female
first seen as a calf in 1989. There were also several minkes in
the area, a small pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins, and finback
whales inshore! June
27, 2004: Sightings have been good this weekend - today we saw
several fin whales, a few minkes, and a pod of about 50-75 Atlantic
white-sided dolphins on the Atlantic Queen. The Prince of
Whales reported sightings of fin whales and a large basking shark. June
24, 2004: While sightings were a bit slow over the past 10 days,
they seem to have picked up yesterday. We saw several fin whales
(including a mother/calf pair) and about 15 dolphins about 15 miles from
Rye Harbor yesterday. We had very clear, calm seas, and could see
the dolphins swimming even when they were several feet underwater!
The pod of dolphins also spent most of their time swimming around the
fin whale, and even leaping over it a couple times! June
14, 2004: We've had some rough seas over the past couple days, but
had good sightings over the weekend. We had several fin whales
near Jeffrey's Ledge, and large dolphin pods over the
weekend. We were also treated to a sight of a basking shark from
the Granite State, and the extremely rare sighting of a beluga
whale! This whale has been around Massachusetts for the past month or
so, and was up in the Jeffrey's Ledge area over the weekend. Belugas are
normally found much further north, in Canada, and in pods, so this
sighting is extremely unusual. June
5, 2004: Our whale watch season has started! Although we've
had several trips canceled due to weather, we've had great sightings on
the trips that have gone out. Yesterday, passengers on the Atlantic
Queen and Prince of Whales were treated to sightings of a
large pod (100-300) Atlantic white-sided dolphins and 3-4 finback
whales. Over the past couple weeks we have had regular sightings
of finbacks, minkes and dolphins, and a few humpback whales. Join
us soon!
2003
sightings |
2002 sightings | Photo
Slide Show |
