We started our trip with a quick glimpse at a Minke Whale. As a typical Minke Whale, this one was hard to track and didn't spend much time at all at the surface. Because of it's erratic swimming patterns, we didn't stick around very much. We ended up traveling a bit further in hopes of finding some other whales.

We got a bit further out and we spotted a pair of whales. While they weren't positively identified, it was most likely Mogul and Victim again. They were showing the same behavior that we saw on Friday, minus the breaching! They just kind of drifted along slowly at the surface not using a whole of energy. 

We got some decent looks, but had to head back for home. It's hard to believe that the season is over already. We had many great trips this year, especially towards the end. It's kind of sad to see it end, but we're both already looking forward to next season!
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Another reason that I was so eager to get on the boat was because I checked out the Granite State's website before leaving and read that they had an amazing trip yesterday. Not only did they see a pair of Northern Right Whales (one of the rarest and most endangered species), but they watched the pair mating. It must've been an amazing experience to say the least! The last time a Right Whale was seen, it was still in the area for the next day or two (this was when I had my one and only Right Whale sighting). I was hoping that my luck would be the same again today. No such luck this time, but we did still have a great trip.

About an hour and a half into the trip, we ran into some thick fog. At first it appeared that would burn off, but instead it actually ended up getting worst. The visibility was very poor and the ocean was getting pretty choppy. We were getting pretty bummed out figuring that there's no way that we were going to see any whales. After traveling slowly in the thick fog, one of the passengers spotted something. There were two adult Humpback Whales swimming along side each other. They were identified as Mogul and Victim. 

Luckily for us, this pair of whales were very slow moving and spend most of their time at the surface. At one point they both went down for deep dives. They weren't down for very long when one of them tail breached directly in front of us. Just like last week, the tail breach happened so fast that I was unable to get a photo. My disappointment didn't last to long because right next to the first whale, the other whale did a full breach. I was prepared for that one and I got a photo of it! The photo shows how poor the visibility it was due to the fog. You'll notice the white foamy water to the right of the photo, that's what's left of the splashing caused by the first whale's tail breach.

After this brief display of acrobatic behaviors, both Mogul and Victim went back to their lazy resting at the surface behavior. We got a few more looks at them and then we had to head for home. While the weather and fog somewhat dampened our moods for a little while it was still a great trip! I finally got my breaching whale photo, I just wish it was in better conditions so the whale would be more visible! Only two more trip left of the season... wow how time flies!!
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We started out with an unidentified Humpback Whale. It wasn't spending to much time at the surface so we didn't get very many good looks at it. We didn't mind though because a little further in the distance was a large pod of North Atlantic White Sided Dolphins.

Atlantic White Sided Dolphins are always a crowd pleaser. Especially when it's a large pod that is feeling curious and playful, just like today's pod! They surrounded the boat as they took turns swimming under it. Several of them breached which is always an exciting thing to see! The Dolphins alone would've made this trip a great success, but the sightings weren't done!

As we were enjoying the dolphin's company, we spotted another blow out in the distance. It was another Humpback Whale. We slowly started to drift into that area when all of a sudden the whale tail breached! It all happened so fast and so unexpectedly that I was unable to get a photo and unfortunately it didn't do it again. This was the first tail breach that I had ever seen so in a way I guess it was a good thing that I was able to just enjoy the show. We got some great looks at this whale as it spent most of it's time open mouth feeding. It spent quite a bit of time at the surface and it's dives were very short. This whale was much more cooperative than the first whale. 

It was already pretty late in the trip when we found this last whale so we didn't have much time to spend with it, but we enjoyed every second of it. Overall it was a great day to be out on the ocean with the whales.
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The sightings began about an hour and a half into the trip with a pair of Humpback Whales who were spending their time open mouth feeding. They gave us a couple of good looks when we got out to them and then they both went down for a deeper dive. A few minutes later we got the most amazing look at them as they surfaced just feet away from us on the right side of the boat. The ocean was smooth and clear so we were able to see just about every detail as they swam up to the surface. Everyone on the boat was in awe over this very close encounter. 

That one look at these whales alone would've made the trip amazing, but these two whales gave us another excellent look minutes later as they came up from under the boat. Again, we were able to see every little detail of their huge bodies as they swam out from under us. As they continued swimming away from us we were able to see the krill that they were feeding on. This was another first for us, but it was nothing compared to the two unbelievable up close looks that the whales gave us.

While we were watching the two Humpbacks, we spotted several other whales in the same area. So after a couple more great looks at the Humpbacks, including one of them rolling over at the surface we went over to check out the other whales. It turned out there were about six Fin Whales. One of them rolled a couple of times at the surface which is pretty rare to see from a Fin Whale. We got a couple more decent looks at the Fin Whales before we were out of time and had to head back for home. 

On the way back to the harbor, we spotted the small pod of Dolphins. They were certainly on a mission and weren't interested in having some fun with us. Every time we got close enough to them to get a decent look, the whole pod disappeared. While this was disappointing since we've only seen Dolphins once so far this season it was impossible to be to upset because of the amazing Humpback Whales earlier.

Overall it was an awesome trip to say the least. It was not only one of my best trips of the season, but of my whole watching experience altogether. After a trip like this, it's going to make the season ending (in just two weeks!!) that much more difficult.
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About an hour and a half into our trip, we found our first whale.... a juvenile Humpback Whale who was spending it's time feeding. This whale was very good to us as it was sticking to extremely short dives and was always fairly close to the boat when it resurfaced. While the dives were short, they were also frequent which gave us several awesome looks as it's flukes as it was preparing to dive.

I spent most of the time that we were watching this whale up in the bow, but after a while I decided to go up to the top deck to try my luck up there. I couldn't have gone up at a better time because the next time the whale resurfaced, it came up right beside the boat on the left side. It slowly headed towards the bow of the boat and we could make out just about every detail as it swam along side us. It was an amazing view!!

Shortly after this surfacing, we left the whale on it's own and headed out to try to find another whale. After about a half hour we were able to locate a very large Fin Whale. Unfortunately, by this time we were just about out of time and had to head back to the harbor. Overall, this trip was one of the best of the season. We had high hopes that the afternoon trip would turn out just as good.

1:30pm Trip: By the time the afternoon trip started, the wind had picked up and the ocean was getting pretty choppy. Fortunately, this had no effect on the whales and we were able to relocate the same Humpback Whale for some more excellent looks. It was pretty interesting to see that this whale was still sticking to the same diving patterns considering it was about four hours since we last saw it. 

There was another whale watching vessel in the area which was watching another whale so after watching the Humpback for a while, we swapped whales. For the last part of this trip we spent our time with another large Fin Whale. Our first looks at this whale were absolutely amazing. It surfaced on the left side of the boat and slowly drifted to the front like the Humpback had done during the morning trip. We were on the right side of the Fin Whale so we were able to see the bright green color as it swam along. Unfortunately, the water was a bit to choppy and the pictures that I took didn't come out very clear. At least I was able to see it though and I'm sure that I'll always remember it!!

Before we knew it, our time was up and we had to head back to the harbor. Today was just an awesome day to be out on the ocean. I don't think we could've picked a better day to do a double trip!! Both trips were very successful as we were able to get some great looks at two different whale species.
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We ended up having to travel about 27 miles out to find our next whale which turned out to be a young Humpback Whale. As we were moving into the area, the whale lifted it's flukes out of the water, but unfortunately for us this was the only time we saw the flukes come up. I personally love seeing Humpbacks and seeing their flukes coming up out of the water is one of the reasons why. So, it was a little disappointing to see it only once, but luckily I was able to get a picture!! Because we had to travel so far out, it was late into the trip when we caught up with this whale. That meant we didn't have much time to spend with it before we had to head back for the harbor.

Overall, it was a great trip. The weather was nice and the water was calm. It was an enjoyable boat ride. We're thinking of doing another double trip next weekend. Hopefully we'll have a good turnout and the whales will be closer to shore!!
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About an hour after leaving the Fin Whale, we came across our second and final sighting of the trip, a Sei Whale. This whale was pretty nice to us. It stayed fairly close to the boat and even surprised us by surfacing right next to us on the left hand side of the boat!! We definitely got a great look at this rare whale as it swam by!! This Sei Whale had a very unique dorsal fin. There were two notches, one of the which was pretty deep and it also had a hole going straight through it. I thought that it was very interesting to look at.

We were able to spend a little while with this Sei Whale before it was time to head back to the harbor. It turned out to be a great trip!! The weather was pretty warm and the ocean conditions weren't all that bad considering what was left of Hurricane Bonnie was passing through.
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The afternoon trip which departed at 1:30 was a much bigger success!! We had our first sighting of this trip shortly after leaving the Harbor. It was a Minke Whale, but unfortunately it had gone down for a deeper dive just as we spotted it. We waited for it to resurface for a few minutes, but it never did. So we ended up heading further offshore to see what else we could find.

This is when we saw the highlight of the day!! We had to travel a little ways to find her, but with the help of other whale watching vessels we were able to locate a Humpback Whale identified as Tulip. We arrived in the area just in time to see Tulip breach multiple times. This was the first time I had ever seen a Humpback Whale breach before in person so it was pretty awesome to say the least. Unfortunately, the Prince of Whales (another vessel) was partially blocking it, so I wasn't able to get a good picture. The one that I did get can be seen here.

Tulip was very cooperative and stuck to taking relatively short dives. She stayed fairly close to the boat to so when she resurfaced we didn't have to travel to far to get to her again. We were able to stay with Tulip for about an hour before our time was up and we had to head back for the harbor. Overall, it was a great day!! The weather was nice, the ocean conditions weren't that bad, and we had some nice whales out there. We're both planning on doing more double trips before the season ends.
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While today's trip wasn't a big success, it was obviously just an off day. Trips like this don't happen very often. Actually, trips like this are pretty rare. One good trip (which we've had several of) can completely outweigh all of the not so good trips that we've been on. You just never know what you're going to see until you get out there.
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While we got some really great looks at these whales, I must say that after being spoiled by such amazing whales in the past few weeks, today's trip was pretty slow and not one of the better ones. However, we are dealing with wild animals so it's to be expected that trips like this will happen from time to time. We're just happy that we did get to see some whales and better yet for me personally, my Minke Whale gallery is finally growing with the addition of some nice photos!! Minke Whales are very challenging to get good photos of because they tend to be elusive and hard to track. The Minke's we've been seeing lately have been surprisingly cooperative which is always nice when you're trying to get pictures. 
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Our sightings today began within minutes of leaving the Harbor. There was a small pod of Harbor Porpoise about a half hour from the Harbor. I'm guessing that there were only about 5 or 6 in this pod, but I can't be positive.  This was our first time seeing them so we were pretty impressed with them. The normally tend to be shy and skittish around the boats, but luckily today they were pretty cooperative. They let us get several good looks at them before we decided to continue on our way to look for more whales.

About an hour later we came across several Minke Whales that were in the same area. These sightings were the best that we had ever gotten of Minke Whales. They normally tend to be pretty elusive and keep their distance from the boat. That was not the case today!! One of them surfaced right next to the boat on the left side of the boat. You could see the what patch on it's pectoral fin  which was great for tracking it. I was able to get a picture of it's head as it broke through the  surface. It was a great look at this whale!! 

After the first Minke whale had been under the water for a few minutes, we saw it (or another one of the Minke's in the area) surface up ahead of us. We went over to check it out and we were surprised with another great look!! This one surfaced within feet of the front of the boat and swam ahead of us. The water was so calm and clear that we could make out just about every detail of this whale. We could easily make out it's flukes as it swam along. As we were watching this whale, another Minke surfaced to the left of the first whale. This second Minke was also within feet of the boat. It was amazing to see so much of this normally elusive whale so close to the boat. Hopefully, we'll get this opportunity again in the future!! It was definitely very impressive.

After staying with the Minke's for a while, we headed out to look for more whales again. About an hour later we found an extremely large Fin Whale. This was another very cooperative whale as it spent most of it's time at the surface. It took several dives, but luckily for us they were short dives and it stayed fairly close to the boat. 

After we got several awesome looks at this whale we were going to head out to do some more exploring, but this Fin Whale would have none of that!! Just as we started to move forward it surfaced almost straight in front of us!! From this point on until we were able to leave the area, this whale was very unpredictable in terms of which direction it was going in. At one point it was swimming away from us, but a few minutes later it resurfaced off to our left and was heading straight for us. The engine was quickly shut off as the whale made it's way from the left of us to the right. We were able to watch it swim just below the surface of the water just like with the Minke Whales. It was amazing to say the least!!  Once the whale went down for a deeper dive, we were finally able to head out of the area in the direction of the Harbor. It was an awesome trip and everyone was very pleased with the sightings.
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Not only was the weather great, but the whales were great to!! We had a few different Fin Whales doing a lot of feeding and giving us a lot of great looks. They were pretty close to shore today so we got to spend quite a bit of time with them which is always a good thing. One of my goals this season is to get some good pictures showing the bottom right jaw of a Fin Whale because it's white while the other side is dark gray/black. So far this season, I've been getting a lot of practice!!

There were also a lot of Common Terns and Wilson's Storm Petrels scanning the ocean for food. Ive found both of these birds to be extremely difficult to get good pictures of, but on sunny, clear, and calm days like today definitely helps you out quite a bit!!
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 About a half hour after leaving the Fin Whales we sighted another large whale's blow in the distance. This whale didn't spend much of it's time at the surface, at least not where we could see it. The naturalist was still able to identify it as a Sei Whale. Sei Whale's are pretty rare in the area and it was the first time one had been seen so early in the season. It was a very unexpected surprise. By the time we had found it though we were already running a little bit late. So we didn't have much time to spend with it before we had to head back for home. I only wish that we had more time to spend out there with it. I would've loved to get some more photos of it. Hopefully, we'll see another in the future. 

Well, overall today's trip was definitely a great one!! We had a lot of whales to watch and there were several different birds that entertained us while we were looking for whales. At one point while we were waiting for the Sei Whale to resurface a Common Tern hovered right beside the boat. I've been trying and trying to get some decent pictures of these birds, but they're very difficult. Needless to say, I took full advantage of this great photo opportunity!! We also stopped on the way home to see the family of Mute Swans again. The babies are slowly getting bigger, but they're still as cute as ever!!
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Because we had to travel further than we normally do, we only have about a half hour to spend with this whale. However, the last time it came up to the surface it gave us a really nice look!! It basically swam very slowly at the surface parallel to the boat for about a couple of minutes before it arched it's back and went down for a deeper dive. That was our cue to head out of the area in the direction of the Harbor. While the whale sightings were slow and fairly short, it was still a great trip. It's always a great trip when you have the chance to see a whale out in the wild!!
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It ended up being another very cooperative Fin Whale who gave us several great looks. It did take a few deep dives, but luckily for us they were short dives and it stayed relatively close to the boat. While it was at the surface it traveled pretty slowly which was nice. The best looks at this whale were also our final looks as we were running out of time and had to head for home. On the last sequence of looks that we got, it swam slowly at the surface for quite some time before it finally arched it's back and went off on it's way again. The Fin Whales that we've seen so far this season have been great!! For the most part they've cooperated very nicely for us.

Once we left this whale we sat down for a little while and had some lunch. Then we spent most of the trip back to the harbor taking pictures of the seagulls (as we normally do) as they flew overhead and glided over the water. It was pretty entertaining to watch them swoop over the water and then glide back up over the boat again.

Watching the birds was pretty entertaining, but we quickly lost interest in them when a dorsal fin suddenly popped up in front of us. At first we thought it was a blue shark, but it was quickly announced over the intercom that it was in fact a Basking Shark. The boat was slowed down and we turned around in hopes of being able to get some looks at it without scaring it away. Luckily, the shark wasn't spooked and it did stay up at the surface. It was pretty big and it was actively feeding at the surface. When it turned in the right direction we could see some bright green under the water which was it's mouth wide open. It was pretty neat to see. The last time we saw a Basking Shark it was an overcast day and all we could see was the dorsal fin. So, this was a nice surprise that we definitely were not expecting!! Just goes to show that you never know where and what you're going to see out there!!

Since we were already running late we couldn't spend to much time with this shark and we continued on our way back to the harbor. When we got there, there was a fishing boat tied to the dock and they were cleaning the fish that they had caught. The fishermen were throwing the scraps out in the water which provided us with a great show. There were dozens of seagulls just waiting to get their piece of a free meal. We stuck around to watch them for about 5-10 minutes before we headed for the car, but we still had one more stop to make....

About 10 minutes before you get to the harbor, there's a marshy area where a family of Mute Swan's live. We see them just about every time we go out there so today we decided to stop to get some pictures. There were the two adult birds as well as their three babies resting at the shore. The babies were sleeping while the adults watched them and us. There was another lady there who stops by frequently to visit with them and she told us they started out with six babies, but now they're down to three. Hopefully, the last three will make it. They were absolutely beautiful!!

So overall, today's trip out to Rye was a great one!! The weather was awesome and the ocean was calm. We had a great whale sighting, a surprise basking shark sighting, and a lot of bird entertainment!! I can't wait until next weekend!!
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A little while later we finally found something... a large (to say the least) Fin Whale!! This whale was very cooperative and gave us some amazing looks. It was traveling pretty slowly and spent a lot of it's time at the surface swimming in circles as it was feeding. I'd never seen a Fin Whale (or any whale for that matter) swim in such tight circles. It was very entertaining and allowed us to get some great looks!!

While we were waiting for this whale to resurface after one of it's dives, we spotted another blow in the area. This was also a Fin Whale. So we had two Fin Whales in the same area to watch. It was pretty awesome!! 

While watching the Fin Whales, a Minke Whale had also surfaced in the area, but we ended up staying with the Fin Whales. On the way back to shore, we spotted a second Minke Whale surfacing between the Isles of Shoals and shore. It's pretty rare to have whales this close to shore, but apparently this Minke didn't care about that.

Overall, it was a great trip. The water was fairly calm (compared to the last three trips), there was very little wind, it was a little cooler than I like, but the whales definitely made up for it!!
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We started our trip out with a nice pod of North Atlantic White Sided Dolphins. We (or least I) had no clue they were in the area until the boat came to a sudden stop and it was announced over the intercom. After a few short glimpses, the dolphins disappeared as they went for deeper dives. While waiting for them surface again we were entertained by several seagulls and common terns that were flying around us in search of a nice meal. 

Several minutes had gone by with no dolphin activity (or at least none that we could see do to the ocean condition), but luckily another whale watching boat (Prince of Whales) helped us to relocate them. The second time that we saw them, they gave us some excellent looks. They were swimming all around the boats and under it. Some of them breached which is always exciting to see!! We stayed with the dolphins for a good half hour to forty-five minutes before we headed out in search for more whales.

Further off shore we had our second sighting. Although from a distance it was difficult to tell what species of whale it was. We could tell by the size of the blow that it was a larger whale though which pretty much told us it was either a Fin or Humpback. As we got closer we could see the bright green coloration of it's pectoral fins under the water and we realized that it was a Humpback. Following the bright green coloration is a great way to track them.

By the time we had gotten close enough for a good look, it had lifted it's flukes which meant it was going for a deeper dive and that we'd have to wait for it to surface again. A few minutes later, it surfaced again for a few breaths and then once again lifted it's flukes. This whale gave us several great looks following this routine and luckily it was traveling slowly and stayed relatively close to us. 

Unfortunately, the naturalist was unable to identify this whale at the time so I don't know who we were watching, but I was very thankful and happy to have found a Humpback almost a full year after our previous sightings of Pinball and her calf. Hopefully as the year goes on, we'll continue to have Humpback sightings. They're definitely a crowd pleaser!!
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The sightings started out very slow. We had spotted a few Fin Whales, but only got a couple of really good looks at them. They were very elusive and spent very little time at the surface. We stuck around in that area for about an hour before heading out to try to find more whales.

A little bit further into the trip we found another Fin Whale. This whale was traveling fairly slowly at the surface and allowed us to get a couple of really nice looks before it headed down for a deeper dive. We trailed this whale for a little while and then it was time to head back to the harbor.On the way back in we saw a very quick glimpse of a Minke Whale and we also found another pair of Fin Whales swimming side by side which is pretty rare for these whales. They both gave us a couple of decent looks before they went for deeper dives. Once again, we were heading home.

I spent most of the time heading back to shore taking pictures of the seagulls as they trailed the boat. There were also a couple of Northern Gannets in the area which I got some nice pictures of. This year, I'm hoping to get some decent pictures of the marine birds as well as the whales.We're hoping to get back out on the ocean this up coming weekend. Hopefully, we'll get calmer waters and some more co-operative whales!! 
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