These reports are provided by Jennifer Hafner, a former intern of the Whale Center Of New England, who now works as a naturalist for the Isle of Shoals Steamship Co. and as a contributing researcher of field data to the Whale Center Of New England.
Our last public whale watch in September was very exciting - we had the rare sighting of a juvenile humpback only a couple miles away from Rye Beach, NH! We're not sure of the identity of the whale, but we think it may be the calf of Istar, a female who was seen with a calf at the beginning of the summer, but hasn't been seen with her calf in several weeks. The calf looked fairly healthy, and it seemed to be feeding, so we hope it will be okay without its mother. After seeing the humpback, we cruised out past the Isles of Shoals and saw 7-10 harbor porpoise, which was a nice way to end the trip. The porpoises were traveling quickly and were only about 1 mile east of the Isles of Shoals.
Thanks to everyone who joined us this season. We will start up a regular whale watch schedule again in May 2001.
We saw three minke whales today and two ocean sunfish. Both sunfish were large, about 5-6 feet long.
We saw two minke whales today. One traveled very quickly and took long dives, but we got some good looks at the second one. It was a beautiful, calm day. Unfortunately, it looks like some nasty weather is moving in...
Sightings were surprisingly low today - we searched all over, but only saw one whale. We saw the blow from a distance, and waited for the whale to resurface, but it never did. Nonetheless, it was a gorgeous day on the water. Sightings have been surprising this month - usually we have terrific sightings in September. We're wondering if the cold, wet weather has something to do with the decrease in sightings this year...
Rough seas forced us to stay at the dock yesterday, but we were back out today. Still lots of small whales around - we saw 7 minke whales - it's surprising, because this is usually the time of year when we have many finbacks and humpbacks in the area. The minkes were fun to see nonetheless, we had most of them near the boat and at the surface at the same time, which is a rare sighting. We also saw two different ocean sunfish - one on the way out, one on the way in. Both were large - 5-6' long. They each had distinctive markings and scars so that we could tell them apart. Join us soon!
Sorry, it's been awhile since our last update...
Lots of smaller whales around today - we saw 4 minke whales that appeared to be feeding near the surface. We also got a great look at a 5-6' long ocean sunfish (photos coming soon) towards the end of the trip. These fish are really interesting looking. For some reason, they also seem to have an affinity for the back of our boat. This one hovered around our stern for several minutes, just below the water surface, and we got a terrific look at it. It's size and unusual appearance enthralled us for quite a while!
Sightings were slim today, but we did get a quick look at 2 minke whales, a basking shark and a blue shark. Nevertheless, the weather was beautiful and it was a great day to be on a boat!
We had an amazing day today, with lots of whale activity. "Pinball" and her calf were here again, and they were hanging out with a whale we think is "Kilter". All the whales were very active - the calf breached (jumped out of the water) 8 times! We also saw 2-3 minke whales and two harbor seals. It was a great day! We hear there's a storm coming in, and are hoping to get some trips in this week before the bad weather hits... stay tuned!
We had humpbacks everywhere today - we got close to seven whales, and we thought we saw two more in the distance. We also caught a glimpse of one minke whale nearby. Again, we saw Pinball and her calf, and spent a lot of time with the calf. The calf was "logging", or resting at the surface when we came upon it, breathing very slowly and just hovering at the surface. It soon "woke up", and we were entertained by its interesting movements. It would often flick its tail at the surface, and move its flippers in all directions, and lunge at the surface with water filtering out of its mouth (indicating feeding), and several times it stuck its head out of the water like it was trying to get a look around. It even seemed to be playing with seaweed at one point! Pinball and the calf were separated at first, but eventually Pinball began heading in our direction. It was obvious why she was there - there were schools of fish swarming all around us.ÊÊ
After many great looks, we cruised on to several other whales that had moved within a couple miles of us. At that point, we saw three single humpbacks, and one pair that was moving and feeding together. We think we identified two of the single whales as "Badge" (first seen in 1987) and "Shark" (a female first seen in 1984), and we'll have to wait to get our photos developed to identify the others. Of course, our naturalist and interns were elated after such a fun day. Join us soon and experience the ocean for yourself!Ê
We had another excellent day out on Jeffrey's Ledge, about 23 miles from Portsmouth Harbor. We saw "Marble" the humpback whale again, 3 finback whales, and seven minke whales! Marble seemed to be feeding just under the surface, and blew several bubble clouds, probably using them to trap or scare fish under water. We got great looks at him, and he fluked several times, offering great photo opportunities!Ê
We had a terrific day on Jeffrey's Ledge today, with a variety of sightings. Fish were abundant - we saw several schools of fish splashing at the surface, and a number of deep sea fishing boats were around us. We saw a total of one humpback whale ("Owl" again!), six finback whales, and one minke whales. Of the finback whale sightings, two were a mother and calf pair, who traveled together the whole time we were watching them. The calf was really interesting - it rolled onto its side several times, so that we actually saw its flipper and half its fluke (tail) in the air!
We had another great day 19 miles off Portsmouth Harbor, with sightings of 6 minke whales and a finback mother and calf. The finback mother and calf had great markings, and the calf came very close to the boat several times.
We had a terrific day yesterday, with a variety of sightings all in the same area near Jeffrey's Ledge. We started the day off with sightings of two minke whales, then two single finback whales, and then a pair of young finbacks right next to the boat! Then we moved on to see a basking shark, the first shark sighting of the season. The shark swam lazily next to the boat, and we got to see its whole length of 25 feet! The highlight of the trip was when we were watching a young finback whale, and it cruised so close to the boat that we got to see its whole body underwater, and even its eye! All of these sightings were within the same few miles, and all the whales seemed to be feeding right near the surface. What a great way to start off our summer season!
Our trip today with Holderness School was a great success - we went out 18 miles offshore to Jeffrey's Ledge and found it teeming with life! Everywhere we looked, we could see schools of fish splashing at the surface, and we were rewarded with fairly close looks at two fin whales and one minke whale.
We kicked off our 2000 whale watch season with the sighting of a minke whale, up close & personal! The whale seemed very curious, circling the boat several times. We also had a possible sighting of a school of tuna. Join us soon for a trip!
Saturday, September 23, 2000
Monday, September 18, 2000
Thursday, September 14, 2000
Sunday, September 10, 2000
Sunday, September 3, 2000
Thurs., August 31, 2000
Saturday, August 19, 2000
Wed., August 9, 2000
We had a surprising day today - we saw 15-20 pilot whales and 1 Risso's dolphin only twomiles from Portsmouth Harbor! Pilot whales are black, 12-20 foot long whales that travel together in pods. It was our first sighting of this species this year, and to have them so close to the harbor was amazing. It was also our first sighting of a Risso's dolphin (also known as a grampus whale), which was about 10 feet long, gray in color, and commonly has pretty scratched-up looking skin. We also got a quick glimpse of a minke whale, and saw 3 blows from a finback whale out on Jeffreys Ledge - unfortunately, we never got close enough to see the whale itself. A neat day, nonetheless!
Sunday, August 6, 2000
Wed., August 2, 2000
Monday, July 24, 2000
Marine life was plentiful today, with sightings of one humpback ("Half Moon" again!), five finbacks (including a mother/calf pair), four minke whales, a basking shark (the world's second-largest shark species), and about 20 harbor seals!
Sat. July 15, 2000
It was pretty rough out today, with 2-4 foot seas offshore. We cruised out about 19 miles to the western edge of Jeffrey's Ledge. We saw one finback whale up close, and caught quick glimpses of two minke whales, which were difficult to see due to the large swells. We watched the finback whale for awhile, and it seemed to be making large circles and feeding at the surface - we even saw it filtering water out of its mouth! As we were turning for home, we saw a second finback come up a little distance away.Ê
Friday, July 7, 2000
Sunday, July 2, 2000
Friday, June 30, 2000
We had a nice, calm day today, but a decrease in sightings. We covered the western area of Jeffrey's Ledge, and were in the same area we've been in the past few weeks, and saw two minke whales during the trip. We finished the day with a sighting of 20-30 harbor seals on Duck Island, at the Isles of Shoals (see photo).
Saturday, June 24, 2000
Sunday, June 18, 2000
Monday, June 12, 2000
We started the day with rough seas, and went offshore 20 miles, but werefinally rewarded with sightings of five finback whales and one humpback. There seemed to be finback whales everywhere we looked! We had great close looks at the humpback, a whale named "Owl", who we have been seeing out on Jeffrey's Ledge since 1986 (see photo). Owl seemed to be spending most of her time filter-feeding near the boat, circling around schools of fish. On the return trip, we also saw about fifty harbor seals as we passed Duck Island, one of the Isles of Shoals.
June 9, 2000
Tuesday May 16, 2000
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