These reports are provided by Jennifer Hafner and Dianne Schulte, former interns of the Whale Center Of New England, who now work as a naturalists for the Isle of Shoals Steamship Co. and Newburyport Whale Watch and as contributing researchers, providing field data to the Whale Center Of New England.

Tuesday, September 10, 2002

The last week have seen some amazing sightings - Atlantic white-sided dolphins, pilot whales, finbacks, humpbacks (including one of our favorites, Trident and her calf), and most surprising of all... a BLUE WHALE! Blue whales are the largest animal ever to have lived on the earth, even larger than dinosaurs. We saw this one on Jeffreys Ledge, the first time a blue whale has been seen here since 1993! We estimate this whale was 85 feet long! The whale was sighted for a couple days, and amazingly enough, another Blue Whale was spotted on the other side of the ledge for a couple days, too! Dianna Schulte, from the Prince of Whales (Newburyport Whale Watch) reported that the whale spouted (a 20-foot spout!) and swam directly toward the boat one day - imagine being 20 feet away from an 85 foot long, 80-ton animal! Jen Hafner reported that the whale actually rolled on its side during a trip on the Granite State (Granite State Whale Watch) - stay tuned for photos!

Thursday, August 29, 2002

Sightings have slowed down quite a bit lately, but we saw a finback whale only 3 miles from the harbor the other day! - Dianna Schulte, Newburyport Whale Watch

Monday, August 12, 2002 We had a terrific look at a minke whale at the start of the trip - it surfaced right next to the boat and rolled on its side before diving down! We also saw three adult fin whales surfacing together, and were surprised with looks at about 40 Atlantic white-sided dolphins on the way home. - Jen Hafner, Newburyport Whale Watch

Saturday, August 10, 2002

We had sightings of minkes, finbacks, and "acres" of Atlantic white-sided dolphins. Bird watchers were also delighted by sightings of several large groups of shearwaters. Dianna Schulte, Newburyport Whale Watch.Ê

Thursday, August 8, 2002

More pilot whales today, along with a pod of Atlantic White-sided dolphins, two fin whales and many minke whales. - Dianna Schulte, Newburyport Whale Watch.Ê

Wednesday, August 7, 2002

Saw some pilot whales today, along with a couple fin whales, minke whales and a humpback named "Satula", who was blowing bubble clouds, a feeding behavior.Ê

Monday, July 29, 2002

Great looks at two mother/calf fin whale pairs, a humpback called "Fringe" and a pod of pilot whales. - Dianna Schulte, Newburyport Whale Watch.Ê

Saturday, July 27, 2002

We had lots of seabirds today, including shearwaters and petrels, and two fin whales together, and sightings of a giant bluefin tuna.- Dianna Schulte, Newburyport Whale Watch.Ê

Friday, July 26, 2002

Today we had a few fin whales, including a cow/calf pair, and a sighting of a Sei (pronounced "say") whale, a species a bit smaller than a fin whale, and one seen usually only once or twice a summer! - Dianna Schulte, Newburyport Whale Watch.

Thursday, July 11, 2002

Straight from the naturalist's mouth..."we had the most amazing breaching fin whale today. It was incredible, honestly. AfterÊ3 breaches (full breaches) it kind of porpoised, but then as we got along side it, it rolled over and started swimming upside down!" - Dianna Schulte, Newburyport Whale Watch. Trust us, this kind of stuff never happens! Just proves once again how unpredictable whale watches are!

Monday, July 8, 2002

Today we saw one of the most famous humpback whales, "Salt". Salt was the first whale ever to be named (because of the white pigment on her dorsal fin that resembles a sprinkling of salt), back in 1976 and she's been seen just about every year since! She was traveling with another familiar humpback, "Spider". We also had good looks at several finback whales. - Dianna Schulte, Newburyport Whale Watch.

Monday, July 1, 2002

We had a humpback breach right next to the Prince of Whales today! It was amazing. Believe it or not, we don't seen things like that very often, so we're always just as excited as the passengers when something like that happens. We also had sightings of a fin whale mother and her calf, and "Flask", a humpback first seen in 1981, and a frequent visitor to Jeffrey's Ledge.

Thursday, June 27, 2002

Another mother/calf pair today, with sightings of the female humpback "Sickle" and her calf. - Dianna Schulte, Newburyport Whale Watch.

Sunday, June 23, 2002

Today started out foggy, but we ended up with a beautiful, calm day with decent visibility. Out on Jeffrey's Ledge, we saw two humpbacks (not yet identified) that appeared to be feeding near the surface (we saw them blowing bubble clouds and filtering water). We also saw one minke whale, and two basking sharks, one that was about 18-20 feet long and one that looked close to 30 feet long! Both sharks were actively filtering plankton, as we saw them skimming near the surface with their mouths wide open.

Friday, June 21, 2002

We had a great day today, with sightings of Trident and her calf, along with an "escort" who accompanied them. We also had sightings of a few other humpbacks, and three finbacks! - Dianna Schulte, Newburyport Whale Watch

Friday, June 14, 2002

We saw "Badge" today, a humpback born in 1987, who spent time bubble-feeding near the boat. We also saw four finbacks and two minke whales. - Dianna Schulte, Newburyport Whale Watch

Sunday, June 9, 2002

A spectacular day! We saw over 20 humpback whales, several finbacks lunge feeding, minke whales, Atlantic white-sided dolphins and a plethora of pelagic seabirds, including gannets, storm petrels and shearwaters. - Dianna Schulte, Newburyport Whale Watch

Tuesday, June 4, 2002

Today we got a rare, unbelievable look at a finback mother and calf swimming right alongside the boat. Finbacks are the second largest animals on Earth, reaching average lengths of 60-70 feet, so this was a great sighting! There were also some minke whales and harbor porpoise nearby. - Dianna Schulte, Newburyport Whale Watch

Wednesday, May 29, 2002

A report from Blue Ocean President and Prince of Whales naturalist Dianna Schulte: "Today, in super thick fog, we had 4-5 fin whales, including an awesome calf! It circled the boat a couple times and rolled over next to us. We also saw lots of Atlantic white-sided dolphins escorting the fin whales, and later on saw a basking shark!"

Saturday, May 25, 2002

Today Prince of Whales naturalists spotted 3 finback whales and 25-30 Atlantic white-sided dolphins, a species which has appeared several times already this season.

Friday, May 24, 2002

Research scientists aboard the Prince of Whales were delighted to see a rare Right Whale today near Rockport, MA. There are only about 300 Northern Right Whales left in the world, so this was a great sighting.

Wednesday, May 22, 2002

Today was a great day, with a sighting of Owl, a few fin whales, a minke whale and some Atlantic white-sided dolphins!