We headed out to the northwest corner, our usual stomping ground. Eagle-eyed Captain Deb spotted a blow so we trundled up the top deck to start our search as a group of 20-30 Atlantic white-sided dolphins frolicked in the area delighting our passengers and then bam – a humpback whale surfaced on our port side. 

We watched this whale surface a few times, got some good ID photos but have not been able to identify this animal. Then a few minutes later a second whale surfaced with our first. This one we did identify as Sundown, a well-known Stellwagen whale. These two dove and we waited to see what might happen next. 

What followed was whale watcher heaven. In the depths we started to see the green splotches of humpback pectoral fins rising to the surface very close to the boat. Pleats, named for the scars running down this whale’s back, surfaced next to the boat several times, passed under our bow pulpits and generally just gave an awesome show of twisty dives, rolling, bubble blowing, tail stock slapping, and spyhopping for the next half hour. It was an amazing opportunity to really take in how large these animals are and how nimble and flexible they are in the water.

Personally it was a thrilling trip and a great start to my season.

Cheers,

Tegan