June Sightings Continued: 16th-19th

June 16th

After a couple days of fog we were able to get out on the water again. We were very fortunate to have found one of our well known humpbacks named Tusk! The passangers had some nice looks at Tusk, as he spent a great deal of time at the surface and took short, four minute dives. Many different species of pelagic birds observed today including greater shearwaters, sooty shearwaters, northern gannets, and Wilson storm petrels.

June 17th:

We had quite a few whales out there today-a total of 5 humpback whales! One of the whales was identifed as Triton, a male humpback that we've been seeing since 1981! We also had a juvenille humpback that suddenly became very active! It breached at least ten times and did some chin slaps. This is when the whale lifts its head out of the water and slams it on the surface. Another great day out on the Friendship V!

June 18th:


On our journey offshore to the east we came across 3 minke whales and a humpback whale! The minke whales were actually seen close to shore, off Egg Rock and Schoodic Point. This tends to be common with minke whales. During the mid-summer they make their way inshore to feed on small schools of herring.



June 19th:

Today, we had calm seas and great wildlife sightings to enjoy. The first of our exciting sightings included a Great Skua! It was first spotted sitting on the water and then flew right ove the boat! In regards to the whales, we were treated to a cow and calf pair of finback whales! Everyone had the chance to get nice looks at this pair. Overall, a wonderful tour!

June Trips

Here are our June sightings!

June 2nd:

On this sunny day we arrived to Petit Manan Island to hear the news that a rosette tern had arrrived! Offshore we saw many pelagic birds including wilson storm petrels, greater shearwaters, and northern gannets. The gannets were diving into the water and we spotted balls of krill on the surface. The gannets were not the only ones feeding but also 2 finback whales and a minke! The finbacks were most likely feeding on the krill. One finback was blowing bubbles before surfacing, possibly trying to gather the krill into tighter balls. We also spotted a few pods of harbor porpoise along with some harbor and grey seals offshore.

June 4th:

Today was definately one of the best trips of the season thus far! The whale watch found 9 whales offshore! In total the sightings included 1 minke whale, 2 humpbacks, and 6 finbacks! One of humpbacks was identified as Partition! They were being a little lazy at first, but eventually they woke up a bit, lifting their tails out of the water so everyone could get nice looks before they disappeared below the surface.

Another exciting sighting was a cow and calf pair of finbacks! We rarely see cow and calf pairs, but this is typically the time we see them. They, as most finbacks do in our area, stop in for a few meals before heading north to the Bay of Fundy. A finback calf is already 18-20 feet long at birth and weighs in at about 2 tons!

June 8th:

Starting off at Petit Manan, we found numerous puffins hanging out in the water. No puffin chicks had been seen yet, but the researchers on the island were expecting them soon. But they were out banding terns. It is always exciting to hear about the status of the nesting birds on the island as well as the research that they are doing.

After spending time at Petit Manan we headed offshore to search for whales. The boat ended up finding 5 finback whales! Seals and porpoises were also seen throughout the tour.

June 9th:

It seemed that the birds out on Petit Manan had an unwanted visitor today. A peregrine falcon was spotted harrassing the terns. The nesting peregrines on Mount Desert Island usually have band on their legs, but this one did not, indicating that there might be a pair nesting near Petit Manan. They come out to the island to feed on the nesting birds including puffins. Because of this, the researchers stationed on the island try to scare the peregines away by either banging on pots, yelling, or seting up recorded owl calls.

After witnessing the paragrine harrassment, we ventured offshore to soon find 2 minke whales and 5 finback whales. We got great looks at the finbacks. Minkes can be a bit shy and elusive, but overall we got good looks. We also saw quite a few harbor porpoise, about 20-30 along with a few harbor and grey seals!

A Whale of Start to the Season!

WELCOME!

How wonderful it is to be back on the water! We apologize for the delay in posting our sightings, but the whales and beautiful weather have been keeping us busy! We hope you enjoy reading about our 2010 sightings.

May 27th:

On this beautiful, calm, sunny day our first stop was Petit Manan Island, which provided the chance for passangers to see about 50 puffins, 4 razorbills, and hundreds of terns. Once we headed offshore, we continued to see numerous pelagic bird species including, northern gannets, red phalaropes, terns, and a sooty shearwater.

As we continued on to the whale grounds we eventually spotted a couple of blows which turn out to be 2 finback whales! We got wonderful looks, with the finbacks surfacing close to the boat. There was also another finback and a minke whale nearby. Through out the trip we spotted pods of harbor porpoise, which is a small toothed whale common to both the inshore and offshore waters of the Gulf of Maine.

Overall, a great way to kick off the 2010 season!

May 28th

Today, though we had great bird sightings, we had a little trouble finding the whales. This happens occationally, especially in the beginning of the season. Patches of bait were seen on the fish finder and birds such as northern gannets, terns, phalaropes, a sooty shearwater, and 4 red-throated loons were out and about. We also had the chance to visit Mount Desert Rock, which is Allied Whale's offshore research station and home to hundreds of harbor and grey seals!

May 29th:

Though it was a cool day out there, we were successful in finding whales and other marine life on this trip. Our bird sightings included scoters and a kittiwake, along with puffins, terns, and nothern gannets.

We spotted a couple of pods of harbor porpoise and Laura Kennedy, our bird researcher, saw the first blow. Two more blows were spotted and the boat got nice looks at 3 finback whales! Also about 3 to 5 grey seals popped up while we were on the whales.

May 31st

The whale sightings continued to be great as the Friendship V ventured offshore to the whale grounds. The boat was able to find 4 finback whales and a minke whale! It seemed that the whales were feeding when one of the finbacks made a sharpe "u-turn" while at the surface. When the whales make a sudden change in direction or seem to be swimming in a circle at the surface, this usually indicates feeding behavior.

Other marine mammals sighted on the trip included a couple of grey seals and harbor porpoise!