Week ending 29 June 2003 - The good news is summer has officially arrived!  This week featured beautiful, warm, calm trips on the North Atlantic! We also had some terrific whale sightings to go with the gorgeous weather! Tuesday through Thursday sightings included from four to ten humpback whales! Individuals identified over the week included CORE whale sponsorship whales Owl and Badge (after a long disappearance, it's good to know she's alive and well!). We also sighted Echo, Tear, Pinball and her calf, Bandit and Ase! By the end of the week, more changes were in order, with only two humpbacks seen - but - what amazing behaviors from this mother and calf pair!!  We spent practically one entire afternoon trip watching the mother whale flipper slapping, lobtailing and rolling around, while her calf breached, breached and breached! Fantastic!

Bird sightings dropped dramatically during this week, as well. Our regulars were still abundant (Gr. black-backed gulls, Herring gulls, and Double-crested cormorants) We also observed Common Eiders, two pairs of Mute Swans, Canada Geese, Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets, and a few Common Terns. There were very few Northern Gannets, Common Loons or Wilson's storm-petrels, and only a couple Greater Shearwaters and Sooty Shearwaters.

Week ending 22 June 2003 - Some rain and wind kept us at the dock for a few trips, but overall the weather has been steadily improving. Sightings were truly a mixed bag, with drastic changes day to day. On Monday, we had several humpback sightings, followed by loads of fin whales and minkes toward the end of the week. We still had several pods of Atlantic white-sided dolphins in the area, most times the dolphins were travelling with a fin whale or two! Bird sightings continue to be exciting with observations of the usual species (Gr. black-backed gulls, Herring gulls, and Double-crested cormorants), Ring-billed gulls, Common Eiders, a pair of Mute Swans, Canada Geese, Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets, Common Terns, Northern Gannets, Common Loons, Wilson's storm-petrels, as well as many Greater Shearwaters and Sooty Shearwaters

Full Day Fundraiser Trip, 16 June 2003 - This was the first of our offshore research trips -  a beautiful, crisp, sunny day with loads of whales and birds!  We were primarily on Jeffrey's Ledge, with a quick venture out to an area called Platts, about 60 miles from Gloucester, just northeast of Jeffrey's. Most sightings were on the northernmost end of Jeffrey's Ledge. Here's what we saw:

8-9 humpback whales (whales identified included Colt, Trident, Exclaim, Garland and possibly Parrot!), 32-35 fin whales, 33-34 minke whales, 2 Northern right whales (a mother and calf!!), 3 harbor porpoise, 190-240 Atlantic white-sided dolphins. Most of these whales were actively feeding on either herring or small mackerel. A really fantastic day! Birds included: Greater black-backed gulls, Herring gulls, Double crested cormorants, Canada geese, Snowy egrets, Great egrets, Common Eiders, Murre (not sure which species), Common Loons, Wilson's storm-petrels, Greater shearwaters, Sooty shearwaters, 20 (or more) Northern fulmars (that's a very impressive number of these rather rare birds!!)

Week ending 15 June 2003 - Better weather, great sightings! Each day was quite different from the next, but all were very good in their own way! At least two species of cetacean (whale, dolphin or porpoise) were seen on each trip, and half of the trips saw four different species of cetacean! Dolphins have been around pretty consistently, as well, mirroring last spring's sightings. Humpbacks were observed during most of the trips, with a very memorable feeding pair which included large adult females, Trident and Ase! Several finbacks have been in the area, with almost all of the trips seeing up to 7, 8 and 9 of these fantastic animals! On Saturday, the 14th, we not only had humpbacks, fin whales, minke whales and dolphins, we counted 20 or more basking sharks (the second largest in the world, reaching up to 40 feet!)! Very impressive, indeed! Bird sightings continue to be great, with sightings of the usual species (Gr. black-backed gulls, Herring gulls, and Double-crested cormorants), Common Eiders, a pair of Mute Swans, Canada Geese, Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets, Common Terns, Northern Gannets, Common Loons, Wilson's storm-petrels and many Greater Shearwaters and Sooty Shearwaters.

Week ending 08 June 2003 - WOW! might be a good word to describe our trips during the past week. Some good weather (a bit of rain or fog here and there, but nice and calm) and some really fantastic whale, fish and bird sightings. Most of our trips this week featured anywhere from 50 to 150 Atlantic white-sided dolphins, many fin whales, several minke whales, and a harbor porpoise or two! The most spectacular sights were the millions upon millions of herring seen on the surface. At one point on Sunday, the 8th, our boat (the Yankee Spirit) was floating over a school of herring that was about a half mile across! Very impressive to see so many fish bubbling on the surface! A couple of our trips also included basking sharks and ocean sunfish!  Of course we have many birds to report, as well, including the usual species (Gr. black-backed gulls, Herring gulls, and Double-crested cormorants), Common Eiders, a Mute Swan, Snowy Egrets, Common Terns, Northern Gannets, Common Loons, Wilson's storm-petrels and a few Greater Shearwaters.

Week ending 01 June 2003 - Trips this week were quite different from day to day - on our first  trip of the week , we saw just one humpback whale! The next trip - a gorgeous, calm, warm day (our first "hat-free" trip!) -  we observed somewhere around 150 Atlantic white-sided dolphins, 3 fin whales and a minke whale. Our final trip of the week included sightings of the humpback whale Trident, 3 minke whales, 2 harbor porpoise and about 10-12 Atlantic white-sided dolphins. Bird sightings remain strong, with the usual species (Gr. black-backed gulls, Herring gulls, and Double-crested cormorants), Northern Gannets, Common Loons, Wilson's storm-petrels and a few Sooty shearwaters.