Whale and Lobster Sea-Tails

Interesting Book

2011-06-08T08:34:00.003-04:00

An interest book, it deals with the social & economic structure of the Lobster Industry in Maine.

If you get a chance check it out. It is a bit academic in some chapters but an interesting read none the less.

The 2011 whale season is upon us.

2011-06-03T15:23:00.002-04:00

Well I have been posting more on the facebook page then I have been on the blog. So, sorry about that.....we have a new ticket booth these days. It is spacious and comfortable and I will be posting pictures soon.
The Whale boat went out on Memorial Day after having to cancel the Saturday and Sunday trip due to bad weather. We saw whales but they were very sluggish and not very playful.
We are hoping to head back out on Saturday and sunday of the first week of June.
So if you want to enjoy a nice day out before the tourist season hits in July give us a call.

Pirate Story On NPR

2011-04-15T09:04:00.001-04:00

So much for the lore of being a pirate. Wonder when the franchise aspect of the business will be coming out? http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103657301

A Little Bit of Dredging.

2011-03-31T18:33:00.004-04:00

Spring is in the air. Have been doing a bit of dredging around the docks. Shot some video of what is happening.

Looking for Speaking Gigs

2011-03-20T09:18:00.002-04:00

We are starting early in marketing the whale boat and scenic lobster tours this year, and we are looking for groups that would like to have a guest lecturer. We have compose a small talk about the company using powerpoint and video so if you know anyone that is looking for a usual talk please let us know.

Lack of posts

2010-11-28T11:00:00.002-05:00

Have to say that we didn't post to many pictures or videos this year. It was an usual year. We will try and download some images that were captured as well as video over the winter.
It seemed that we never had our cameras when the fun things happen.
Hope next year we will be more on the ball.

Taking a cruise

2010-07-06T17:24:00.003-04:00

It was a hot day on the docks today! We had to hose the parking lot down to cut down on the dust. But the people heading on the Whale Boat were a happy lot so here is a quick video showing the people heading out to track down the Whales of July!

Fourth of July Fireworks

2010-07-05T13:30:00.004-04:00

It was a beautiful night on the Atlantic for a great fireworks display in Kennebunk Maine. We had over 125 people on the Whale Boat and over 30 on "Kylie's Chance". The weather was clear and the ocean was calm and cool and the drinks were flowing.
Here is a 45 second video of some of the fireworks that lite up the skies over Kennebunk Beach to the delight of the crowd both on the water and on the coast line.

Dual Bubble Feeding

2010-06-29T20:37:00.002-04:00

Here is a pair of Humpback whales that were bubble feeding on our last trip out this past weekend. They worked in unison, it was almost like a ballet. We were beside them for 45 minutes and they kept at it.

So if you get a chance, come on out this summer.

First Trip Out of the 2010 season!

2010-05-30T08:21:00.005-04:00

We had a nice day on the first cruise of the 2010 season. Had a humpback calf that was very frisky and did quite a few breaches. Also had a close encounter as they passed right by "Nick's Chance".

So the first video is the calf breaching, it looks better on the big screen. It was video taped in HD and it is only 9 seconds.

The second video is the calf coming in to check us out. So the whales are out there. Come on down and go whale hunting with us in the deep blue Atlantic.

Moby Dick.....the opera?

2010-05-16T09:12:00.004-04:00

I was listening to NPR this morning, as I am prone to do on Sunday's and I heard that the Dallas (Texas) Opera House is doing an opera based on Herman Melville's book "Moby Dick." I thought that was intriguing, if one has read the book which is quite long and full of allegories in reference to religion, slavery and the basic human relationship to oneself while giving the first detail written history of the whaling industry, one has to wonder how do you score that to music?

Do you think the Ogunquit Playhouse will be doing this one soon?

The question is what part should Captain Gary play?

Check it out if you want.

http://www.dallasopera.org/the_season/091004-index.php

Do you remember the Nautilus

2010-04-23T20:26:00.002-04:00

Ah, the Nautilus. We had to use the Whale Boat the Nautilus one year as we had to way for the new "Nick's Chance to be built. It was an interesting year in that boat with a lot of stories to go a long with it. After it was sold it became the "Indian" and worked out of Saco until the Owner/Captain passed away... last I heard it was still in legal probate somewhere.

Bermuda Whale Website

2010-04-16T23:24:00.002-04:00

Someone on our crew worked at this place in Bermuda last year. It is a very interesting website check it out.

We are just a few months before we start up again.

http://www.whalesbermuda.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=256&Itemid=107

How old do whales get.

2010-03-28T12:05:00.002-04:00

Found interesting article about the the possiblity that whales can live a longer time then previously noted.

I don't think people understand that whales and dolphins have a degree of communication that still isn't fully understood.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-461703/Whale-survives-harpoon-attack-130-years-ago-worlds-oldest-mammal.html

Three's Company

2010-03-10T17:05:00.002-05:00

Took this last year. We had three whales blow at the same time. Looking forward to having another great year. Start up in just 2 months!

Blue Fin Tuna

2010-02-22T14:49:00.005-05:00

One of the things that people remark to us on the Whale Boat is that the size of Blue Fin Tuna when we point out the schools of tuna during our trips out to see the whales. They have a hard time understanding the size, they are to use to seeing the little cans of tuna on the grocery store shelf.

So to show people how big blue fin tuna can get, here is a picture of one with a local charter fishermen who caught one last year. The Captain's name is Tom Mansfield, and he was the pilot for the Lobster Boat one season a few years back. So some of you will recognize him.

A bit of summer in the winter

2010-02-15T15:16:00.004-05:00

I was going thru the images that I have collected over the years and I found this one of the yacht "Adiz" that was moored off the Breakers one summer after a small rain shower. I love the rainbow in the back ground.

The "Adiz" was on the final leg of a world tour from what I understood at the time of this picture.

We are on Facebook

2010-02-10T14:37:00.004-05:00

Well "First Chance Whale Watch" has a Facebook page. So if you have a facebook page we would like for you to become of of our friends. Let's see if we can get over 100 friends by the start of the Whale Season.......

Some of our friends have already started posting pictures of their trip with us.

Boat Launch Primer

2010-01-15T09:27:00.004-05:00

Just remember new boat owners, back your boat into the water at the public ramp.

I hope this brings a smile to your frozen faces.

Brrrrr. Its cold in Kennebunk Maine.

Winter is approaching..

2009-11-30T14:57:00.007-05:00

Oh the weather out there is cloudy, the christmas music is playing on the radio, and I would like to go out for a boat ride. I guess that is not possible since the Whale Boat is all weather proofed and sealed up with plastic on the upper decks. The marina is filled up with boats and all buttened up for the first of the snow storms that are yet to come. I am hoping the snow will be delayed until January..

Hey Captain Adam when are you going to take your charter boat out for the season? Or is that the new tender for "Nick's Chance"?

The Boat Yard is filling up

2009-10-25T16:27:00.002-04:00

Thursday was the last day that someone from "First Chance" to be stationed in the area. We had the last of the Cruise ship buses make an arrival to the marina. The last 7 as we referred to it. We roughly figured out that we had over 250 buses come thru the lot in 2 months. Next year we will have 20 extra days of cruise ship visits in the area.
We wil be posting different items on the blog site over the winter and spring months...waiting for the next opening day of the whale season.

Right Whale Pictures

2009-10-04T11:13:00.008-04:00

These are group of images of a Right Whale that was sighted on one of the whale trips in August. There are not many Right Whale sightings, these days, so it is a rare viewing.

A very wet day.

2009-10-03T17:01:00.002-04:00

We have one more weekend to go.. the weather was terrible today. We had to cancel the whale boat again due to the weather. The Scenic boat did try to go out but had to return due to the sea conditions. The waves and swells were getting over 6 feet.

The cruise ships are still unloading passengers daily. So we are getting a lot of private charters off them. We just need for the weather to be a bit nicer for the next couple of weeks. And then we are going to have to winterized the boats for the year.

Final Fling of Season?

2009-09-30T09:41:00.004-04:00

It looks like that Mother Nature is going to give us a hard time in getting out to see the whales for one last time before Columbus Day. The sea conditions look like it is going to be a bit on the windy side. But we are going to cross our fingers and hope for the best.

Funny reply of the week. Someone asked us if we gave senior discounts on whale tickets. And one of our quick witted associates said that we don't believe in age discrimination thus we didn't have a senior discount.

It has been very busy in the Kennebunk area we are still getting a lot of cruise ship buses out of Portland, Maine. Yesterday it was the Queen Victoria out of South Hampton, England on a 24 day tour.

Cruise Ship Buses

2009-09-26T09:30:00.004-04:00

Well the marina parking lot is filling up....with cruise ship buses. Some of the the people are going out on the Scenic Lobster Tour which is very nice.

I believe there were 11 buses at this point in time when we took the rooftop picture. Each bus holds 45 to 50 people. So the marina parking czar/bus wrangler helped unload approximately 600 people to hit all the shops and restaurants in the area.

It's part of the Stimulus Package Program.... I am jesting, of course.

Pirate Day?

2009-09-19T19:00:00.007-04:00

I just found out that it is International Talk like a Pirate Day on September 19th! Who would have guessed.

Check out this website it is pretty funny. http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html

The whale boat is winding down, we are just doing weekends, hopefully until Mid -October. We just need some hearty souls to venture out with us. The leaf peepers don't want to leave their buses.

The scenic boat is doing well we had two groups go out and that was 88 people on board. The weather was nice and everyone had a good time.

Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-07T19:08:00.008-04:00

It seems that just a few days ago it was Memorial Day and we were just starting up the Whale Watching season. Now we have just finished the Labor Day Weekend and while we are still going out to see the whales we have cut back the trips to the weekends only. We will still be busy doing the fall charters, as well as the regular trips so, both September and October will be fairly busy for us.

I have gotten a few pictures that were e-mailed to us from some of our patrons that were on the Whale Boat in August and I thought I would share them with everyone! I do have permission to do so.

This breaching Humpback Whale was photographed by Katie aged 12 from New Jersey on August 8, 2009! I believe Katie got the shot that all of us look for on a Whale cruise!

This next one was taken by Peter Figlia, the picture was sent to us by Sandy King, she was very proud of the pictures that her brother-in-law took that day. It shows a Humpback whale bubble feeding. In fact, on the day it was two whales bubble feeding together, you can see the second whale starting to come thru the surface on the left.

If I remember correctly, these two whales breached together later in the cruise!

I am also passing on the following link to see other whale pictures from a passenger on Nick's Chance. She shot so many that she posted them on Shutterfly for all to see. If you want prints just follow the instructions on Shutterfly. Here is the link: http://whales81809.shutterfly.com/

So if you want to go out and see the whales this fall give us a call at 207.967.5507. We are located in Kennebunk, Maine lower village next to the Kennebunk River.

Video of a Humpback bubble feeding.

2009-09-02T18:59:00.006-04:00

The mates were going thru the camera on the boat and found that we had some video of a bubble feeding humpback whale. So we are going to post it so you can see what we have been seeing on the boat this summer.

We also had an interesting question posed this week by a whale watcher. The question was if you followed the latitude (N 43"20'45.22) on leaving the Kennebunk River where would you end up on the other side of the Atlantic. The answer is, La Coruna, in Northern Spain. We broke out the big marine maps once we got back to port to check it out. The range that people were guess was southern France to Portugal.

And the funny question of the week given to us by Ian, was "Why is the river running in reverse? The answer was that the kennebunk river is a tidal river and the tide was coming back in. We have a 9 to 10 foot tide change every 6 hours from high tide to low tide.

Fall brings the unusual....

2009-08-31T19:15:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow is September 1st and today was the first day that the whale boat was able to get out after the weekend storm. It was filled with the strange and unusual. It was just different on the water today, hard to explain, but it just was!

We saw a juvenile puffin, north Atlantic white sided dolphins, a sea turtle was reported but not verified, minkes and finbacks doing long dives.

One thing for sure we did not see this! But, perhaps next time.

Pictures from a different point of view

2009-08-27T23:11:00.010-04:00

Captain Gary piloting the Whale Boat "Nick's Chance"

We have had the good fortune to have a series of pictures shot by a photographer from the Philadelphia area and his name is Julian Kornacki. He is a destinations wedding and portrait photographer. You can check out his website at http://www.juliankfoto.com/

We are showing a series of pictures that he took on a recent trip within the past 2 days.

Mr. Kornacki used a fisheye lense to take these pictures, kind of fitting since we were on the ocean looking for whales. He was trying to get a series of photos showing the life on the boat while enroute to the whale feeding grounds.

Waves crashing by the port side.

People relaxing in the sun while enroute.

The stern of the boat in the following shots. We are moving at about 14 knots.

People sitting on the bow looking for the great white whale.

Enjoying the day

Back at the dock! You can see the people unloading on the port side towards the rear of

"Nick's Chance."

I would like to thank Mr Julian Kornacki in sharing his pictures. Don't forget to check out his website at http://www.juliankfoto.com/.

If you have been on Nick's Chance or Kylie's Chance and have pictures to share please email them to us at firstchancewhalewatch@gmail.com. We will post them on the blogspot.

Thanks Julian!

He has promised to send us more in the coming days.

Hurricane Bill vs "Flipper"

2009-08-24T18:16:00.004-04:00

Well the seas have been rough and all the boats have been tied up to the docks since Saturday, due to Hurricane Bill. We spent a few of those days doing general maintence on the Whale Boat and now that is done.

So, since a few of us has a few days off now, let's watch the orginal television show "Flipper" on Hulu.com. Just to stay in the mood of aquatic world.

Wonderful Photographs from a fellow Passenger!

2009-08-21T11:42:00.010-04:00

We have the delightful opportunity to share everyone some photographs that a passenger took while out with us whale watching in August. Mr. Donald Winslow from Texas, is a great photographer and captured some amazing photographs. Also feel free to check out his own website, as he does photography for different events: http://www.donaldwinslow.com

Photograph of a Humpback whale diving. The bumps are the vertebra, giving the whale it's name

Humpback whale distinctive dorsal fin

Humpback whale bubble feeding

Scaring on the peduncle, possibly from lobster/fishing line

2 Humpback whales

If anyone else would like to share their memories and photographs with us, please feel free to email them to us at firstchancewhalewatch@gmail.com. Thank you again to all of those who have shared with us already!

Calm seas before the storm

2009-08-20T20:31:00.012-04:00

Today was a beautifully calm day to be out on the ocean. Captain Gary said that it was the calm before the storm, before Hurricane Bill comes up the coast. As we headed out to the south, we came across a sleepy Humpback. When Humpbacks sleep, they swim just under the surface very slowly and only surfacing ever so slightly to breathe. We were able to identify this Humpback as Trident. This behavior is called logging, as the whale looks very much like a log in the water.

A Humpback named Trident

After observing this behavior for a bit, we decided to let the whale sleep and heard from some Tuna fishermen friends that there were some more active whales a few miles south of us. The visibility was very good today, as we were able to see at least 5 miles ahead of us, making it easy to spot whales further out. To our luck, we saw at least 3 Humpbacks in the distance with quite a few Finback whales off in the distance a few miles out past the Humpbacks. As we got closer, we realized that it was a female Humpback named Churn and a female named Basmati with her calf! It was quite the sight to see the little guy (or girl)! We were in relatively deep water, around 600 feet and most of the bait was around 400 feet of water, so the whales were taking fairly long dives.

Churn, Basmati, and her calf!

Basmati and Churn

Churn's fluke

After a while, we decided to go check out the Finback whales off into the distance. As we were steaming ahead, we could see at least 4 different blows swimming together speeding through the water. These Finbacks were swimming at fast speeds, chasing feed and traveling, all together in a row!

Finback Whale

These whales were amazingly traveling tightly together, right at the surface for numerous blows, and cruising through the water. It was a really neat sight to see. Our passengers were amazed at the size of these whales, being almost 80 feet long which is close to the length of our boat!

On our way in, the Captain decided to check out a Humpback first before heading into port. Again this whale was logging or sleeping when we approached it. As we watched it slowly swim through the water, it suddenly make a quick deep dive. Captain Gary, who has been the captain of the whale watching boat since 1998 knows these whales and their behaviors very well. Soon after the whale dove down quickly after napping, he causally mentioned: "Sometimes when they do that, they will breach." To our luck, it wasn't even 10 seconds after he said that, that the whale breached out of the water 100 feet from the boat!! What a sight!! And even better, so many of our passengers were able to capture the beauty of it with their cameras and video cameras because the Captain has "the touch." We were able to identify this whale as Hornbill. Needless to say, we were able to witness one of the most rare and beautiful sights that the ocean has to offer.

I would like to thank all of our passengers who came out with us today. I would especially like to say congratulations to Carol and Bill Hatch from Massachusetts. They decided to come out whale watching with us while on their honeymoon and what a beautiful day for that! And thank you to all of the passengers who asked such great questions and showed so much enthusiasm for these creatures. If you would like to come whale watching with us, please call to make a reservation (207) 967-5507.

It's a wonderful whale world

2009-08-19T18:33:00.003-04:00

These past days have been unbelievable. The whale sightings have been off the chart. We have been having breaching whales left and right or port and starboard off "Nick's Chance". The bubble feeding has been amazing. At one time we just stopped the boat and were surrounded by 12 to 20 Humpback whales. Also the Fin back whales have been very active, one group had a posse of white sided dolphins following them. I do have pictures and video of a lot of this so be patience and we get them up on the site as soon as possible. Nicole has her work cut out for her in trying to identified all these whales.

So come on out and join us. We have been filling up the boats so reservations are important.

We are at 4 Western Ave, Lower Kennebunk, Maine, 04043
Call us at 207.967.5507

Whales EVERY WHERE!

2009-08-15T20:26:00.013-04:00

The past couples days have been fantastic! We have seen Humpbacks, Finbacks, Atlantic White Sided Dolphins, Sharks, and tons of birds! We have seen Humpbacks bubble feed, flipper slap, breach, and other distinguishing characteristics of Humpbacks. We have seen Finbacks lunge feed through the water, dolphins jumping out of the water, and sharks lurking at the surface for their next catch. We have sighted the following Humpbacks: Valley, Tripod, Chromosome, Satula, and others yet to be identified yet. On Friday we also saw a Finback Whale named Latter, who is an old friend that has not been sighted in a few years. Latter got its name due to the boat propeller marks alongside the right side of its body. It's great to see old friends and new out on Jeffreys Ledge! Needless to say it has been quite the experience for some of our passengers, as well as our crew.

Saturdays trip was one to remember. One of the crew members said today, that "if the crew members are ecstatic and freaking out about all the whales, you know it's an above and beyond whale watching trip!" There were so many Humpback whales bubble feeding cooperatively and Finback whales feeding together, there were too many to count! We were lucky enough to witness numerous Humpbacks surfacing from below a bubble net, with their mouth wide open, feeding! When we looked over the side of the boat, we even saw Mackerel scales as evidence of all the feeding happening right below our boat! Not only were there tons of whales, there were also tons of Blue Fin Tuna as well! We witnessed a feeding frenzy of numerous species and what a sight it was! Below are some photographs.

A view of the lower jaw, with the pleats expanded to hold all the water and fish!

If you would like to witness some of these whales in their natural habitat, now is the time to come aboard Nick's Chance! Call (207) 967-5507 to make reservations and check out our website www.firstchancewhalewatch.com for detailed information about our trips!

Can't wait to see you out on the water with us!
And thanks to all of our wonderful passengers this week!

Is Summer finally here?

2009-08-15T19:06:00.002-04:00

The Captain of the Whale boat said that it was a glorious day to be on the water. He was telling that the whales were everywhere today. When Captain Gary says that you need to come on down and check the whales out yourself. The whole week has been great. the weather has been cooperating with us and the boats have been full of very happy people watching frolicking whales. The Scenic Lobster Boat has been going out with large goups of people to enjoy the Maine coast line. Some of them are just going out to get break from the heat of the day.

Also we got the first tour buses of the season.

So is summer finally here? It looks like it.

Wow, what a day!!!!

2009-08-08T18:43:00.002-04:00

This was the best day that we had on the water for awhile. The exciting moment was when we had not one but two whales breach at the same time. It was a pretty big SPLASH! Unfortunely the camera was not facing that direction at the time but two of the passengers got some good pictures and they promised to e-mail them to us at some point in week. As soon as I get them they will be posting on the blog.

The sun was out and the skies were blue. As we returned some people got an extra thrill seeing former president George Bush (41) taking his boat out of the breakers into the ocean to go fishing. As usual the former president waved to everyone, as he was about 25 feet away from us.

Will post the pictures as soon as we get them. Call for an appointment to see the whales! 207.967.5507

Humpbacks and Finbacks!

2009-08-07T21:33:00.008-04:00

Well summer is finally here with nice warm weather along with the whales! Over the past few days we have seen numerous Humpbacks, Finbacks, and dolphins! Even though we have to keep in mind that these are wild animals living in a very large body of water, we have had some amazing shows. We've seen a lot of bubble feeding Humpbacks, lunging Finback whales, acrobatic Atlantic White Sided Dolphins, and the beautiful sun! Below are some photos from the past few days. There will be more to come as some passengers email us some of their own photographs.

Atlantic White Sided Dolphins jumping out of the water!

A female Humpback named Quote born in 1984.
A Humpback whale named Satula.

I would like to thank everyone who sends us photographs in advanced! I would also like to thank all of the passengers who have made it an annual event to come aboard Nick's Chance every summer. We truly enjoy seeing familiar faces every summer! Thanks!

Just a reminder that if you would like to come aboard the
Whale Watch or Scenic Cruise
to please call
(207) 967-5507
to make a reservation or for more information!

The weather has been nice

2009-08-07T18:16:00.003-04:00

The weather has been nice and we have been going out as much as possible. The temperature is going to be in the 70's for the next few days so hopefully the whales will be out there to greet you. The video is of a humpback looking for food and making a dive to capture what he has seen. Come and take a cruise and see what is happening in the water you never know what you will see.

Also the Pilot House Restaurant recently sponsored the Intercruise guides. Intercruise is a large company that gives land tours to people on cruise ships. Kennebunk will be visited by a large group of cruise ship tourist in the comming weeks. So it will be busy at the ticket booth for September.

Speaking of the Pilot House Restaurant every Saturday there is a live band under the tent from 4pm to 8pm. Check it out when you are in the area.

Close Encounter

2009-07-31T20:12:00.004-04:00

Nice footage of a close encounter with one of the Humpback whales. Video taped by Nicole, our resident Marine biologist on Nick's Chance.

Another exciting day with Humpbacks!

2009-07-31T18:43:00.006-04:00

This mornings trip had yet another amazing trip with fantastic sightings! The over all trip composed of Humpbacks, Finbacks, Minke Whales, and seals! We headed south in hopes of finding some more active Humpback whales. And again, we found them! And again, there were numerous whales all around us! We first came across a pair of Humpback whales that were cooperatively bubble feeding! We were able to watch our for the greenish water of bubbles come to the surface and a few seconds later, 2 large Humpback whale mouths were bursting through the water wide open, catching fish and possibly even a bird in their mouth! We were told that the whales always spit out the birds that are a little too brave to get a left over fish, they don't taste any good. One of the whales was identified as Raccoon! This whale was first sighted in 1985 and has not been seen since 1995! A very exciting sighting today! The other whale has yet to be identified yet. As we were watching these 2 whales feed, we noticed that all of a sudden there were at least 3 other Humpback whales near us! A friend from yesterdays trip, Flask was sighted once again being active and tail-lobbing. Whales were feeding all around us that at one time, we couldn't move at all because we were surrounded by Humpbacks so close to our boat! What a sight it is to see such a beautiful large animal right next to the boat. As we had to leave the area to head back to shore, we came across 3 Finbacks! With such amazing sightings of Humpbacks and to then have 3 Finback swimming right along side the boat, it was definitely a spectacular trip! Some of our passengers, including 2 young twin boys were witnessing such sights on their first whale watch! Everyone on the boat couldn't believe what they were seeing, mother nature at her finest.

A few of our passengers were repeat passengers from years ago. As whale watching is not a guarantee, we love to hear from people about their amazing experiences aboard our boat and the fact that they come every year! Hopefully more family memories will be made this summer aboard our boat!

As you've read, we have been having some great sightings! If you would like to embark on our whale watch, please call (207) 967-5507 for a reservation or check out our website if you have any questions: firstchancewhalewatch.com.

Whales galore!

2009-07-31T18:18:00.009-04:00

On Thursday afternoon, we set out south where a lot of Humpback whale action was taken place. And to our luck, we found them! There all around us! We decided to take a look at a whale closest to us. This whale was acting rather sleepy and was later identified as Tigris. After a few looks, a fellow crew member spotted some more active Humpbacks in the distance. We decided to let Tigris nap and enjoy his evening while we made our way to others.

We came across a Humpback Whale feeding! This whale sure did put on quite a show! This whale was creating large bubble nets that tramp in the fish before he would lunge out of the water, mouth open, to swallow up an entire ball of bait. The birds were going crazy as well. They would fly to the water where the bubbles were emerging to eat the fish that were bring brought to the surface by the whale. To our greatest luck, we even saw this whale breach completely out of the water!! This is such a beautiful "Discovery" sight that is very rarely seen. The photo below is a photo of the splash after the whale hit the water, largest belly flop I've seen!
While we were watching this whale show amazing feeding behaviors, we saw some MORE whales in the distance acting even MORE active! There were 2 Humpbacks in the distance that were breaching and tail lobbing, so again we decided to leave another Humpback to enjoy its evening meal, and we set off to check out some more active Humpbacks.

As we were steaming towards these 2 very active whales, they continuously kept jumping out of the water and creating all kinds of splashes! This trip was already a spectacular trip, what else could we experience?! One of the whales was identified as Flask, one of the crew members favorite Humpback. We were able to see this large male whale throw its entire lower body out of the water, time and again. He also showed us his large pectoral fins, that are approximately 1/3 the size of their body.

After all the excitement from the different amazing behaviors that were witnessed by our passengers, it was sadly time to head back to port. Not only did we get to see nature at it's finest, we were even able to see mother nature at her finest... a beautiful sunset on the trip home.

Call for more information about our Whale Watch trips

(207) 967-5507

or check out our website

http://firstchancewhalewatch.com

Is it whale season?

2009-07-26T14:24:00.009-04:00

The weather kept the boats tied to the dock today. It was very foggy and the rain was off and on during the morning preparations. So the Captain decide to call the trip off.

The title for this blog is one of the questions that we get from time to time. And here are a few other ones that have stuck out in our years of being on the water.

Is it whale season? Yes, there are always whales out there but the Humpbacks do migrate to the the Caribbean in the winter the finbacks, sei, minke and blue whales just go further out into the Atlantic.

Is there a weight limit on getting on the boat? This was a phone call and we said no. But were afraid to ask why was the question was even asked.

Can you see whales in the rain? The answer is yes. The whales are already wet anyway.

Do we get to swim with the whales? The answer is no! It is against the law to swim with the whales. It is called harassing the marine mammals and it is a federal law. If you want to swim with the whales you have leave the United States and go to the Bahamas in fact whales like to get close to pregnant women that are diving. Or that is the rumour.

How far is the horizon? The horizon is about 16 to 20 miles on a clear day. One lady asked me how far the horzon was after you travel 10 miles and I told her it was the same, 16 to 20 miles. She looked at me very confused, I don't think she ever understood the concept.

How high are we above sea level? I tell people (politely) to look over the boat's freeboard and judge for themselves. (Approximately 6 to 7 feet)

Is that the Whale Boat? As they point to a 85 foot boat that has Whale Watching in big letter printed on the second level on both sides. The answer is yes it is. And once the follow up question was do we leave the dock? I was almost tempted to say "No, we just watch video's of whales." But, I didn't.

Where did the water go? In Kennebunk, Maine we have 10 to 12 foot tidal changes every 6 hours. So as we load the boat at low tide I tell people that ramp will not be as steep on the return in case they are worried. Thought, I sometimes tell people that we forgot to pay the water bill.

Can you make the boat stop moving! This person had no concept of waves/swells or the ocean. And his girlfriend was very embarrassed that he asked the question. He was serious and wanted us to turn around as soon as we cleared the river into the ocean. I told it was to late and to get comfortable.

These are a few of the strange questions that are asked. If someone asks us a new one in the future we will you know.

Does the video camera work?

2009-07-24T15:20:00.004-04:00

Well we got a small cheap video camera that fits into a small pocket. Since the salt water of the ocean can ruin an expensive camera with one wave over the bow we decide to give this a try. I think we will have to improve our filming & editing skills but it has great potential. The capture gives it an old 8mm look from my grandfather's days.

The subject's were Tim who is the mate and Captain John on "Kylie's Chance".

It will be interesting to see what the crew will video in the future, maybe they will get something that will go viral (video) so the whole world will watch.

Got Whales?

2009-07-23T20:08:00.003-04:00

Well, the week has been flying by. The Humpbacks are in the area and the weather has been fairly calm. So once again we have been going out as much as possible. One of the mates missed the breaching humpbacks, it was her day off. That happens to a few of us... missing the breaching whales. It got to be a joke with a few of us about missing all the great action. We have been thinking of having a sticker make that says "Got Whales" and put it on the back of the boat. Perhaps that would induce the humpbacks to breach more.

Once we had someone ask us what we fed the whales to get them to come to the boat. We told them "herring favored animal crackers". We were kidding, we don't have enought food to fed the whales they can eat a couple of tons of fish daily. But it is interesting to listen to some of the weird questions that we get from time to time. We will share some of the more curious ones as they happen.

It turned out nice in the long run.

2009-07-18T17:59:00.000-04:00

Hello Lobsteers!
Well after raining all night and a morning of fog, the weather broke and the Scenic Lobster Tour was able to go out with a large group of people. There was over 60 people enjoying the beautiful Maine coast.
The whale boat didn't have enough people to go out in the afternoon, since the morning trip was cancelled due to weather.
The crew got a small video camera to take on the boats to document what they see and be able to put it on the Blog for you to check out. Soon we will post a short clip of what the Scenic Lobster Tour is like. We are hoping to get video of whales breaching and spy-hopping. So stay tuned for future video updates.

Remember that there is a "Cruising to the Oldies" on Sunday, July 19 at 6pm. Tickets are $25pp and reservations are required the trip will be 3 hours long. Call 207.967.5507 for more info

The Ocean is the ocean....

2009-07-13T19:40:00.000-04:00

The reason I stated the ocean is the ocean is because of the boat cruise on Saturday. The weather was beautiful on the way out but the winds picked up and the ride back was on the bumpy side. So people got wet and many got sea sick. We have to work with Mother Nature and sometimes the direct way back is not always the best way. So we have to zig-zag like sail boat to reduce the amount of abrupt motion if we tacked straight on.

People, remember, that when you go out on the Ocean to view sea life in the nature habitant, be advised that this is not arm chair viewing , be prepared to expect the unexpected. This is not the Disney Channel. The Ocean is a place that you have to admire it's grandeur, and constantly be in tune with the elements.

We have been seeing a lot of Finback whales, some are being quite active. They are hanging out by the shipping lanes inbound to to Portland, Maine. The weather is suppose to be getting better and staying around for awhile. So please join us.

So while looking at whales you can see some of the big ships heading into Casco Bay to unload their cargo.

The image is of Boon Island which is about 9 nautical miles off of York Harbor. A beacon to remind you to be careful in the area. Since there are at least 35 sunked ships surrounding the area. The last one being a Liberty Ship from World War Two. We pass by this island from time to time to look at the 200 seals living on the small piece land as well as many birds.

As a side note there will be a cruising to the oldies trip on Sunday, July 19th, 2009. There will be a DJ on board, with beer, wine and soda's available. Departure time will be at 6pm. The trip will be 3 hours the cost is $25 dollars per person, cash only. Call if you have any questions 207.967.5507

Finback Fever!!!

2009-07-09T20:52:00.000-04:00

After a few days of rain, like that is new! We were able to go out twice on this beautiful day.

There were plenty of finbacks seen an amazing close up of a juvenile, you could see the entire body. The PM trip had a lot of feeding finbacks and speeding swimming with tons of bird activity. Over all we saw eight finback whales.

Got Whales? We do.... come on down to First Chance Whale Watch in Kennebunk, Maine. Call us at 207.967.5507. Watch a whale blow a rainbow. You thought the little green irish guys did that..the things you learn on the water.

Rain, rain go away

2009-07-07T19:23:00.000-04:00

Well it is raining again! Drat! But I am putting a nice picture of a sunset so the weather gods will get the idea.

But yesterday it was a calm day with lots of Finback whales. One even rolled on its belly as it looked below for food.

Everyone needs to do a sun dance. So we can go out everyday. Does anyone have suggestions out there that would make the rain stop?

Let us know.

Finally a nice day..

2009-07-05T16:25:00.000-04:00

The skies were blue and the whales came out to play. We had Dolphins, breaching , speed swimming Sei whales and finbacks all around. There was a close encounter with a finback whale with his mouth full of fish! It came right by the bow!!

The Scenic Lobster tour boat was busy taking people out to see the Lobsters and Walkers Point. On the first morning tour, Captain John, pointed out the yacht with the lashed helicopter on the stern.

Also the skies cleared on the July 4th so the fireworks cruise was a success, it was beautiful on the water.

You never know what you will see... so come on down.

First Chance Whale Watch, Kennebunk, Maine

www.firstchancewhalewatch.com

Fireworks... Mother Nature's version

2009-07-04T13:53:00.001-04:00

Well, Happy 4th of July everyone! At the moment (2pm) Mother Nature is providing a thunderstorm as her celebration to the 4th. Hopefully the thunderstorm will work it's way thru and we will have clear skies tonight to see the man-made fireworks on the boat. If you want to go you will need reservations so call.....

Yesterday the fog was on the ocean so we got skunked looking for whales, but we tried. Let get a good sun dance going with a blue sky accessory.....we need it!

None the less, we were back out on the water this morning looking for whales and the sighting were good with a couple of Finbacks and a Sei whales along with a pod of dolphins.......yea!!!!! So come on down and go out with us.

Interesting sighting in Australia

2009-07-02T13:49:00.000-04:00

I thought I would past this website on to everyone. It is devoted to a white humpback whale named Migaloo. Which has been in the area of Queensland in Australia. I found it interesting.

The site is at http://www.migaloowhale.org/

It appears that the name Migaloo means "white fella" in the native language of the Australian Aboriginal's.

I wonder if it is raining in Australia? If not, I am going to see Migaloo.

Fog, fog, fog......

2009-07-01T08:39:00.000-04:00

Well, all we can say is FOG! This weather is getting depressing. All we saw was FOG and some more FOG yesterday! I better stop my brain is becoming FOGGY. Arrgh!!!!!!

Summer sun tribal ritual will have to happen soon! We will let you know the start time.......

It looks like this Lobster saw some sun .... no, wait, it took a sauna bath notice the red hue.

If you want to eat & drink your rainy days away, visit the Pilot House Restaurant. They have wicked good prices on Lobster Dinners. That is were I will be.

Misty Monday

2009-06-29T18:36:00.000-04:00

We had a brave bunch of hardy souls that went out in the rain today to go whale spotting. And the report back was they saw Sei whales , dolphins and a really close look at a Minke whale. So close that you could see the white "mittens". The crew like to call the Minkes whales, stinky minkes because it is hard to get a close look at them because they can be very boat shy. A Minke whale is about 35 feet long and likes to eat small fish like herring, capelin and krill.

When are you going to come out and look for the great white whale with us?

Stop by and see us the next time you are in Kennebunk, Maine.

Who will stop the rain?

2009-06-28T11:49:00.000-04:00

We traveled to Jefferies ledge on Friday and Saturday with mixed results since it was a little foggy out there. Sunday got rained out even though the whales are already wet.

On Friday we saw a couple of deep diving Finbacks that were doing long dives. A Finback dive can be 5 to 20 minutes and they are fast swimmers and can resurface a few miles away from where they last dove. They are not the breath holding champs that reward goes to the Sperm whale. More about that in a later blog.

But we did spot a ocean sunfish for the first time this season. An ocean sun fish can grow up to 13 feet across and weight up to 4000 pounds. It feeds mostly on jellyfish and can lay more than 300 million eggs at a time.

The Saturday trip brought gray seals, north atlantic white side dolphins and a puffin. We are seeing more puffins in the area as each year progresses. But the whales were hiding in the fog for the day. To let everyone know, if "Nick's Chance" doesn't spot whales that day everyone on board gets a non-sighting pass to come back anytime for another try. There is no expiration date on the pass. Since whales are a wild creature we can't call ahead and ask them where they are, but we do have a lot of fishing friends that tell us what they have in there area to help us narrow down the field. We don't get skunked very often but it does happen from time to time. We get clients back the next week, the next month or a couple years later. Most of the returning passengers remember us! The crew doesn't change very often for year to year, since we always have a good time together.

The picture is two north atlantic white side dolphins playing in the boat wake! They are fun to watch.

So join us for a trip this summer.

The website is wwww.firstchancewhalewatch.com. Call us at 207.967.5507

Finally the sun is out...

2009-06-25T13:42:00.000-04:00

Well it has been over a week of rain! Hopefully is seas will calm down and we will be able to get back out on the ocean again. Cross your fingers and hope for good weather ahead. We have been out passing out whale watch brochures in York County during all this rain. I think we have hit most of the lodgings and campgrounds but if you can think of one that hasn't been covered let us know.

This image was taken last year as we returned from a trip, in which we passed thru a small rain shower. You can see the wonderful rainbow as the sun was setting in the west.

Ramping up operations

2009-06-20T10:54:00.000-04:00

The summer solistic is this weekend and the crew is ramping up operations at First Chance Whale Watch. We will be heading out on the water, if mother nature will cooperate with us, on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 10am. Also the regular weekend schedule is still in effect. Saturdays at 10am and Sunday at noon. So join the whale paparazzi and see if you can see your favorite humpback. And for the kids the scenic lobster tour is a good way to get out on the ocean and let your children see how lobstering is done in Maine with Captain John. It is fun to watch the kids hold a live lobster, a simple joy in life for parents and crew.

A Humpback called Pinball

2009-06-15T14:19:00.001-04:00

Hey we had a great day out on the water on Saturday! It was so beautiful out and glass-like surface with a small gentle roll. We found whales on the northern end and back side of Jeffreys. I wasn't able to get a lot of photos as the whales we traveling in search for food. We came across a Minke whale only 6 miles from shore, but it was heading in the wrong direction for us to really take a look at. A passenger made the sighting out on the northern end of Jeffreys and it turned out to be the Humpback whale named Pinball. She is a well-known resident whale first sighted in 1992 and she has been seen for at least 10 years since then. She was traveling in search for feed, as there wasn't a lot on the fish finder, but we did get a few close encounters. There were a lot of other boats around the horizon, tuna boats, and fishing boats. We decided to head towards the south were more blows were sighted. We came across 3 other Humpbacks. Again these whales were hard to get a good look at, as they took were in search for food. I was able to get a fluke photograph of one of the Humpbacks, however it is from a long distance and the quality is not so great. I am not sure about the name of this Humpback right away but am going to try to figure it out. There was also a Finback in the area and another Humpback whale. But we were out of time and had to head back in. It was a great day to be out on the water and were lucky to see such a great number of whales, seabirds, and Sargasso seaweed!

We had a woman on the boat and it was her 4th year out on our boat! We take pride in finding out that some of our passengers come back year after year to experience another great whale watch on our boat. Every trip and every day is different and it is great to hear that passengers enjoy our boat and crew enough to come back year after year. We are hoping to schedule a few more trips this week so feel free to call to find out our schedule!

Minkes, humpbacks, finbacks & sharks..... oh my!

2009-06-10T09:43:00.000-04:00

This was one of the best weekends to be out on the boat yet this season! It was sunny, fairly warm out in the sun, and the sea conditions were almost perfect minus a small SE swell. We headed out of the Kennebunk River around noon towards Jeffreys Ledge where there were previous sightings of whales earlier in the week. Jeffreys Ledge is an area where animals such as Humpbacks, Finwhales, Minke, and Sei Whales, frequent during the months of May through October to feed on herring, krill, and sand lance. On our way, some passengers spotted a Minke Whale and 2 Basking Sharks! Basking sharks get their name from their most common behavior, of feeding at the surface where it apprears to be "basking". The shark does not have teeth as it is what we call a "Vegetarian Shark." It feeds by swimming with its large jaw open while plankton gets filtered through its gills containing gill rakers that "rake" the plankton from the salt water. The shark that we saw was rather large and we got a good look at it as it swam underneath the boat. A little while later, we came up apon 2 sleeping Humpback whales and quite a few Minke Whales swimming/feeding the same general area. After a few minutes of watching these two Humpbacks, they decided to wake up and dive down below the surface, feeding on the same things that the Minke Whales were probably feeding on. When Humpbacks raise their flukes in order to dive below the surface, their provide not only a beautiful picture that everyone wants, but it also allows us to be able to photograph the markings on the underside of the tail to help identify each whale. Each Humpback whale has a specific pigmentation pattern on the underside of the fluke, similar to our own finger print. A non-profit organization called Allied Whale started researching the natural markings on Humpbacks in the 1970's as a way to destinguish between different individuals, monitor migration, health, and particular behaviors of each whale. Over the years, over 6,000 individual Humpback Whales have been identified and some have even been given a name. After watching the whales for a while, we were soon able to identify the Humpbacks based on their black and white pigmentation on their fluke or tail. We were watching a Humpback named Spoon and Sabot! Because of the research that Allied Whale conducts, information is gathered on the individual whales over time. Sabot was first seen in 1990. She is know to be a female as she has been seen with a calf. Since 1970, she has been sighted at least 6 times in the Gulf of Maine. Spoon if known to be a female as she was spotted with a calf last year. However, due to unforseen events, she was later sighted without her calf that same summer. While we were watching these whales, the captain also spotted numerous other whales in the distance. We left our "sleeping" whales to catch up on their beauty sleep and headed about a mile south to find the other whales. We came across another Humpback. With the help of a passenger we were able to identify the whale named Owl. This whale is well known in this area. She was born in 1986 and has been sighted at least 15 years. She is a know female and has a calf named Falco. Also in the area feeding was a Finback Whale, but as these whales travel very fast, we did not get a great look at it. The overall trip was a great sucess! Not only did we see a variety of species but we were also able to learn about the particular Humpbacks that were sighted! Look for more information on photo-identification and more sightings to come!

Mother Nature Rules

2009-06-01T17:54:00.000-04:00

Well, this weekend reminded us that Mother Nature always has the upper hand. Nick' Chance didn't go out on Saturday due to weather conditions but we did go out on Sunday at 12:30pm. We had to wait for a half hour because it was dead low tide at Noon and we had to wait a bit to get more water under the boat so we could turn around in the river. Once in the Atlantic the seas were a bit high so the swells were breaking over the bow. At 15 miles out we ran into a pod of FinBack Whales diving for some food at about 300 feet. A basking shark was spotted but it didn't stay on the surface for very long.

The Scenic Lobster Tour was able to make it out both on Saturday and Sunday since it doesn't travel that far off shore. On Sunday we had a tour group from Pennsylvania which was made up of high school seniors on a final class trip/holiday before going onto college later this fall. They had a good time and the crew enjoyed their upbeat spirit. One remarked to the crew that it must be nice to have a job that didn't require you to wear shoes. Since one of the mates prefers the traction of bare feet on the deck while at sea.

What are we doing this week!

2009-05-27T13:28:00.000-04:00

So what does the crew during the time between trips? Well, we are out passing out all of our new 2009 Whale Watching and Scenic Lobster Tour brochures. We have cover almost all of the campgrounds, motels, hotels, bed and breakfast inns and a few variety stores in the Kennebunk and Kennebunkport area. Next we will be stopping at the Saco/Biddeford and the Wells/Ogunquit lodgings. If you think of an area that needs one of our pamphlets please let us know!

If you see in passing give us a shout!

The picture is of Red Nun 8 which is the first navigational buoy in the Kennebunk River after going thru the breakers.... remember the adage "Red Right Returning"

Talk to you later!

There she blows.....

2009-05-25T10:15:00.000-04:00

Well "Nick Chance" had a great day sighting whales on Sunday May 24, 2009. On the first trip of the season we spotted a group of Humpback whales approximately 24 miles off the coast of Maine. The coorindates were 43'04''.13 by 070'08''.457. The location was Jeffries Ledge in the Gulf of Maine. We had about 7 to 8 whales and one was a calf with their mother a male escort whale. More will be dicussed in later blogs what a male escort whale does.

There was tremendous amount of cheering and clapping from the passengers of the boat when the first humpback lifted their tail in the air as he/she was diving. For the next 45 minutes we had many close encounters of the whales coming up to the boat.

So keep checking in with us on the latest status of whale sightings out of Kennebunk, Maine

The next schedule trip is on Saturday May 30 at 10am.

Hope to see you in the near future.

Ahoy for now!

Gearing up for the Season

2009-05-23T18:46:00.000-04:00

Well the 2009 Whale Season season is upon us! "Nick's Chance" heads out into the Gulf of Maine look for the Humpback whales that are in the area filling their stomachs up with old fashion New England Seafood. The first cruise of the season starts tomorrow May 24, 2009!

This blog site will tell you of the whales that we are seeing on our Whale Boat called "Nick's Chance" based out of Kennebunk, Maine. Also we will keep you informed what is happening on the scenic Lobster Cruise Boat "Kylie's Chance".

We will tell you of the fun times and interesting questions that we get during the course of the season.

Hopefully clients that have gone out with us will get on the blog site and leave their comments and stories of what they experienced.

So let's get started.