Rare blue whales spotted off New England coast in 'unheard of' event

Two blue whales have been seen off the New England coast, in a rare sighting of the largest creatures on earth.

Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conversation cofounder Dianna Schulte told WMUR-TV she was working aboard the Granite State off the coast of Rye Harbor, New Hampshire, on Friday when she spotted the whales.

The group’s executive director, Jen Kennedy, said sightings of the animals, which can be up to 100ft long, are rare in New England. Spotting two together is even rarer.

“To spot two blue whales together is simply unheard of,” she said. “In the Atlantic, they are usually sighted off of St Lawrence in Canada.

“We might see a blue whale every five to 10 years, so it was possible, but rare. And we’ve never seen two together in our last 20 years of whale watching and research off the New Hampshire coast.”

Schulte said she planned to send pictures of the whales to researchers in Canada, to try to learn more about the two that were spotted.