Rare blue whales spotted on NH coast
Local scientists and whale watchers treated to rare sight
An ordinary whale-watch turned into a once-in-a-lifetime sighting for one local scientist and several spectators on Friday.
Dianna Schulte, co-founder and research coordinator of the Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation, was working aboard the Granite State off of Rye Harbor when she spotted the whales.
The Blue Ocean Society photographs whales as part of routine research to learn how to better protect local species, officials said.
Blue whales are the largest mammal on Earth, and can be as much as 100 feet long, said Jen Kennedy, executive director of the Blue Ocean Society.
Kennedy said that blue whale sightings are rare in New England.
"To spot two blue whales together is simply unheard of," said Kennedy. "In the Atlantic, they are usually sighted off of St. Lawrence in Canada.
"We might see a blue whale every five to ten 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 N.H. coast."
Schulte plans to send pictures she took of the whales to researchers in Canada in hopes that they will be able to learn more about the two that were spotted.