Whale Watching Trip August 28, 2009

2 pm Whale Watch Trip - Krill 

I was a bit curious as to the sea conditions offshore as Tropical Storm Danny was fast approaching the New England area. As we headed to the southwest corner of Stellwagen Bank, we experienced increasing eastly winds of up to 15 knots. This created a bit of a bumpy ride mostly on the way home.

Before we even arrived at the corner of Stellwagen Bank, we picked up a mother and calf pair that turned out to be one of our favorites this season, Nile and her calf. Nile appeared to be feeding deep and the calf was waiting for mom to return to the surface. It was great to see this pair so close to Plymouth. And to have the Pilgrim Monument in the background for many of our photos was quite a treat (see image above).

At one point, a small boat came into the area to also watch this pair. The captain aboard this vessel appeared to be impatient, and took off quickly before either animal had returned to the surface. A few seconds after the boat left the area, the calf surfaced right in the wake of this vessel. A stark reminder that everyone needs to go slow when the whales are beneath the surface for you never know where they are and where they are going to surface. 

As we watched this beautiful pair, we noticed a small pod (group) of Atlantic white-sided dolphins feeding in the same area. Unfortunately, this pod did not come over to the boat and we quickly lost track of them as the seas continued to build and the group moved off. We did have a number of fabulous looks at both Nile and her the calf. When we observed the calf surfacing on alternate sides of the mom, we realized that the calf was nursing. This was our cue to move on and leave this pair in peace. 

We soon picked up a small (juvenile) humpback whale that was also feeding deep just west of the bank. After getting a good look at the ventral tail pattern, we realized that this was a humpback whale named Pitcher (see fluke image above). We watched Pitcher for about 15 minutes and then started to head home.

As we headed west, we picked up Nile and the calf one more time. The calf did not appear to be nursing, but was staying very close to mom 's side. As we watched this pair, Nile and her calf dove side-by-side which was a beautiful way to end today's trip.  

Whale Watching Trips August 27, 2009

11 am Whale Watch - Michael

Calm seas in Plymouth Harbor and a good weather report left us surprised at the report of 3-4 foot seas on Stellwagen Bank. Dramamine alert! Passengers who needed some got it as we provide free Dramamine to all our passengers onboard. Luckily, I didn't see anyone sick the entire time we were offshore. We were fortunate to find humpbacks on the southwest corner of Stellwagen Bank. Our first sighting was a pair and most probably a mother and calf. As we watched this pair, we were taken by surprise by a solitary humpback who snuck up on us from the deeps, swam under the boat, and popped up right alongside the boat. It then joined the mother and calf pair for a half hour together. These three spent a lot of time on the surface or hovered just a few feet below allowing us to still see the beautiful flippers airplaning through the water. A couple fluke out dives showed a bit of ventral fluke, but not enough for us to identify these individual whales.  One humpback rolled over on its side and did several flipper slaps. They stayed near us a long time and the passengers were thrilled. For seabird sightings, we only saw a handful of Wilson's Storm Petrels as they flitted just off the sides of our vessel.

Whale Watching Trips August 26, 2009

9 am and 2 pm Whale Watch - Krill

A beautiful day offshore with southwest winds around 10 knots and  seas still under 3 feet. For the morning trip, we spent our entire time on the southwest corner of Stellwagen Bank. Here we were treated to a close approach by the small whale (juvenile) that has a gash just behind the dorsal fin. This gash was probably caused by a small boat that got too close tot his animal. Luckily the scars are dark and healed, but many of our whales show signs of encounters with boats. 

To the delight of our passengers and crew, this young humpback stayed close to the boat for almost a half an hour before moving on. We had great looks of this individual right next to the boat as the whale hung just off the Port side of the vessel. As our passengers waved to catch the whale's attention, this animal rolled over on its side to get a better look at us and we him. There were at least 5 other humpbacks and a few minkes in this area, but none could compare to the first sighting. 

For the afternoon trip, we were just west of the southwest corner of Stellwagen Bank when our captain spotted whales off the bow. We had transited this area during our morning trip and had found no animals in this area. This is a good reminder that our whales move around quite a lot over the course of the day and night so things are ever changing offshore. 

This sighting turned out to be Nile and her calf traveling with Timberline. This trio appeared to be feeding at depth and they gave us fabulous looks as they surfaced randomly in our area. At one point, both Timberline and the calf noticed patches of seaweed at teh surface and went over to investigate. Humpbacks are very inquisitive and many will take time to notice objects, both natural and man-made, that are in their environment. 

We moved a bit more to the east and found at least 5 other humpbacks scattered throughout this area. One group turned out to be a second mother and calf pair. This pair was Isthmus and calf who seemed to be feeding deep beneath the water's surface. At one point, Isthmus flicked her tail high in the air as if to provide a push for the next dive (see image above). 

Another group in this area turned out to be Abrasion and her calf. As we watched mother and calf moving together in synchrony, we were reminded of the special bond between this two animals that lasts only one short year. Although mother and calf only stay together for a year, the calves do remember and return to the same feeding areas they were introduced their first year of life. So we look forward to seeing Abrasion's calf feeding on its own in our waters next season. 

11 am Whale Watch Trip - Leah

Today was a gorgeous sunny day. We had very calm seas, a comfortable temperature and very happy passengers. When we got to the Southwest Corner of Stellwagen Bank we had three humpback whales waiting for us. There was Abrasion (see image above) and her calf of this year and an unidentified companion whale. This trio were handing around this area of the bank the entire time we were watching them. We were not able to identify the companion whale, but the killer whale rake marks and other scarring (see image below) on the dorsal surface of this animal's tail will help us determine the identity of this individual. 

We stayed with this trio of whales for a little while and then decided to move on. As soon as I turned around to look for other whales in the area, the passengers started to make a lot of noise because Abrasion performed a spinning head breach. So, we decided to turn around and return to this group. As we watched in anticipation, Abrasion's calf did some chin breaches and spinning head breaches.Mom and calf then started to flipper slap next to each other, and roll pretty consistently. Then the calf breached a few more times followed by lobtailing. 

Abrasion very visibly reminded us that "everybody poops," which was a very popular question this trip, since everyone was wondering what that "silty looking stuff" was in the water. The trip ended nicely with the whales "waving" good bye to us, by flipper slapping as we left. 

Whale Watching Trips August 25, 2009

11 Whale Watch Trip - Diane

We left the dock this morning with almost no wind and the seas were like glass. We headed to the southwest corner of Stellwagen Bank and found three humpbacks in one area. We watched one of them for a while and moved on to the other two. Our passengers were able to see them flipper slapping and rolling over. 

We moved on again to let the Massachusetts take a peek and found a minke that gave us some very good looks. We then returned to the threesome and again had some good watching. One of the animals appeared to be Reflection (see image above) with her calf, who now appears to be very big. It was a perfect August day. To top it off, saw some bluefin tuna come right out of the water.

Whale Watching Trips August 24, 2009

9 am and 2 pm Whale Watch Trips - Krill

We had relatively calms seas offshore with 4 to 5 foot swells from the SE. Both trips were on the southwest corner of Stellwagen Bank and just a bit north of it. For the start of the morning trip, we had dense fog giving us only 100 feet visibility. 

As we approached the corner of the bank, our captain slowed down and started running a search pattern. Luckily, we soon picked up a young humpback whale that was traveling slowly through the area. This whale came right over to the boat and gave us a close approach for over 20 minutes (see image above). Our passengers were delighted to have this up close and personal visit with such a massive, yet gentle animal. We were able to identify this whale as Hazard, the 2007 calf of Roswell.  

During the time that we were with Hazard, the fog cleared giving us 4 to 5 miles of visibility all around the boat. We were then able to pick up quite a few other humpbacks who were in this same area, including a female named Crown. Most of the whales were low key, possibly taking it easy after the high winds and waves produced by the passing storm generated by Hurricane Bill. 

In the afternoon, we headed back to the southwest corner of the bank and found Reflection and her calf traveling with another small humpback whale. The calf was being very playful as it rolled upside down and flipper-slapped once or twice right next to the boat. The calf also did an inverted lobtail (see image above) where it rolled over lifting its tail (fluke) out of the water and repeatedly smashing it on the surface. Over the course of this sighting, Reflection was very trusting of our presence for she allowed the calf to give us a close approach a few times. 

There were other humpback whales as well as minke whales in this same area. One humpback was feeding deep as we observed bubble clouds right next to the boat. But overall, much of the activity remained low key. Most of what we observed seemed to be social behavior as the whales were joining in small groups for short periods of time and then moving off on their own.

11 AM Whale Watch Trip - Lauren
We left a foggy Plymouth Harbor today and headed out to clear skies and calm seas, 1-2 ft out on southwest corner of Stellwagen Bank. We had a quick peak at a single humpback whale that was up quick and then down quick. We then headed over to another single humpback whale that was logging fairly close to the boat, so our passengers got a nice close look at this whale. This whale was identified as a female named Crown (see image of her fluke above). 

Crown had been entangled in the past and shows signs of this trauma. She has entanglement scars just forward of the dorsal fin, and just behind the blow hole (see image above). Becoming entangled in fishing gear is a big hazard for our whales who come to feed in our productive waters offshore. Crown was one of the lucky animals for she is now gear free.

Our next sighting was of a trio of humpback whales. This turned out to be mother calf pair, and a single companion who followed the pair around. Mom and the companion whale were logging (resting) at the surface and the calf was active with a few tail slaps, flipper slaps, and rolling around for us to check him out. We had a really great day offshore.

Whale Watching Trips August 22, 2009

2 pm Whale Watch Trip - Fred

Once again we visited the southwest corner of Stellwagen Bank to see a number of humpbacks (as well as a few minke whales). The air was hazy (4-5 miles visibility) and the sky was mostly cloudy.  There was an increasing wind from the SW, but the seas never got higher than about 1-2 feet.

We started out with two humpbacks logging, although they were seemingly only somewhat associated. While one whale hovered at the surface, in a fairly typical logging routine, the other would tend to drift deeper (as if it were a bit less buoyant) before rising slowly to take its spaced-apart breaths, and not always right next to the other whale. After a while, the "normal logger" (who turned out to be Lilium) rolled over a couple of times right next to our boat, flipper slapping a couple of times in the process.

We then spent some time with a trio of humpbacks, a mother/calf pair and an escort. The still-unidentified mother/calf pair was the same one we saw on the previous afternoon's trip, while the escort turned out to be Longboard. The trio split up after a while, and we later had a nice close approach by Longboard (while the mother and calf seemed to be deep feeding a few hundred yards away).

We also saw Forceps in the area, although we did not end up getting close to him/her, since we were busy with other whales all the while. I will have photos from this trip at http://www.flukeshots.net/2009/090822/ just as soon as they are processed.

Very few birds were seen (due to very little surface baitfish). The few shearwaters were nearly all Cory's. The most unusual bird event was observed while we were stopped watching whales late in the trip - there was a group of a few adult and immature greater black-backed gulls that had pretty much picked the carcass of a fish clean, but still occasionally nibbled at it, while a group of four or five Wilson's storm-petrels kept circling and trying to feed at the same spot, attracted possibly by scraps of the fish in the water or possibly by small critters feeding on the fish or the scraps (?).

11 am Whale Watch - Krill 

We had a good trip offshore in the area of the SW corner. Our first sighting was a pair of humpbacks who seemed to be traveling slowly in the area. One of the whales had grayish skin and was identified by Joanne as Canopy's 08 calf. Not sure who the other whale was, but this animal has a cut just posterior to the dorsal fin possibly due to a prior ship strike or vessel entanglement. This scar reminds me of the scar that another humpback whale has, and that whale is Alphorn. 

We left this pair and picked up Forceps who was diving deep in the area. Forceps gave us one tail breach and then settled back down to more deep dives. After watching this small whale for about 15 minutes, we noticed a mother and calf pair coming into the area just south of our position. This pair turned out to be the unidentified mom that Fred also saw on the 2 pm trip (mom's fluke is the image above). 

This mother and calf pair were traveling slowly through the area. We were able to get some great looks at both the mom and the calf as they often came right alongside of the boat. The calf shows signs of previously being hit by a boat for it has a huge gash just in front of the dorsal fin and other scars on both flanks (see images below). These scars have healed nicely so the calf seems to be OK and doing fine. Tragic that many of our whales show signs of being hit by boats, small and large, as well as being entangled in fishing gear. But even more tragic when the individual is a calf for they are too young to have to deal with such a traumatic event.

Not as many seabirds as in past days. We had quite a few sightings of Cory's shearwaterss as well as greater shearwaters. However, the most abundant seabird were the Wilson's storm petrels that were seen in small groups of 5 to 10. We also had some nice looks at blue fin tuna jumping in the area.

Whale Watching Trips August 21, 2009

9 am and 2 pm Whale Watch Trips - Fred 

Both trips headed out to the southwest corner of Stellwagen Bank under hazy, partly cloudy skies (with visibility about 3 to 7 miles, varying all day). There was a gradually increasing SW wind all day, making for seas that increased from less than a foot in the AM to a couple of feet in the PM.

We saw all/only humpbacks, mostly younger ones, on both trips.  (I will have photos from these trips at http://www.flukeshots.net/2009/090821/ as soon as they are processed.)

On the AM trip the whales seemed to be either logging or deep feeding, mostly as individuals or in pairs. The high points of the trip were the two times when one logging humpback and one apparently deep feeding humpback took a few minutes out of their routines to do a little bit of people watching close to our stationary boat.

On the PM trip the whales seemed to be more active at the surface, likely stimulated by the increasing wind and waves. Most of the whales seen were either calves or juveniles (often breaching, tail breaching, lobtailing, or flippering) or one mother and a few juveniles apparently deep feeding. ID's included Condensation and Forceps.  One unusual aspect of this particular trip was that we saw more calves than mothers - probably the moms were doing lengthy deep feeding runs and we missed some of their surfacings (?).

Very few birds were seen (due to very little surface baitfish).  The few shearwaters were nearly all Cory's.