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| Atlantic white-sided dolphins off the bow of our boat. |
12 noon Whale Watch - Krill
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| Gray seal checking us out. |
It was a bit of a gray day, but our spirits were high as we headed offshore. We were fortunate to find at least 20 humpback whales on the southwest corner of Stellwagen Bank along with 5 to 6 minke whales, 50 to 75 Atlantic white-sided dolphins and 4 to 5 harbor porpoise. Most of the large whales were taking it easy and were staying down for long periods of time. But we were fortunate to get quite a few good looks as our captain skillfully maneuvered the vessel in preparation for their next surfacing.
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Close approach by a humpback whale.
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| Our humpback group of 6 including a Dome and calf. |
The highlight of our trip was a sighting of 6 humpback whales that were resting on the surface. As we watched this group, we realized that Dome and her calf of this year were members of this temporary grouping. Dome's calf started to roll on its side at the water's surface and this behavior was followed by more rolling, but from some of the adults. Also in this group were Zap, Shuffleboard and an unknown humpback and they came very close to our boat giving us a very nice close approach. With the whales right next to the boat, you really get a feel for how big and massive these animals are, even the calf.
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| Close Approach. |
After each trip, we spend hours pouring over the photos that we collected offshore to document individual humpback whales through photo-analysis. I am still working on the photo-ID for this trip and want to thank researchers at the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies for helping with our humpback identification. Humpback whales identified so far include: Dome and calf, Zap, Music, Mar's 2009 calf, Alphorn, Midnight, Wizard, Tracer, Lavalier, Falcon, Canopy, Whiplash, Shuffleboard, Seal, Northstar and Xylem. Not bad for one afternoon offshore!
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| Spy hop by an adult in our group of 6. |
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| Harbor porpoise. How cute is this? |
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| A second gray seal in the area. |
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| Minke whale surfacing off the port side. |
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| Dome and calf resting at the surface. |
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| Dome and calf with the calf rolling in its side. |
