9 am and 2 pm Whale Watches - Krill
9 am Whale Watch
We had a rough trip offshore, but our passengers were hardy and ready for an adventure. We were excited to see that finback whales had moved back into our waters to feed just south of Stellwagen Bank. Finbacks are the second largest baleen whales and the fastest offshore. Their nickname is the "greyhounds of the ocean" and that nickname fits this species perfectly.
Finbacks do not lift their tail (fluke) out of the water as they dive deep. But they have a beautiful pigmentation pattern on their right side that allows researchers to photo-ID individuals. And finbacks are the only whale that has an asymmetry to their overall body coloration. The right side of the body is lighter than the left. How fun is that!
After watching finbacks for the beginning of our trip, we ended our trip with a threesome of humpback whales. We were only able to identify two of the individuals in this group and once again we had Barb and Division feeding together. This association has been going strong for a few weeks now which is really interesting to see.
As we watched our whales, we observed Wilson storm petrels, sooty shearwaters and laughing gulls in the area. We also had a young gray seal pop up next to the boat.
