






Learn about the whale, dolphin and porpoise sightings in Cape Cod Bay and Massachusetts Bay. Join naturalists - Krill, Fred, Joanne, Dianne, Leah, Lauren, and Michael - aboard Captain John Boats as they head offshore each day from April through October to view the unique coastal marine wildlife off New England. Our intern Ian will also be providing seabird reports.










It was a gray day offshore, cold and damp, but not as windy as predicted, and there was excellent visibility for spotting whales.
Aboard the Tails of the Sea we ended up just a bit NE of the SW corner of Stellwagen Bank, where there were a dozen or so humpback whales scattered about. Many of the whales were solitary and seemed to be feeding during long dives, spending little time at the surface. However, there were two mother/calf pairs present, spending more time at the surface, and so we spent most of our time with them.
We were not able to identify the first mother whale because she did not lift her tail flukes in the air (and it usually is the markings under the tail flukes that we use for identification). However, we were able to recognize the second mom as Nile almost immediately. Nile has a very hooked dorsal fin, which is not common but is also not unique. Nonetheless, she does have what looks like a large white "smudge" (which is actually a complex group of white markings) at the base of the right side of the dorsal fin (see photo above) that is indeed unique. (We did get to see Nile's tail flukes later on, shortly before heading home, for ID confirmation.)
We witnessed apparent nursing behavior by both mother/calf pairs, and we also had a close approach (a "Close Encounter of the Whale Kind") by the first pair (especially by the inquisitive youngster - see top photo), and that first calf also breached once, which probably was the high point of the trip for many of the passengers.

Our boat was not the only boat in the vicinity of whales near the SW corner - the Research Vessel "Auk", operated by the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, was also in the area, presumably doing some research on the whales there (see photo above). However, on such a steel cold fall day, there were no other boats within several miles of us.



















12 noon Whale Watch - Fred Contact between whales and man have not always been beneficial. Historically, of course, whaling has killed untold thousands and thousands of whales, although commercial whaling is currently internationally banned. (However, despite the international ban on commercial whaling, it does still go on, currently involving whalers from Japan, which has never stopped killing whales, and Iceland and Norway, both of which periodically stop and restart whaling on a year-to-year basis).
Besides the obvious direct negative effect on whales from whaling, whales also suffer at the hands of man indirectly and/or unintentionally, due to such causes as pollution, fishing gear entanglements, collisions between whales and boats and ships, etc. Most specifically here, whales and man do come into close physical proximity within the Massachusetts Bay area (including, of course, within the Stellwagen bank National Marine Sanctuary).
While many people do enjoy watching whales and other marine life on whale watch vessels (and on private boats as well), all boats and ships in the vicinity of whales legally must maneuver with the highest regard for the safety of the whales. Unfortunately, not everyone on the water around the whales in Massachusetts Bay is careful.
Commonly, some fishing boats could endanger whales. Commercial fishing vessels often drag nets and move around (fortunately usually fairly slowly) oblivious to whales near them. Some sport-fishing boats, especially some of the tuna boats on and around Stellwagen Bank, more insidiously may even operate intentionally close to whales in the badly mistaken idea that tuna are always associated with whales. [This is not at all a criticism of all fishing boats by any means - I am referring to a minority of short-sighted boat captains.]
Many people who own their own pleasure boats seek out whales to watch, and, while most seemingly do try to be careful around whales, it seems to this observer that some private boats operate around whales without being fully aware of how much danger they put whales (and themselves) in due to often excessive speed and an altogether frequent lack of patience around whales. [This is not a criticism of all private "whale watching" boats, by the way - I am referring only to the few that are reckless and to the not-so-few that are careless - fortunately, whales seem to be smarter about boats than some boat operators are about whales.]
Commercial whale watch vessels also must be very careful, during every second of every minute of every trip they are near whales. Since commercial whale watch boats spend a lot of time close to whales, their captains are generally very careful as well as knowledgeable about how to safely operate in the vicinity of whales. Nonetheless, constant vigilance is required by every whale watch vessel on every trip intended to spend time near whales.
Unfortunately, despite the best of intentions (and unfortunately sometimes due to less than the best of intentions), whales have been injured, sometimes badly (and sometimes even mortally), by contact with ships and boats of all sizes and types. A number of Massachusetts whales carry wounds and scars from contact with vessels, especially from propellers that were in motion when they should not have been. Unfortunately, on today's whale watch our passengers and crew witnessed all too clearly the sad result of an incident that must have occurred sometime back in July. Let me explain...
For today's trip we headed out of Plymouth, bound for the SW corner of Stellwagen Bank, where we did quickly find a solitary humpback that seemed to be deep feeding, but which also started tail breaching and lobtailing a bit, seemingly in response to some whales already doing the same a couple miles to the NE. So, after enjoying the activities of our first whale, we headed off to the NE to visit with the humpbacks (probably 12 to 15) scattered about "up" there. (I think it is it interesting how we sometimes use "up" for north and "down" for south, even on a level sea.)
We spent much of our time watching four whales, who sometimes came together as a foursome and sometimes split apart into two pairs. One pair was of a mother and her calf while the other pair consisted of a whale known as Bayou and another young humpback.
Often we identify individual humpback whales by the natural markings under their tail flukes (and sometimes, less often, by the dorsal fins). However, quite sadly, sometimes we can easily identify an individual whale simply due to some obviously human-caused wounds and/or scars, and such was the case on this trip with the young humpback known as Bayou.
Bayou is the 2006 calf of Trident. I personally have not (knowingly) seen Bayou often this season (perhaps because it is a whale that spends most of its time on the N end of Stellwagen Bank). I did see Bayou on May 30th of this year (please see the top photo for a routine ID shot from that trip), with no obvious wounds of any sort visible. However, a Gloucester boat reported on July 21st that Bayou had been badly wounded, with obvious and serious propeller damage to the right tail fluke. Unfortunately for Bayou, identification will now forever be extremely easy due to these wounds (please see the other two photos from today's trip).
I do not know the extent of Bayou's healing that has occurred since July. Whale watch naturalists do get to see a few (yet far too many) humpback whales with wounds that have healed apparently reasonably well (generally with white and/or black scarring). However, Bayou still shows some seemingly raw-looking areas, but hopefully these will eventually heal over. As for long-term effects on Bayou, one can only guess. We do know of a number of other humpbacks that have suffered serious tail fluke wounds and yet have survived for often many years afterward. Nonetheless, it would seem that, even if full healing does occur, Bayou's swimming efficiency has to be lessened at least somewhat, and there is likely to be a torsion (or twisting) effect on the vertebral column and tail muscles due to the asymmetry of Bayou's tail flukes.
We did notice that Bayou seemed to be behaving normally (as much as we could tell) - at least, Bayou did participate in some of the tail breaching and lobtailing activity that several of the whales in the area were exhibiting.
When returning to port, I nearly always remind the passengers on "my" whale watch trips that we are easily the most dangerous species on our shared planet, and that I hope that they agree that the whales (and other creatures) are worth protecting, and, if so, then whale watching has to have an overall positive effect on the whales (and the rest of our environment). However, usually this thought is not punctuated with such an exclamation point as on this particular trip. So, while our whale watch trip was indeed quite successful and enjoyable overall, it was also a sobering experience for the passengers and crew aboard the Tails of the Sea. We can only wish Bayou good luck, future health, and lasting peace.
Additional photos from today's trip at
http://www.flukeshots.net/2009/091010/