Naturalists aboard Captain John Whale Watching and Fishing Tours, Plymouth MA
Learn about the whale, dolphin and porpoise sightings in Cape Cod Bay and Massachusetts Bay. Join naturalists - Krill, Fred, Joanne, Dianne, Leah, Lauren, Tammy, 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.
Although we can not post each and every whale watching trip that we take offshore, we will do our best to post as many as possible. Thank you for your understanding.
Luckily for
us the weather report was wrong for this afternoon and we had partially sunny
skies, light winds and gorgeous, flat seas. As we have for almost 2 weeks now,
we headed toward the southwest corner of Stellwagen Bank to find whales all
around us.
Grackle surface feeding.
Our first sightings were of a pair of humpbacks named Fracture and
Zeppelin and a single humpback whale named Grackle. We focused on Grackle who
was using bubble nets to catch sand lance.
Aerospace
While we
watched Grackle feeding, we also had some great looks at minke whales and gray
seals that were travelling and feeding in the area. Our next humpback sighting
was of a large group of humpback whales that have been together for quite some
time now.
The size of the group varied
between 6 and 8 whales; it seems as though there is a core group of about 6
animals (Jabiru, Jupiter, Aerospace, Perseid, Falcon and Eruption) and other
whales will join periodically and then break off. Although they can be quite social, humpbacks,
like all baleen whales are thought of as solitary animals. So to see this many
whales sticking together for so many days is truly amazing.
Fern and calf.
We had breathtaking
views of this group as they came right next to our boat on several occasions. Another special sighting of the day was Apex
and her calf of this year. We got to see Apex and her calf leisurely traveling
side by side and then occasionally they would catch up and join the larger
group.
We ended our trip watching the
large group of humpbacks and a small group of Atlantic white-sided dolphins
that had joined them. A perfect
afternoon on the water!
We had a beautiful ride offshore as we headed to the southwest corner of Stellwagen Bank. Calm seas and excellent sighting conditions made our ride offshore a true joy. We were headed for an area that has been very good for us regarding sightings of whales, seals and dolphins. There has been a lot of bait fish in this area and we were hoping that the animals were feeding on this food.
Perseid with Etch-a-Sketch in the background.
As we crossed over the edge of bank, we moved into an area where we had 3 separate groups of humpback whales feeding at the surface.
Etch-a-Sketch kick feeding.
The first sighting was a single humpback whale named Etch-a-Sketch. This whales was kick feeding in her own unique style. Etch-a-Sketch typically kicks 3 to 4 times and then swims under the school of fish blowing bubbles as she rises to the surface. Then Etch-a-Sketch would surface mouth wide open in order to engulf as much water and bait as possible. What a sight!
The group of 7.
Lunging at the surface.
The group of 7 straining.
Spy hop among friends.
Also feeding in this area was a large group of humpback whales that included Jupiter, Jabiru, Perseid, Abrasion, Bounce, Aerospace and Falcon. This group was coordinating their movements as they feed side-by-side. What an amazing view of these large mammals feeding in unison.
Falcon, Jabiru, Bounce and Perseid.
The group of 7 getting close.
Popping up on our port side was a mother and calf who we determined was Apex and her new calf of this season. Mom was obviously feeding deep, but the calf was just enjoying itself at the surface waiting for mom to finish eating.
Aerospace and Falcon.
Also in this area were minke whales and a small pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins. Often it was hard to know what side of the boat to look off as there was activity all around us.
Minke off the bow.
My favorite part of the trip were the 6 gray seals that surfaced close to our boat throughout the course of our trip. At our trip's end, two gray seals surfaced together. It isn't often that you see multiple seals hanging out together. What fun!
Atlantic white-sided dolphin.
Gray Seal.
Two gray seals hanging out.
Great day offshore. Love the feeding and seeing old friends once again offshore.
Winds were increasing out of the SE as we headed back offshore for our afternoon trip. As we crossed over the bank, we started picking up clusters of blows from small groups of humpback whales. As we began to watch these groups, individuals from two main groups came together creating a large concentration of humpbacks with up to 10 individuals.
Right dorsal fin of humpback whale named Bounce.
Right dorsal fin of humpback whale named Jupiter.
With the help of Tammy, one of our naturalists and marine biologists, we were able to identify all 10 individuals in this group that included: Eruption, Jabiru, Falcon, Bounce, Jupiter, Apex and calf, Perseid, Mend and Aerospace. These animals were coordinating their movements as they fed together at depth.
Ventral tail pattern of Eruption.
Ventral tail pattern of Jabiru.
When offshore, we collect hundreds of photos during each trip for photo-identification. We typically examine and photograph both sides of the the dorsal fin and the ventral tail pattern. The ventral tail pattern is a black & white pattern unique to each individual. You could say that it is like a human fingerprint as no two humpbacks have the same tail pattern.
Gray Seal.
As we watched this group a gray seal popped up off our bow. Also a marine mammal, gray seals are increasing in our waters due to many years of protection. And with the increase of gray and harbor seals, we are seeing an increase in their predators, especially the great white shark.
As we moved on, we picked up another grouping of humpback whales, but this group only included 5 individuals. We were able to identify Abrasion, Wizard, Mira, Pixar and Tunguska. This group of whales also appeared to be feeding deep, for when they surfaced, they remained in the same general area.
Dorsal fluke of Abrasion and left dorsal fin of Wizard.
Ventral tail pattern of Abrasion.
White scarring on tail stock of Abrasion.
As we continued to watch, this group started blowing bubble nets in an attempt to help concentrate the bait fish. As the whale's lunged mouth open, they collected hundreds of gallons of water and fish in their mouths. The next step was to strain or push the water out as they whale slowly swam forward.
Surface feeding.
At times, there were so many whales all around our boat, that we didn't know where to tell our passengers to look! But we did get some really great views of known humpback whales all around us.
Straining at the surface.
Fluke out dive.
A fabulous day of whale watching for one and all. Thank you for choosing Captain John Boats and for your continued support.
It was a perfect morning offshore with warm sunshine and
flat calm seas. As we made our way towards Stellwagen Bank, our captain spotted
repeated large splashes in the distance. We had found a humpback whale named
Hazard that was breaching and flipper slapping! Eventually Hazard seemed to
take an interest in us and this whale came right over to our boat, gazing up at
us as it swam alongside and under our boat.
Atlantic white-sided dolphins.
After a great start to our trip we continued to the
southwest corner of Stellwagen Bank and once again, we saw blows and splashes all
around us. We had Atlantic white-sided dolphins, minke whales, gray seals and
humpback whales all feeding in this area.
Gray seal.
When we looked down into the water,
we could see huge patches of sand lance, the small, abundant fish on Stellwagen
Bank that everyone was feeding on this morning. Kick-feeding and bubble-netting
humpbacks could be seen all around the boat.
Fern and her new calf of this season.
We also got to spend quite a bit of time with a female humpback named
Fern and her calf of this year. Fern was
using her powerful tail to stun the bait fish while her calf, who is just a few
months old and is still nursing, waited patiently at and just below the
surface.
Surface feeding by humpback whales.
We couldn’t have asked for a
better way to spend our trip - 4 different species of marine mammals and lots of
activity!
We headed a
little further to the east this afternoon but had just as much activity! The
same four species, humpbacks, minkes, gray seals and Atlantic white-sided
dolphins were abundant and still feeding this afternoon.
Feeding group of humpback whales.
We saw lunging
humpbacks and minke whales and dolphins charging through the area, chasing
prey. The highlight of this afternoon’s
trip was seeing 8-10 humpback whales traveling together surrounded by dolphins!
Venom
We marveled as one by one the humpbacks, travelling so gracefully in such
proximity. Somehow the dolphins were able to avoid a slap of the tail or
flippers! One whale in the group named Perseid was even flipper slapping,
raising one and then both flippers out of the water at one time!
Flippering.
We ended our
trip with an unidentified humpback whale that was lobtailing and flippering as
well as another big group of associated humpback whales.
Thank you for visiting our Naturalist Blog. This blog is maintained by Carol "Krill" Carson, Outreach Educational Coordinator for Captain John Whale Watching and Fishing Tours. If you have any questions or comments, you can reach Krill at krillcarson@mac.com.
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