Whale Watching Trip August 8, 2009

9 and 11 am Whale Watches - Joanne

We had clear, blue skies, bright sunshine and a 3-4ft swell on our morning trip, which lessoned by the afternoon. We headed to the SW corner on both trips, finding a scattering of whales. We began with a few looks a pinpoint, traveling solo through some fishing boats.  We then picked up Follicle an calf. The pair made some very close passes to our boat, giving passengers a great look.  We also saw Tongs, who gave us a tailbreach and a few lobtails.

In the afternoon, we picked up the unknown, as well as Follicle and calf and Nile and calf, who by the end of our trip had joined together. Then a fifth whale came in and associated with Nile and calf while Follicle and calf went north.  We had a little surface feeding from Nile and a lot of searching. Follicle appeared to be deep feeding.  Finback whales were circling, a pair and a single.  We also had minkes moving in. It appeared that feeding was about to begin from all species. Birds included: Cory's, sooty, greater shearwaters, wilson's storm petrels, two immature northern gannets.

11 am Whale Watch Trip - Krill

Great day offshore with Capt. Jim aboard the Capt. John & Son IV. Seas were less than 2 feet due to northeast winds of up to 10 knots. As we crossed over Stellwagen Bank, we picked up our first sighting which was a single humpback whale. This animal turned out to have a very

 white ventral tail pattern and soon we realized we were looking at a whale name Pinpoint. Pinpoint was born in 2004 to a mother named Horizon making this animal only 5 years old. 

As we watched Pinpoint, this whale started to subsurface feed (see image above). We observed as Pinpoint lifted its tail high above the surface and then smashing it down hard on the water's surface. This technique is often used by humpback whales for it helps them stun the bait and creates confusion for the small bait fish. Pinpoint then dove beneath the school of fish, lunging as it came to the surface to take a breath. 

As we were watched Pinpoint, we  saw a huge splash just to the east of our position. As we continued to keep on eye in this area, we noticed a few more breaches (jumps) so decided to check it out. As we slowly moved toward this area, we found a another humpback whale turned out to have a totally opposite ventral tail pattern than Pinpoint. This animal's bottom tail pattern was totally black and soon we realized that this whale was Tongs. As we continued our approach, Tongs started to flipper slap right off the bow of the boat. What a treat to watch Tongs as this animal's flipper rose high out of the water and then crashed down on the water's surface. 

After leaving Tongs, we picked up a pair of humpback whales that turned out to be Division  traveling with another humpback. This second animal never fluked out making it impossible for us to determine an ID. 

Unfortunately, we saw few seabirds offshore other than a handful of Wilson's and one or two Cory's.

Whale Watching Trip August 7, 2009

9 am and 2 pm Whale Watch - Krill 

Like September for weather - cool and perfectly clear air from the NNW making for unlimited visibility.  Seas about 1 to 1.5 foot (from the NNW) and just a hint of a swell from the E when on Stellwagen Bank.

For the AM trip we started at the southwest corner of Stellwagen Bank, watching Nile and her pup, and then we had a chance to also watch two separate young humpbacks (one ID'ed as Forceps) afterwards (Forceps was not too far from Nile and calf, while we had to move a few miles E to see the other whale).

Nile seemed fairly quiet (for her activity level) on this morning's encounter, while the "spunky" calf made quite a few lobtails and tail breaches before the two settled into a nursing period (more about this follows). Forceps and the other young humpback seemed to be deep feeding, spending several minutes at a time below the surface before surfacing for a few breaths in seemingly random locations.

We often get a chance to observe what we interpret as nursing behavior when we find mother/calf pairs in quiet areas away from actively feeding whales, especially in the spring and summer (by the fall the calves are nursing less and less and feeding with the adults more and more).  However, the nursing itself is not normally observed above the surface, but is observed (we believe) indirectly, as follows:

A mother humpback has her two mammary glands on her abdomen.  A calf can be detected as nursing when we see the calf dive down on one side of the mother's abdomen or tail, surface a moment later on the other side of her abdomen or tail, and then repeatedly go back and forth from one side to the other several times.  It is an interesting and very significant (even if subtle) behavior for whale watch passengers to be able to watch.

For the PM trip we again headed to the southwest corner of Stellwagen Bank, where there were seven to eight humpbacks scattered over the area.  We spent most of our time with Follicle and her calf and later with Tongs, the whales who seemed to be the most active of all the whales in the vicinity.  Tongs provided an unusually dramatic display of lobtailing.  We saw her breach at a fair distance, which caught our attention immediately, but she had changed over to tail breaching, lobtailing, and flipper slapping before we eased over to her.

However, what was most impressive at close range were her lobtails - not only is Tongs one of the largest humpbacks in "our" population, but she lobtailed (both rightside up and in an inverted fashion) with much higher than the typical force, so that she made about the loudest lobtail slaps I've heard in a very long time - in fact, the slap could literally be felt, transmitted from the water throughout the surfaces of the boat.  Interestingly, the inverted lobtails were somewhat louder and had a "sharper" sound than the "normal" lobtails.  Quite a display...

Almost no birds were seen offshore on these trips - little or no surface bait was available for them where we were watching whales, it would seem.

11 am Whale Watch Trip - Krill

We had a beautiful day offshore aboard the Son II with Capt. Joe. Lght winds from the northwest produced seas of less than 2 feet. We headed to the southwest corner of Stellwagen Bank, but were not able to find any of the whales that we had been watching over the past few weeks. This is a stark reminder that these whales are constantly on the move as they try to find the most productive areas offshore. 

As we continued east, we crossed over Stellwagen Bank. Soon we picked up our first sighting which was a pair of humpback whales. This pair turned out to be Follicle and her calf of this year. The calf was breaching next to mom as they continued to slowly swim to the west. As we watched Follicle and calf, we noticed the calf surfacing on alternate sides of the mom, a sure sign that the calf was nursing. So we left this pair and continued east. 

Soon we observed more blows (spouts) a few miles to the northeast. In this area, we found a group of approximately 20 to 25 humpback whales and a few minkes whales that were scattered over a 5 mile area. As we moved from group to group, we noticed a small cluster of humpback whales that had started to feed at the surface. Soon we were surrounded by feeding whales all around the boat (see above image). 

One humpback whale was a animal named Terrace (see above image). Terrace is easy to recognize for she is missing the left half of her tail (fluke). This cut is extensive indicating that it was probably caused by a collision with a large commercial vessel. But Terrace is doing well and her injury doesn't appear to negatively impact her behaviors. 

As we drifted with the whales, one animal broke away from the group to come over to the boat (see image above). This whale turned out to be Colt, a very friendly male humpback whale. It was amazing to see Colt directly under the boat as he drifted with us for over 10 minutes. With this whale right next to the boat, we got a good feel for how big, powerful and beautify these animals truly are. as we headeWe had to go east of the bank which meant an extended trip, but the extra distance and trip time was well worth it. 

We are seeing fewer seabirds offshore, but did have quite a few Cory's shearwaters, greater shearwaters, sooty shearwaters, laughing gulls, Wilson's storm petrels and one juvenile Northern gannet.

Whale Watching Trips August 6, 2009

9 am and 2 pm Whale Watch Trips - Fred

Out to the E aboard the Tails of the Sea.  A somewhat gray day, but dry and with pretty good visibility.  Calm seas - light N winds for a slight sea from the N and a foot or so swell out of the E.

On the 9:00 trip we started by watching three HB's (including Terrace and Ursa), a pair of FB's, and a few minkes surface feeding, all with their own species-specific styles.  Later on we moved a few hundred yards away to watch a mother HB (Tulip) and her companion (Division) surface feed while her calf hung around nearby.

On the 2:00 trip we headed to the same area, and saw more whales (15 to 20) but of just one species (HB).  Most whales did not seem to be feeding and seemed quite low key, although we did see occasional flipper-slapping.  ID's included Rune, Barb, Aerospace, Belly, and Bolide.  We also had a short close approach by a harbor seal.

Same location, different whales, different behaviors - every whale watch is different from every other whale watch, even when only a few hours apart.

We saw a fair number of shearwaters (mostly Cory's and greaters, with a few sooties and a handful of Manx) and some Wilson's storm-petrels out to the east, but not too many on the way to or from the whale watch area.

Whale Watching Trips August 5, 2009

11 am Whale Watch Trip - Leah

Today was a gorgeous day, 2-3 foot seas, calm wind, and great sightings of whales.  We had to travel a little further north to find the whales today.  We started with a group of five humpback whales that were swimming all over the place, but very tightly together.  They would all surface in the same place and would all dive at the same place.  Two of the five whales were Percussion and Canopy, the other three were not lifting their flukes out of the water.   

A small group of two humpbacks were headed towards us off in the distance and we watched them surface twice closer and closer to us but they turned and headed a different direction instead of meeting up with our group of five.  We also had two finback whales but we didn't get a very good look at them since they were far from the boat.  We moved off from the group of five to a lobtailer, which turned out to be Infinity.  Infinity is a very fitting name for a whale that infinitely slapped his tail on the surface of the water.  He would slap four or five times on his back, then roll over, breath and slap four or five times on his stomach over and over again. 

There was another individual humpback whale with Infinity that splashed a little, then swam around in circles from then on.  There were also plenty of breachers off in the distance but unfortunately we didn't have enough time to go check out who they were. Today was a great day!!!

Whale Watching Trips August 4, 2009

2 pm Whale Watch - Seabird Report from Ian

The 2pm Captain John Boat whalewatch today enjoyed some good looks at whales, and although not nearly the numbers of birds that were present a month ago, good numbers for what I've gotten used to since "the crash." Cory's outnumbered Greaters for the third time this season, always a treat. Also a Manx was nice, not many of those have been around, although I've had them two trips in a row now. The highlight of the day though was surely the phalaropes, it's always a treat to see a phalarope, and to have a bunch just makes it all the better. The best part was that both species managed to turn up still inside Plymouth County waters, quite unexpectedly, I didn't even have them on my radar until the boat flushed a flock. Once on Stellwagen, right on the SW corner we hit a few more, but then beyond that there were just tubenoses. Jaegers are conspicuously absent now, none in the past 4 trips.

Full lists from today below, nothing worth reporting from the brief drive-by of Plymouth Beach.

En route to Stellwagen: Plymouth Co.:

Cory's Shearwater - 1

Wilson's Storm-Petrel - 8

Northern Gannet - 3

Red-necked Phalarope -10     *Rare inshore, high count inshore. Eight were part of a flock of 9 birds, including the Red Phalarope, that was seen about 4 miles off of the Gurnet. The birds were put up by the boat, flew a short distance, and then settled down on the water again about 20m away.

Red Phalarope  - 1     *Rare inshore. Seen with the above mentioned flock of eight Red-necked Phalaropes, this bird stood out as being paler, with a gray back and larger wingstripe, as opposed to the darker backs and wings of the Red-neckeds.

Herring Gull - 2

Great Black-backed Gull - 1

Barn Swallow - 1

Stellwagen Bank -- SW Corner:

Cory's Shearwater - 223     *High count. Outnumbering Greaters yet again!

Greater Shearwater - 170

Sooty Shearwater - 9     Very low number. Seems from Steve Mirick's report that they have all moved up to the north.

Manx Shearwater - 1     Only the 6th in 20 trips this season.

shearwater sp. - 100     Likely all Greaters/Cory's, but which is the problem!

Wilson's Storm-Petrel - 69

Red-necked Phalarope - 22     A flock of 21 birds and a single, all flushed by the boat.

phalarope sp.-  6     Likely Red-neckeds.

Laughing Gull  - 11

Herring Gull (American) - 2

Great Black-backed Gull -3

Common Tern  - 8

Whale Watching Trips August 3, 2009

9 am and 2 pm Whale Watch Trips - Krill 

We had calm seas offshore and 5 miles visibility for most of the day. On the morning trip, we headed to the SW corner and located a small cluster of humpback whales. Our first sighting was a trio that turned out to be Anvil and calf traveling with Tear, a male humpback whale. As we watched this trio Tear rolled on his side and lifted his flipper out of the water, repeatedly slapping it on the surface, a behavior called flippering or flipper slapping. At one point, Tear even hit his side with his flipper instead of hitting the water. 

As we were watching this threesome, we noticed common terns starting to feed at the surface. Before we knew it, Anvil and Tear started to feed as well. We watched in amazement as Anvil smashed her flukes on the water's surface in a behavior called kick feeding. Then she dove under the surface and presumably under the bait fish. We watched as Anvil and Tear created a bubble net and then rose to the surface with mouth's wide open. Then they started to strain the water out of their mouths in an attempt to keep only the fish inside. 

While we were watching this trio, other humpbacks were seen charging into the area including Division and Barb. These two animals soon teamed up and continued to feed as a pair. Division started kick feeding while Barb seemed to surface only when the bubble net was constructed. It got a little crazy offshore today as whales were chasing around after the bait. 

For the afternoon trip, we headed a bit north of this location. Here we found Nile and her calf and both seemed to be taking it easy as they rested at the surface. After we left this pair, we headed a mile to the north for we had our eye on a large concentration of seabirds and gulls that were feeding at the surface. Soon enough, a number of humpbacks also noticed this area and moved right in. We had great looks at a humpback whale named Alpha who was surface feeding. We were also able to identify Habenero feeding in this same area. There must have been an additional 4 humpbacks in this same general vicinity, but we didn't have time to observe them before having to head home.

We are still seeing a high number of Cory's shearwaters and lower numbers of greater shearwaters and sooty shearwaters. And we are seeing hundreds of Wilson's storm petrels offshore as well. During our morning trip, we also observed laughing gulls and two parasitic jaegers.

1100 am Whale Watch Trip - Lauren 

We had a gorgeous day off shore with minimal winds and glass like sea conditions. Our first sighting was of two unknown humpbacks traveling together. This was a group of three traveling previously when the Dolphin boat was on them and by the time we got there the third had broken off. These two guys were pretty lazy logging, giving us some nice close looks. 

Then just ahead of us about 2 miles out we could see a mother and calf pair that were very active! Both whales were breaching, chin breaching, and lobtailing together. The calf was also rolling and flipper slapping. Of course by the time we were close to them, they quieted down. They began logging and going on some longs dives. Then for our last look at this unknown mother calf pair, they both came right over to the boat. They stayed just under the surface, giving everyone a beautiful look at this pair. It really gave our passengers a great look and to be able to see the size difference between mother and calf.

Whale Watching Trips August 2, 2009

9 am and 2 pm Whale Watch Trips - Krill 

A hazy day offshore which limited our visibility to 5 miles.  Our SE winds at 5 to 10 knots created a sea 2-foot  at the best. Our first sighting was a pair of humpbacks that turned out to be Nile and her calf of this season. We found Nile and calf a bit west of the SW corner and they were traveling slowly with the winds and the waves. The calf did a few tail breaches and one seemed to be right on top of Nile's head.  Then mom did a tail breach or two which was amazing to see given the shear size of this animal. Both whales gave us a nice close approach for a few minutes on two separate occasions.  

After leaving this pair, we continued to the SW corner of Stellwagen Bank and found a few more humpbacks. These whales may have been feeding deep for they were surfacing erratically and changing the heading of their travel. We were able to identify Tongs who was traveling with Venon. Later, we picked up a single humpback that turned out to be Alpha. We also had a few minkes and one finback in this same location.

For the afternoon trip, we headed more towards the location of the old BE buoy. We found Nile and calf once again, but they were not as active as during the morning trip. However, we did get a few good close approaches and mom gave us a tremendous spinning head breach just off the port side of the boat. We then picked up the finback whale named Loon who has been observed and photographed for many years. It was great to see Loon and to see how nicely her scars have healed from that unfortunate vessel collision a few years ago. 

We then picked up a few more juvenile humpback whales, but these animals were difficult to get looks at. We headed home with a very happy public onboard. 

11 am Whale Watch Trip - Joanne

We left Plymouth with grey skies, light to moderate winds and a 2 -3 ft sea offshore. We headed to the SW corner, where the TOTS had reported 8-10 whales on their 9 AM trip.  We found something quite different, 2-3 minkes and 2 humpbacks. While the number of recreational boats had gone down with the weather and increased winds, the whales also seemed to disappear. The humpbacks were only surfacing for 3-4 breaths, possibly feeding deeper or just low profile. We were lucky to have a very close surfacing from Canopy's 08 calf (see photo above), which came up right under us at our 9 o'clock giving us a good look of the gray skin and scars. 

The two humpback whales were identified as Forceps and Canopy's 08 calf. 

Note: Canopy's 08 calf is one of two 'gray' whales offshore. This whale appears to have some entanglement scars on it's tailstock (which are still red) along with some line type scars on its caudal peduncle and tail flukes.