Whale Watching Trip October 6, 2009

12 noon Whale Watch - Krill

As we headed offshore towards the SW corner of Stellwagen Bank, we had our first sighting of a single humpback whale. This whale came right over to the boat and stayed with us for over 20 minutes. Our passengers got great looks at this young whale as it swam right alongside the boat (see image above). 

We moved off and continued our journey to the east. Our next sighting was a mother and calf  pair that turned out to be Nile and her 4th documented calf. Nile's calf was quite active as it was flippering each and every time it would come to the surface. Mom was possibly feeding deep, but the calf was just having fun lifting its flipper out of the water and slapping it against the surface. We left Nile and calf as the calf started to nurse. This is a critical time for both mother and calf and we didn't want to interrupt the calves feeding time. 

A number of small splashes caught our attention and we headed south towards Race Point. We noticed a number of birds hoving above the area where the splashing was taking place. As we watched, a number of bluefin tuna shot out of the water as they fed close to the surface (see image above). What an exciting look at one of the largest and most commercially valuable species of fish that also feeds in our productive waters off Cape Cod. 

As we moved on, we were treated to a second sighting of a mother and calf pair. This mom was Follice and she was traveling with the calf. Follicle is a first time mom, but she is doing a great job with this very beautiful and rambuncious calf. 

Whale Watching Trip October 5, 2009

9 am Whale Watch - Lauren

We had a gorgeous sunny day, but a very windy day as the wind was increasing. As we headed toward the SW corner of Stellwagen Bank, we spotted a pair of humpbacks whales that turned out to be Nile and her calf. Both mom and calf were pretty lazy as they were logging right next to the boat! So our passengers got some amazing looks at these two beautiful animals, side by side. We got to hear their loud exhalation as they came to the surface and swam slowly alongside our boat. 

Then Nile began tail slapping right next to the boat! What a treat for our passengers. But then the pair went right back to logging and resting. We began taking on some spray and the boat was rocking pretty bad in the rough seas so we decided to head home. But the group was in high spirits, because all in all, we had a very pleasant whale watch.

Whale Watching Trip October 05, 2009

12 noon Whale Watch Trip - Krill

A fabulous day offshore given the NE winds of up to 15 knots. As we headed out towards Stellwagen Bank, our first sighting was a humpback pair that turned out to be Nile and her calf. The calf tail breached a few times and then settled into a logging (resting) pattern. Mom appeared to be feeding deep and spent a great deal of time beneath the surface. 

We moved on and picked up a second mother and calf pair. This pair was Scratch and her calf. Both mother and calf appeared to have a destination in mind so kept moving through the area. We also continued to move, but more to the east. 

We passed a few single humpback whales as we approached a small cluster of whales that were feeding deep or at the surface in small groups of 2 or 3. In this area, we had at least 15 humpbacks that were charging around the area as they were chasing the bait fish. We saw humpbacks use their tails in a kick feeding technique and we saw whales creating bubble nets to help them concentrate the bait. 

In this small feeding group, we were able to ID Relfection and her calf, Thalassa and her calf, and Ampersand. We also were able to get great looks at a number of pelagic birds including juvenile Northern gannets, greaters shearwaters, sooty shearwaters and a Cory's shearwater. 

Whale Watching Trip October 04, 2009

12 noon Whale Watch Trip - Krill

With winds out of the NE at less than 10 knots, we had a nicer day offshore than what was predicted by the marine forecast. However, we did have fog that reduced visibility to about 3 miles.

 

As we headed towards the western side of Stellwagen Bank, we picked up a single humpback whale that turned out to be a whale named Pitcher. This whale was spending very little time at the surface so we decided to move more to the east and north.

When on the SW corner of the bank, we picked up our second sighting for the day which turned out to be a pair of humpback whales. This was a special pair for it was Nile and her calf of this season. We have seen a lot of this pair and on every occasion, they have provided us some amazing looks at this very endangered species. And this sighting was no exception for we had close views of Nile feeding using bubble nets and rings. 

After leaving Nile and calf, we picked up a second mother and calf pair. This pair turned out to be Abrasion and her calf (see image above). The calf was very energetic for it was flipper slapping every time it came up from a long dive. Then the calf did a tail breach (jumping out of the water tail first) and a slow spinning head breach. Mother and calf continued to head to the east at a slow, yet steady pace. Abrasion's calf continued to flipper slap each time it came to the surface for a breath. What a great look at a very special young animal who like all young mammals, is very playful and curious. 

We started noticing a large number of juvenile northern gannets. We are still seeing many greater shearwaters offshore, but few Cory's and sooties. We also saw common eiders and white winged scoters flying low over the water.