Friday, July 15, 2011 (11 am trip)

11 am whale watch - Michael

Today's whale watch was action packed! We had roughly 20 Humpback whales in the area, along with a few Minke whales, and a variety of seabirds all interested in feasting on the American Sand Lance, the most abundant bait fish out on Stellwagen Bank. We were able to view many different groups of Humpbacks, all working to bring up large schools of Sand Lance to the surface to feed.

Humpbacks use a variety of methods to feed on these small fish at the surface including bubble netting and kick feeding. We were lucky enough to see both of these behaviors being used successfully by many Humpbacks in the area. Bubble netting occurs when the Humpback whales blow bubbles in a circular formation from under the surface of the water around the Sand Lance to condense the schools of bait fish into more manageable schools before the whales come up to the surface to take a big gulp!

Kick feeding occurs when a whale lifts its tail flukes and tail stock high out of the water before crashing it down on the surface to stun any bait fish at the top of the water column. Not only were we lucky enough to see both techniques used, we also got a great glimpse at the Sand Lance in the mouthes of the whales as they strained the water out with their baleen.

From the photos, I was able to identify Salt, Habenero, Etch-A-Sketch, Eruption, Duckpin, Bounce, and Fracture but these were just a handful of the total whales out on the bank actively feeding today!

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

11 am whale watch - Krill

We had a fabulous day offshore with light winds and calm seas. As we headed over to the southern region of Stellwagen Bank, we saw a few blows off our bow. To our surprise, we saw two whales starting to feed at the surface. Birds were being drawn into the area as the whales were pushing the bait close and closer to the top of the water.

We noticed one special bird that we had not seen in quite some time. This bird was a Cory's shearwater, a pelagic species that tends to prefer warmer waters. We have had great looks at greater and sooty shearwaters, but this was the first sighting of their larger cousin, the Cory's.

The two humpbacks who were working together were Ampersand and Tunguska. It was amazing to see how they coordinated their movements to herd and coral the fish. As bubble rose up to the surface, we were surprised to see a third whale join the party. This whale was identified as Jumanji and Jumanji seemed to be quite welcome.

As we watched this trio feeding together, lunging side-by-side, we noticed other whales moving into the area. It is amazing how things can change so quickly and things were changing on a minute by minute basis. More humpback whales moved into the area and started feeding. Before we knew it, we had at least 15 humbpack whales and 5 minke whales all feeding in the area.

It was a wonderful day offshore with great views of old friends like Exclaim, Giraffe, Level, Ampersand, Centipede, Tunguska, Etchasketch, Abrasion, Dome, and Fern. Thanks to our naturalist Nick on the Captain Rudy Thomas for all the great photos.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

9 AM Whale Watch --- Joanne

We travelled out of Plymouth Harbor with partly cloudy skies, light winds and very calm seas. The humidity had lowered from the two previous days and the temperatures were comfortable.

We arrived on the southwest corner of Stellwagen Bank and discovered a dozen or more feeding humpback whales. We had displays of kick feeding, bubble cloud feeding, bubble net feeding, lunging, dragging, and open mouths. The whales were joining, separating, and joining again, as humpback whales often do when feeding—associations are very fluid and the whales are very social.

Humpback whales in the feeding frenzy included: Colt, Coral, Abrasion, Giraffe, Fern, Level, Etch-a-Sketch, Habanero, Exclaim, Greenbean, Buckshot and Anchor’s 05 calf.

As we watched the whales, researchers from the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies were nearby aboard their research vessel Shearwater and their rescue vessel Ibis. PCCS is part of project this summer which is tagging whales with researchers from the National Marine Mammal Laboratory. The project is testing out tag strength/weakness and best placement.

This project is being done here in the Gulf of Maine because there is nowhere else in the world where whales are better known and researchers here can comment on whether or not whales are behaving normally and have high re-sighting likelihood of tagged whales. This is the future of most marine mammal work, especially whale work-- to tag whales--and our population of humpbacks should provide a basis for whether or not the protocols and tags are good or bad.

Colt was one of the first whales to be tagged and has kept his tag on, being tracked all the way out to George’s Bank just a few days after we saw him today. Habanero was also tagged, but her tag came off a few days later. Humpback whales behavior with aerials and socialization seem to impact the longevity of keeping tags in place, which is part of what the research is trying to determine.

While we watched the humpbacks feeding, we also saw quite a few minke whales around the same area. It’s not uncommon for multiple whales and/or multiple species to be in the same area if the food is good. Shearwaters and terns and gulls were also quite numerous, often directly associated with the feeding whales.

Another incredible whale watch in the Gerry E. Studds-Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary!

2 pm Whale Watch --- Joanne

We traveled offshore with light winds, calm seas, and clear skies. We were hopeful from our morning sightings that the afternoon would provide us with whales.

Once on the southwestern edge of Stellwagen Bank, we encountered a pair of resting/logging humpback whales. This pair included Dome and Giraffe. Humpback whales can’t sleep like we sleep because they are voluntary breathers. In order to rest/sleep, they shut down part of their brains at a time; one part rests and one part stays awake to control their breathing,; they can do this anytime day or night and we call it logging because they often look like a big log at or near the surface.

Dome and Giraffe are both mature female humpback whales of unknown age (weren’t calves when first sighted). Dome is named for a mark on her lower right fluke that looks like an arch or ‘dome.’ Giraffe is named for a series of marks on her tail that resemble the spots on a giraffe. Both whales have returned in previous years with calves and use this area as their feeding ground and nursery during years with calves.

After watching this pair for a few minutes and seeing them ‘wake up’ and separate, we found another group of whales. Epee and Ampersand were traveling in association. Flukes high out of the water with each dive, they were all over the place with random travel. We headed a bit to our northeast and when we looked back, this pair DOUBLE BREACHED! Side by side, both whales jumping out of the water together. They continued to breach and lob tail and flipper slap. We got some amazing looks at the powerful tail flukes smacking the water’s surface. As sometimes happens, this pair did not separate after such a display, just as quickly as it began it ended and they continued their random travel pattern.

A few minke whales remained in the same area, spouts could be seen around us from singles and pairs of humpback whales. A few shearwaters and petrels were nearby too. It was the perfect end to another fantastic day of whale watching!

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

9 AM Whale Watch - Joanne

We left Plymouth Harbor with decreasing winds, calm seas, and hazy skies—a HOT, HAZY and HUMID day all around!! With temperatures rising, we were looking forward to some relief being on the water.

We traveled to Stellwagen Bank and spent time in the company of endangered humpback whales. We began our trip with a group of 4 humpback whales, including Venom and her new calf. Humpback whales are very social, even though considered solitary, and often form associations of pairs, trios or like we saw a group of 4 together. These associations are usually very fluid and can change frequently.

Venom is named for two marks on her upper left fluke that look like ‘fang or bite’ marks, thus her name Venom. Venom’s calf was born in the warm waters of the Caribbean over the winter and when only a few weeks old, they started their journey to Stellwagen Bank—a feeding ground and nursery area. The calf with stay with Venom for ~ 9-12 months and then be on its own.

After spending time with this group, coming up right next to our boat and around us, we continued to a few more whales in the area. We got to spend time with a pair of humpback whales traveling in association including Etch-a-sketch and Pumba. Etch-a-sketch is the granddaughter of the Grand Dame of Stellwagen Bank—Salt. Pumba is named for a mark on his fluke that resembles a warthog from the character from the movie The Lion King and has a distinct mark on his right dorsal that makes it easy to recognize. These two were steadily traveling to the northeast, giving us beautiful looks at the underside of their flukes with each sounding dive.

We also saw one finback whale and several minke whales with nearly a dozen humpbacks spread out in the area. Wilson’s storm petrels, greater and sooty shearwaters were also abundant offshore.

2 PM Whale Watch---Joanne

With extremely hot and humid conditions inshore, it was a relief to get offshore for the afternoon whale watch as the day continued to heat up as forecasted. Seas remained calm, skies hazy and the air humid.

Once on Stellwagen Bank, the fun began. We started with a young humpback that is being named this week, playing with seaweed. Traveling with another humpback, this whale was going through small patches of seaweed with its head. We occasionally see humpbacks playing with items they find, seaweed the most common. We then got an up close approach with the pair coming right over and under and near and around the boat!! We got to see the long white flippers glowing green and even the tubercles on the whales head (the blackbumps with hair like whiskers in them).

Once the whales were a safe distance from the boat, we continued on our way and the feeding madness began. In every direction, whales were starting to feed with kicks, bubbles, open mouths and dragging. You could see a line of a dozen feeding whales stretched across a ½ mile-3/4 mile area.

We began with a whale named Habanero, who is one of the whales that was tagged as part of a project with the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies and National Marine Mammal Laboratory. In just a few days, the tagged whales on Stellwagen have provided more insight then over a decade of similar work in other parts of the world. We were able to document Habanero’s tag and behavior, which was sent in to the research team.

Other whales feeding nearby including Fern, Infinity and Barb (also tagged as part of the project with PCCS and NMML).

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

11 am whale watch - Michael

Boy was I glad to be out on the water today! Temperatures on land were getting to be unbearable even before we left the dock this morning. Heading out to Stellwagen, the seas were nice and calm and as the trip progressed, the weather continued to improve. We came across about 7 Humpback whales on today's trip as well as Greater Shearwaters, Sooty Shearwaters, and Wilson's Storm Petrels.

A few of the first whales we spotted were traveling solo, coming up for a few breaths before going down on a deeper dive. Soon we spotted some more exciting activity off in the distance which turned out to be Cajun flipper slapping and giving us a great display of those long pectoral flippers. Cajun then met up with another Humpback named Bounce and the two spent the rest of the trip traveling together.

We also got a great look at another pair of Humpbacks who were spending all their time just a few feet beneath the water's surface and slowly traveling to the northeast. These two whales gave us a great chance to admire their size and maneuverability as they swam around, and under our boat.

Finally, before heading back to Plymouth, we rejoined Cajun and Bounce for a few last looks at these majestic creatures. Cajun even provided us with a nice fluke-out dive as we said farewell to Stellwagen and headed home.

Monday, July 11, 2011

9 am and 2 pm whale watches - Krill and Michael

What a great day to get out on the water! With the mainland suffering from some hot temperatures, the cool breeze out on the water felt great. Once we made it across the bay and out towards Stellwagen Bank, we ran into a few solo humpback whales including Apostrophe who gave us a great fluke out dive before going down deep under the surface and traveling off into the distance.

Shortly after leaving Apostrophe, we met up with Ganesh and her calf who were traveling with another humpback whale named Greenbean. Ganesh's calf put on a spectacular show for us, breaching, flipper slapping, and rolling up at the surface. Eventually Greenbean split off from Ganesh and her calf but we were able keep watching all three whales in the area.

After staying with Ganesh and her calf and admiring what a great show the calf was putting on for us, we caught sight of some lob-tailing, and tail breaching going on off in the distance. While our time out on the whales was coming close to an end, our captain kindly brought us over to this active whale before heading back to Plymouth.

As we got closer it became apparent that this whale was Jabiru, giving us some fantastic looks at the tail stock and flukes, and displaying just how powerful these animals are as Jabiru smacked the surface of the water.

July 11, - 1400WW - Michael

This afternoon whale watch gave us an unbelievable experience out on the water! As we made it out to the bank, we were greeted by a very active Humpback whale who proceeded to flipper slap, breach, roll, fluke-out, and no-fluke dive as we approached.

Once we got up closer to the whale it repeatedly breached, bringing almost its entire body out of the water before splashing down in spectacular fashion. Something interesting our captain and crew noticed was that this whale continued to breach not only in different directions (both up, and downwind) but it also spun in the air in different directions (both clockwise, and counter-clockwise) which is very unusual for Humpback whales.

After spending nearly 20 minutes with this whale, while it continued to breach in spectacular fashion, we located a few pairs of Humpbacks in the distance and decided to get a closer look. Our first pair was Fern and Eruption who displayed some tail breaching, lob-tailing, and inverted lob-tailing. We then met up with Tectonic and Echo who were moving through the area, giving us some fluke-out and no-fluke dives.

We ended our spectacular trip by meeting up with Touche, who was lob-tailing and flipper slapping, as well as Coral who treated us to flipper slapping, rolling, and one last breach before we headed home for Plymouth Harbor.

Monday, July 11, 2011

11 am whale watch - Tammy

Today was another sunny but hot day offshore with winds out of the south west. Our first sighting of the day was of three humpback whales traveling together. In this trio were Ganesh and her calf of this year and an unidentified whale.

This calf was putting on quite the show! As we approached we saw the calf do a couple of spinning head breaches in a row! This calf was being very playful, as it would stop, roll onto its side, do some flipper slapping, and then race ahead to catch up with its mom. We also saw the calf do a few tail breaches. We didn’t see mom at the surface much, but we also never saw her fluke out, indicating that she was always just below the surface keeping a watchful eye on her energetic calf. We did see the whale that was with this pair at the surface quite a bit, but this whale hasn’t been identified yet.

As we were watching this trio we had a single humpback whale pass through the area. This whale was identified as Alphorn. Alphorn is easy to recognize as he has distinct cuts and scaring on his back behind the dorsal fin from a ship strike quite a few years ago. Today Alphorn has recovered and seems to be doing just fine.

We saw Alphorn go down on a dive and several minutes later he reappeared with another whale who we believe to be Cajun. This pair seemed to be quickly moving out of the area. We got a few more looks at Ganesh’s calf before we had to head back to Plymouth. Another fabulous whale watch!

Sunday, July 10, 2011

11 am whale watch - Michael

Today's whale watch started out we some great weather. The seas were calm and the sun was shining, and boy did the whales enjoy it too! Once we got out to the bank, north of Provincetown, we had such great visibility we could spot action all around us. We first passed by some Minke whales heading East and traveling quickly. Then we met up with two pairs of Humpback whales who were feeding up at the surface displaying some fantastic bubble netting techniques. After about 10 minutes these two pairs joined up with each other as well as a few other solo whales in the area and pretty soon we had action all around the boat!

While these pairs were feeding at the surface there were flocks of laughing gulls, shearwaters, and Wilson's Storm Petrels all looking to grab a bite. We also got a fantastic look at a Humpback who came right up along side our boat before fluking out right in front of our our bow. I was afraid my camera was going to be soaked by the blow of the whale!

All in all we spotted roughly 5 Minke whales, 8 Humpback whales, and a variety of seabirds. I was able to identify Epee, Duckpin, Tear, and Dome from my photos. What a fantastic day out on the water!

Sunday, July 10, 2011

9 am and 2 pm whale watches - Krill

9 am Whale Watch:

As we headed out of Plymouth Harbor towards Stellwagen Bank, we were surprised to see blows just a few miles east of Gurnet Point. These turned out to be finback whales that were feeding deep. We were able to get one good look at these animals and then continued our journey offshore.

As we headed east, we saw a number of minke whales, but decided not to stop to observe them for we really wanted to get further offshore where humpback whales were reported. As we came up on the southwest corner of the bank, we picked up a humpback whale named Infinity. Infinity was logging at the surface, taking advantage of the beautiful day offshore. As he fluked out, we got a great look at the "infinity" mark on the animal's right ventral fluke.

Our next sighting was a pair of humpbacks that were heading our way. As they fluked out, we were able to get a look at the ventral tail patterns on both animals and realized that we had Dome and Ember. This pair quickly split up and we watched both animals head south towards Race Point. This split reminded us that humpback associations are quite fleeting and these animals are quite solitary.

We stayed with Ember as Dome moved quickly out of the area. Ember gave us a beautiful fluke out dive as he dove beneath the waves. Ember is a male humpback whale born to Cardhu in 1982.

As we moved on, we saw a number of minke whales in the same area as our humpbacks. We were very lucky to get a very close look at one of these animals as it surfaced off the bow of the boat.

Our last sighting was an active humpback that was flippering right next to the boat. Lo and behold this was Ember once again. I guess he didn't want us to leave!

2 pm Whale Watch:

We headed back to the southern part of Stellwagen Bank in hopes of finding the humpbacks we observed on our morning trip. But nothing remains the same for very long offshore and we realized this when we found a whole slew of new humpbacks in the area.

The first close look we got was a pair of humpack whales that were heading to the south. As they fluked out, we realized that this pair was Pumba and Springboard. Both whales have beautiful tails and lifted them high in the air as they headed down for a deeper dive.

As we waited for this pair, a single whale surfaced close to the boat. This humpback was a whale named Bounce and Bounce has a very dark ventral tail.

Our last sighting before heading home was a wonderful trio that included Blackhole and her calf of this year. The third whale traveling with the group was a whale named Conflux. Both Blackhole and Conflux have very dark ventral tail patterns.

The adults were feeding deep, but the calf was spending a lot of time at the surface. The calf was having a great time rolling around and lifting its head out of the water. Sometimes when mom's are feeding, you get the feeling that you are babysitting the little ones. But we don't mind at all!

Great day offshore with sightings of both minke whales and humpback whales. Humpbacks included Bounce, Cajun, Rapier's 2009 calf, Springboard, Pumba, Conflux, Alphorn, Jabiru and Blackhole and calf.