Thursday, September 22, 2011 (12 pm trip, Tammy)

12 noon whale watch - Tammy

Today we were lucky to spend our afternoon with two finback whales. The first whale we spotted turned out to be a whale named Loon, a large female finback. Loon was named for a natural marking on her left flank that looks like the head and neck of a type of bird, a loon. As we watched Loon, we noticed that she was surfacing in a circular pattern around our boat, indicating that she was likely feeding deep. We had beautiful, close looks at Loon when she was at the surface, especially when she came right by our bow.

After leaving Loon, we traveled further north and we picked up another finback whale. This whale was absolutely massive; it was quite humbling to be in the presence of the second largest whale in the world! We also had looks at several minke whales that were meandering through the area. Minke whales are the second smallest baleen whale in the world and it was more difficult to spot the minkes as they were quick and elusive and it was raining.

We had excellent looks at this second finback including looks at the right side of the jaw. Finback whales are asymmetrical in color; the right side of the jaw is white and the left side of the jaw is dark gray. Each finback whale also has an individually distinct pattern on the right side of the back called the blaze and the chevron. The asymmetrical coloration of the jaw may help the whale catch its prey. When we were watching Loon earlier, we only had looks at her left side, so it was nice to see the right side of this finback whale. Despite the rain we had a great day of whale watching!

Wednesday, September 21, 2011 (12 pm trip, Leah)

12 noon whale watch - Leah

Today we started our absolutely beautiful day off with Gladiator, a humpback whale who was welcoming us into Stellwagen Bank by flipper slapping. Then Gladiator would dive for varying lengths of time then come back to the surface and continue flipper slapping. I'm not really sure if Gladiator was feeding while we were watching but was definitely having fun giving us a run around the area.

After that our attention was stolen away by a breacher that was about 2 miles away and when we moved on to check out that humpback we found Lightshow, who was also going on long deep dives but was also feeding. Lightshow was mostly subsurface feeding, the only way we knew that was because of the mouth first surfacing that was occurring.There was even a small remnant of some bubbles rising to the surface and some fish trying to get out of the way of those bubbles but Lightshow kept feeding underwater. We didn't get to see any of the breaches up close but the distant sights were quite impressive.

Unfortunately, we also saw a very large amount of debris floating at the water's surface. Marine debris, especially our plastics, are one of the biggest hazards whales and other marine wildlife have to deal with. Recycling and reducing the amount of material we use in our day-to-day life is one small way we can all help reduce the amount of marine debris offshore.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011 (12 noon trip - Sue)

12 noon whale watch - Sue

Monday, September 19, 2011 (12 noon trip, Krill)

Trip canceled due to inclement weather.

Sunday, September 18, 2011 (12 noon trip - Krill)

12 noon whale watch - Krill

The word from the other whale watching boats offshore was that the whales were down the backside of the Cape. That meant for a long ride in relatively rough seas as the wind continued to pick up out of the southeast. We passed close to shore just off Race Point and in this area we noticed many large draggers and trawlers working the waters in both Cape Cod Bay and Massachusetts Bay.

But our passengers were excited to be offshore and to have the opportunity to see some very endangered whales. As we moved off the shores of Truro, we saw tall blows just off the port side of our boat. As we slowly approached, we realized that we had two animals traveling side-by-side. This pair turned out to be finback whales, the second largest of all the baleen whales and the largest whale we tend to see feeding in our productive waters offshore.

This pair appeared to be moving out of the area, but our captain, Capt. Russ, did an excellent job of getting us some great looks as they surfaced just off our port side. It was impressive to see these large, massive animals who must have been at least 65 feet in length. And to have them surface so close to the boat as we moved slowly into the wind and the waves was just breathtaking.

Finbacks are the only whale that has an asymmetry to their overall body pigmentation. The right side of the body is lighter in color than the left side and this asymmetry can be used to identify individuals. All finback whales have a unique pigmentation pattern that starts at the lower right jaw and extends over the right side of the head towards the dorsal fin. This "blaze and chevron" pattern is different for each animal and can therefore be used to identify individuals when offshore.

The dorsal fin of the finback is also quite unique and can be used to help with photo-identification. One of the finbacks had a very triangular dorsal fin with a cut out of the trailing edge. And there are spots and blotches on the flank of the animal that can also be used to identify an individual.

Photo-identification of finbacks is not as easy as that conducted on other species, especially humpback whales. Therefore, few organizations have kept up their finback catalogs which is really a shame. We don't know much about finback whales in our waters and information gleamed from photo-identification would be quite helpful. But photo-identification on any whale species is time consuming and man intensive. Easier for biologists and researchers to direct their time and resources to photo-ID of the finback's smaller cousin, the humpback whale. This species has more distinctive markings that can be used for this type of benign research.

On the last surfacing, this finback pair increased their traveling speed and headed more to the east. We had a feeling that that would be the last good look we would get from this pair, and we were right. They left us some very large fluke prints indicating where they had gone down. But we never were able to pick them up again in that area.

As we moved to the southeast towards a blow a mile off our bow, we spotted a fin moving slowly at the water's surface. We immediately turned to get a better look at this dorsal fin for we knew we had a basking shark just off the starboard side of the boat. Basking sharks are the second largest of the sharks worldwide. And this gentle giant filters copepods out of the water. What a thrill to see this animal so close to our boat.

As we waited for the basking shark to resurface, we saw a large flock of double crested cormorants flying overhead. Not unusual to see these birds in Plymouth Harbor for most of our season, but it was a bit different to see such a large flock offshore.

Saturday, September 17, 2011 (12 noon trip, Tammy)

12 noon whale watch - Tammy

Today was a fantastic day of whale watching! We travelled across Stellwagen Bank searching for whales when we saw a huge splash off the port side of our boat. We kept watching and saw a second splash-this was a breaching humpback whale! As we made our way toward the whale, we hoped this active behavior would continue; however, the whale was staying down on longer dives and we did not see another breach.

Whales are wild animals in their natural environments and there is no way to predict for certain when a whale will breach. We did get several great looks at the body of this animal and its beautiful fluke on both sides of the boat.

Several other blows appeared in front of us and we continued traveling east. We then saw a very distinct “v” shaped blow indicating we likely had found a North Atlantic right whale, the most endangered large whale in the world. Under federal regulations boats are not allowed to approach the North Atlantic right whale within 500 yards, and so we kept our distance from this whale. But we did get brief looks at the body and our photographer, Alissa, was able to get a photo of the whale’s fluke, confirming the sighting of a right whale. This was an once-in-a-lifetime sighting! We don’t see right whales very often in the summer and fall and with this population’s uncertain future, this sighting was very special.

We then spotted two very tall blows which are usually produced by finback whales, the second largest whale in the world. As we moved into the area we saw a finback charge very quickly across our bow, indicating that these whales were likely sub-surface feeding. This pair of finbacks turned out to be a mother and calf pair!

T

his was the first time I’ve seen a finback mom and calf, so I was so excited to see this pair. Both mom and calf gave us close approaches. Mom traveled right under our bow and everyone on board marveled at her size; this whale was huge! Mom was spending more time below the surface, likely feeding, while we got to spend more time with the calf.

Calves usually cannot stay down as long as mom. This calf was quite curious and gave us fantastic looks on both sides of the boat. This was an amazing sighting.

On our way home, some passengers on board got quick looks at a minke whale, the second smallest baleen whale in the world. This surprise sighting gave us a four species day: a humpback whale, the showiest baleen whale; a North Atlantic Right whale, the most endangered large whale; a finback mother and calf, the second largest whale and a minke whale, the second smallest baleen whale! What a wonderful day!

Thursday, September 15, 2011 (12 pm trip, Tammy)

PCCS Disentanglement Team

12 pm whale watch - Tammy

Today was a warm, sunny day with light winds. We were only 7 miles from Plymouth when we spotted our first blow from a single humpback whale. The whale took several breaths at the surface and then arched its back as it prepared for a longer dive. As the whale raised its flukes out of the water, we noticed an orange line trailing from the right fluke; this whale was entangled in gear.

Line cutting into the right leading edge of the fluke.

It appeared that the line was just draped over the right fluke and did not seem to be wrapped around other parts of the body. We immediately called the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies (PCCS) Disentanglement Team to report the location and details of this entanglement. The Disentanglement Team responded that they would arrive in about 30 minutes to assess the situation.

Ventral view of entanglement.

The individual(s) that report entangled whales are absolutely crucial in the disentanglement effort; it is vital that the boat stay with the entangled whale until the Disentanglement Team arrives. If the boat were to leave the entangled whale before the team arrives, it is unlikely that the whale will be relocated that same day. Our captain, Captain Jonny, did a fantastic job of staying with this whale and communicating with the Disentanglement Team. Once the Team arrived, we continued to stand-by and aid the team in quickly relocating the whale when it surfaced.

PCCS Disentanglement Team in action.

The whale, who was actually feeding earlier, was now spending more time submerged. When the whale did surface, it did so in an unpredictable manner and it only took 2 or 3 breaths, making it quite difficult for the Team to get to the whale before it dove again. After more than an hour, the Team had not disentangled the whale but they were continuing the effort and seemed to be getting closer to the animal. We were in communication with the Disentanglement Team and after confirming that they no longer needed our assistance, we left the area to spend time with another whale in the area.

Right dorsal fin of Geometry.

Ventral tail pattern of Geometry

Our second sighting was another single humpback named Geometry. We assumed that Geometry was sub-surface feeding and minutes later, our assumption was confirmed when we saw bubbles rising to the water’s surface. Geometry was using bubble nets to capture his prey and we had fabulous looks at Geometry as he surfaced inside the bubble net. Our last look at Geometry was amazing, as he surfaced right next to the boat and gave us a beautiful look at his tail as he dove beneath the waves.

UPDATE: The PCCS team worked on the entangled whale until approximately 3:30 pm on Thursday until the winds picked up and a squall moved in, making it impossible to continue the rescue effort. Photos taken of the entangled whale revealed that the line was not just draped across the fluke, but it was actually cutting into the trailing edge of the fluke and is wedged. Although the entanglement may be more complicated then it seemed initially, the entanglement is not life-threatening at this time. The PCCS team was able to identify the entangled whale as Checkmark.

We’d like to thank PCCS for their amazing efforts. A HUGE thank you to Captain Jonny and the crew of the Tails of the Sea for doing an excellent job in reporting and standing-by this whale. And THANK YOU to the passengers of the Tails of the Sea! We appreciate your patience, cooperation and enthusiasm as we stayed with this entangled whale. You all were an essential part of this disentanglement effort! Although this whale has not been rescued yet, we were the first to report this whale and our involvement today will hopefully aid in this whale’s future rescue. We (and PCCS) will be looking out for this whale whenever we are offshore. I will update the blog with any new information I receive about Checkmark.

PLEASE REPORT WHALE ENTANGLEMENTS TO 1-800-900-3622