June 18, 2012 Whale Watches

9 am Whale Watching Trips - Humpback Whale Sabot Found Entangled

This morning three Captain John Boats headed offshore for private whale watches. While whale watching on Stellwagen Bank and within the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, our captain and crew sighted an entangled humpback whale named Sabot. This whale was entangled in fishing gear and our captains reported that fishing line went through the whale's mouth and a significant amount of line was trailing the animal's body. A fishing buoy was also observed as well as a weak link. Weak links are structures that part when extreme pressure is exerted on the line and have been used in recent years to save large marine animals accidentally caught in the gear. 

As soon as this entangled humpback whale was sighted, our naturalists and captains immediately contacted the disentanglement team at the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies (PCCS). As the disentanglement team prepared to get offshore, a number of watching boats, including two Captain John Boats, took turns standing by Sabot to keep an eye on her until PCCS arrived on site. 

It is very important that a vessel stays with the entangled animal until the disentanglement team arrives on site. Entangled animals that are left before the team arrives are typically not relocated even if a short period of time has elapsed. We would like to thank our passengers for their understanding and patience as both the Tails of the Sea and the Capt. John & Son IV took turns standing by Sabot. And special thanks to our captains and crew aboard the two Captain John Boats that participated in this rescue. Thank you to Capt. Tommy O'Reilly  and naturalist Michael O'Neill who were onboard the Tails of the Sea.  And thank you to Capt. Bob Avila and naturalist Tammy Silva who were working aboard the Capt. John & Son IV. Great effort by one and all on behalf of this whale!

Our captains also provided the PCCS disentanglement team with important information about the configuration of the fishing gear. Our boats radioed over to the PCCS team that fishing line passed through her mouth and through the baleen on both sides. They also noted that there were no knots or kinks in the line and they provided the location of the buoy and weak link. Detailed information on the type of fishing gear and its configuration on the animal's body provides important information for the disentanglement team and helps them determine the best way to proceed. 

Here is an update from our naturalist Tammy Silva who was aboard the Capt. John & Son IV. 


"PCCS worked on the whale until about 4:00 this afternoon. They were able to remove most of the line coming out of either side of the mouth, leaving only a few feet of line left inside. The team is confident that the whale will quickly shed the small piece of remaining gear on it's own once it starts to feed. This is a pretty positive result; hopefully the whale will be re-sighted with no gear at all and if I receive any further updates I will be sure to post them. Thanks again to all of our passengers for your patience and concern for this whale and thanks to Capt. Bob Avila and our crew for a fantastic job today! I'll post a summary and some photos on our blog in the next couple of days!"


Here is some information from our naturalist Michael O'Neill who was aboard the Tails of the Sea. Photos from Michael are below.


"During our morning trip, we came across an entangled whale named Sabot who had line caught in its mouth and was trailing a green buoy behind it. Thankfully the Dolphin IX quickly called the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies disentanglement team who were able to quickly respond to the call.  Since the Dolphin IX had to leave the animal and head back to the harbor, we maintained contact via phone and on the radio with the PCCS team and stayed with the entangled animal until the disentanglement team arrived.  After many hours of working on the entanglement the PCCS team was able to remove approximately 25 feet of line from the animal including the buoy at the end.  The remaining line still caught in the mouth of the whale was deemed a non-lethal entanglement and we are hopeful that the whale will be able to get rid of the remaining line on its own.

Our captains and naturalists will continue to keep an eye out for this whale and will provide the PCCS disentanglement team with additional information and photos if possible.  We will also continue to provide updates on this blog and on the Captain John Facebook account. 

2 pm Whale Watch - Michael 

Today's trip was one of the most action-packed we've had all summer! We started out with a brief glimpse of a solo Finback whale, traveling very quickly. We did not spend too much time with this individual because we could spot some very active Humpbacks off in the distance.  On our way to these Humpbacks we were lucky enough to come across a Basking shark filter-feeding up at the surface.  Captain Tommy did a great job maneuvering the Tails of the Sea around this creature so that everyone on board could get a great look at this magnificent fish. 

Once the shark moved on, we spotted Scylla and her calf. Scylla treated us to several fluke-out dives and her calf was busy breaching several times! This calf certainly had a lot of energy!  After spending a fair bit of time with these two Humpbacks we headed off to another Humpback named Hancock.  Hancock displayed some very aggressive surface feeding, taking huge gulps of water loaded with fish.  We got a great change to see those fantastic roquals or throat pleats that expand and allow Humpbacks to take in so much water with each gulp!

And as if all that wasn't enough, on our way home to Plymouth, we came across another mother and calf pair who also had tons of energy! This calf put on a fantastic sequence of breaches, giving our trip a great ending as we headed back to the harbor.