August 15, 2012 Whale Watches

9 am and 2 pm Whale Watches - Krill 

9 am trip:

We headed to the southern part of Stellwagen Bank within the boundaries of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Our first sighting was a pair of humpback whales that we identified as Echo and Tectonic. This pair seemed to be taking it easy as they traveled slowly side-by-side.

Fluke out by Echo.

Raw lower jaw of Echo.

Tectonic was satellite tagged this summer through a research project by the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies. You can see the satellite tag on the left flank of Tectonic just below the dorsal fin. Captain John Naturalists are participating in the project by providing photographs and sighting data on all satellite tagged animals from this season's research activities and last season's activities. You can learn more by going to the Center's website at http://www.coastalstudies.org/what-we-do/humpback-whales/satellite-tagging.htm.

Satellite tag on left flank of Tectonic. 

Scar and satellite tag visible on left side of Tectonic. 

Tectonic with satellite tag on left flank.

Close-up of satellite tag. 

Using natural body features and pigmentation patterns, we can identify many of the humpback whales that we see offshore. And since most return to our New England waters each season to feed, we can track these individuals over the course of their lifetime and collect a lot of great data. 

Ventral tail pattern of Tectonic. 

Ventral tail pattern of Echo.

As an example, Echo is a mature female who was first seen in 1985.  She was not seen as a calf so we don’t know her year of birth and therefore, will never know her exact age.  Tectonic was also seen as a juvenile when first observed in 1997 and we have not been able to determine the sex of this individual.

Bounce and Spirit traveling side-by-side. 

After leaving this pair, we headed south and picked up a second pair of humpback whales that we identified as Bounce and Sprit.  Again we saw very relaxed and lazy behaviors as both whales were either logging (resting) at the surface or traveling slowly side-by-side.

Ventral tail pattern of Tectonic. 

Ventral tail pattern of Bounce. 

Bounce was born in 2007 to a mom named Fern so this animal is 5 years old.  As we watched this pair, Bounce got a bit active by rolling over and lifting its flipper out of the water and slapping it on the surface. 

Flippering by Bounce. 

Bounce rolling over and lifting flipper out of water. 

Bounce flipper slapping. 

This behavior is called flippering or flipper slapping and it makes a loud noise as the flipper strikes the water’s surface. This behavior can be used as a form of communication since sound travels faster in water than air. Spirit was also born in 2007 to a mom named Strike. How interesting that we have two 5 year old animals hanging out together.

Flippering by Manhattan.

Flippering by Manhattan.

2 pm trip:

Ventral pleats on belly of Manhattan.

Spinning head breach by Manhattan.

For the afternoon trip, our captain decided to head to the northwest corner of Stellwagen bank. Our first sighting was an active whale named Manhattan. This young humpback was being quite active at the surface for it was flittering and breaching repeatedly.

Spinning head breach by Manhattan.

Another spinning head breach by Manhattan.

These active behaviors give us a chance to see just how large humpback whales really are. Hard to imagine that they can jump repeatedly out of the water given their immense size and weight.

Scuffed right jaw of Manhattan.

Ventral tail pattern of Manhattan.

As we watched Manhattan, another humpback whale that we identified as Spirit came into the area and also started breaching. Breaching can be used as a form of communication among whales and other marine wildlife given the loud noise that is created when the animal falls back into the ocean. So perhaps Manhattan and Spirit were communicating with one another as both continued to breach less than 1/4 mile away from each other.

Ventral tail pattern of Cantilever.

Ventral tail pattern of Dome.  

Dome surfacing off our bow.  

Before we could head over to Spirit, a trio of humpbacks surfaced off our bow. We identified this group as Dome and calf traveling with Cantilever. Both Dome and Cantilever were feeding deep and using bubbles clouds to help them concentrate the bait. Given the age of the calf, we assume that the calf was not participating in this feeding, but instead was sticking close by mom's side waiting for her to finish so the calf could nurse.

Dome and calf traveling side-by-side. 

We finally got a chance to move over to Spirit who was still being quite active. This whale continued to breach right next to the boat. Here is a slideshow showing a sequence of photographs depicting chin breaching by Spirit.

Love to see chin breaching for you get a chance to get a good look at the head of the whale. See if the eye is open or closed?

Spirit chin breaching. 

Individual humpback whales identified include: Tectonic, Echo, Manhattan, Spirit, Pinball and calf, Cantilever, Dome and calf and Columbia. Seabirds observed include: greater shearwater and Wilson's storm petrels.