Naturalists aboard Captain John Whale Watching and Fishing Tours, Plymouth MA: August 22, 2012 Whale Watches

9 am and 2 pm Whale Watches - Krill

Loon tail breaching.

9 am trip: Blog written by NECWA intern Carly Hepburn.

Minke whale surfacing next to the boat.

We had a beautiful morning offshore today on the Southeast corner of Stellwagen Bank, and saw four humpback whales and 8-10 minke whales. Our first sighting of the morning was a group of 6-8 minke whales. We were able to get good looks of the minke whales who are usually very elusive during our whale watches. We saw their heads at the surface meaning that they were probably feeding while underwater.

Tunicate surfacing off the bow of the boat.

Here is a short video clip of Tunicate surfacing right off the bow of the Tails of the Sea.

We left our group of minke whales and headed closer to Stellwagen Bank were we knew we had some humpback whales in the area. Our first humpback whale sighting was identified as a whale named Tunicate, who is a juvenile. Tunicate was logging, which is a resting behavior. Passengers on the bow got an incredible look at Tunicate as she surfaced right in front of the bow giving our boat a close approach. While watching Tunicate we did get some quick glimpse of two more minke whales who were in the area but not associated with one another.

Loon beginning her tail breach.

Our next sighting was of 3 humpback whales, 2 humpback whales we identified as Circuit and Loon were associated with one another while the 3rd humpback whale identified as Reflection was traveling alone. All three of these humpback whales are females and have mothered at least 1-2 calves. We were able to get good looks of Reflection as she fluked out before diving deep underwater. Our group of 2 humpbacks were both logging, and we also were able to see both of these whales fluke out as well. After watching our group of 2 for a short while Loon did 2 tail breaches! A tail breach is when a whale will lift its tail out of the water and then forcible slap it back down onto the surface of the water.

Loon fluking out.

Ventral tail pattern of Loon.

Shortly after Loon tail breached our group of 2 separated from one another. This sighting was a good example of how short baleen whales, such as the humpback, associations are with one another. The only permanent association is that of the mother and calf pair, which lasts for a year.

Ventral tail pattern of Circuit.

While offshore we did see many seabirds such as Wilson's storm petrel, common tern, and Cory's shearwater. We were also lucky enough to be joined by a group of veterans on our trip offshore. This group was from Brockton, MA. Again we thank them for joining us offshore and we would like to thank them all once again for their services to our country!

Humpback whales identified include: Reflection, Tunicate, Circuit and Loon. Seabirds observed offshore include: Wilson's storm petrels, Cory's shearwaters, greater shearwaters and common terns.

Race Point Beach.

2 pm trip: Blog written by NECWA intern Carly Hepburn.

We had an exciting afternoon offshore today with great views of humpback whales and minke whales. Our first sighting was of 2 humpback whales who were in the same area as one another but not associated.

Skateboard.

We also saw two minke whales in the distance. We watched our first group of whales for a little while but then left because we heard news of more humpback whales up ahead.

Minke whale.

Right we were as we almost immediately came upon a group of 4 associated humpback whales! Shortly after our group of 4 became a group of 5 and we identified 3 of those whales as Elephant, Circuit and Loon.

Humpbacks traveling together.

As we were watching our group more humpback whales came into our view all around the boat, including another humpback whale traveling alone who we identified as Convict. We also had about 5 other humpback whales in the area, including an associated group of 2 who were logging a resting behavior. This pair included Reflection and Penninsula.

Exhalation

We traveled away from our group of 5 towards another humpback whale and in this area once again humpback whales were seen all around us! We had sightings of about 5-8 humpback whales, including a humpback whale named Reflection who was logging. As well as another whale in the distance who was flipper slapping! We then focused on one humpback whale named Spirit. We were lucky to see Spirit breach twice! Breaching is an amazing behavior to witness and takes a lot of energy from the whales.

Reflection and Penninsula.

Too soon we had to head home but our humpback whales would not allow it! As we made our way back to Plymouth Harbor we saw three more separate humpback whales, all of which we stopped and watched.

Convict coming towards out boat.

Convict fluking out.

Also off shore we saw many seabirds including Wilson's Storm Petrel, Greater Shearwater, Manx Shearwater, Shooty Shearwater, and Common Terns. Humpback whales identified include: Spirit, Buzzard, Elephant, Skateboard, Loon, Circuit, Convict, Hazard, Reflection, Penninsula, and Manhattan.