9 am Trip:
We had a plethora of animals
offshore this morning, including
finback whales, minke whales, humpback whales, a harbor seal and a blue
shark; along with greater and manx shearwaters, terns and gulls. Humpback whales identified included: Freckles,
Mostaza, Glostick, Draco, Nile and Tripod.
Here’s some history of some of the
individuals seen today:
Freckles has an interesting
sightings history, as she was presumed dead as there was a period of 16 years
she was not seen, but she returned and has been seen every year since
then.
Mostaza comes from the most famous
family in the Gulf of Maine, she is the daughter of the Grande Dame
herself—Salt. Mostaza was born in
2000 and was Salt’s 8th documented calf (as of 2012 she’s had 12
total). Mostaza made Salt a
grandmother in 2008 and in 2011.
Mostaza’s 2008 calf has not been named, as it hasn’t been resighted, but
her 2011 calf was named Migration this spring.
Glostick is the daughter of Scylla
and the granddaughter of Istar.
Her mother, Scylla is immortalized at the National Aquarium in Baltimore
and gave Glostick her 10th half sibling this year when she returned
with her 11 documented calf.
Draco is the 1998 calf of Trident
(another top 50 humpback on Stellwagen). He has been seen every year since his
birth. Draco has 8 half siblings,
several of which are seen in the Gulf of Maine each year, although Draco has
the most frequent sightings history of his siblings.
Nile gets her name from the
prominent line on her left fluke that is reminiscent of the Nile River. She has
had 4 calves, most recently in 2009.
It is possible she’s pregnant this summer and will bring us back her 5th
documented calf in 2013. Nile was
born in 1987 to Mars and her half-brothers Putter and Seal are also seen
regularly on Stellwagen Bank. In
July 2001, she was seen entangled and there was an effort to disentangle her.
She was traveling with 3 other whales, which made it quite difficult.
Thankfully, in October of 2001, she was confirmed gear free. She’s been seen every year since her
entanglement.
2 pm Trip:
Our afternoon trip proved to be as
successful as the morning, with numerous humpbacks sighted. Humpback id’s included: Nile, Tripod,
Dice, Etchasketch, Sirius, Grackle, Tongs, NAHWC8324, Crown.
Grackle, Tongs and NAHWC8324 were
all traveling associated and interestingly, all have relatively dark tails
(mainly black to black with just a touch of white). Humpbacks are quite social and often form these associations,
which are very fluid and change a lot, especially during active feeding. Grackle (a top 50 humpback on
Stellwagen) was born in 1997 to Zebra. He is one of only two calves ever seen with Zebra. Only one third of Gulf of Maine whales
with black flukes are male and Grackle is one of these few. He is most easily identified by his
dorsal fin, which is tall and squared off. Although his mother isn’t a regular visitor to our waters,
he has been seen almost every year since his birth. In 2005, he was one of the most frequently seen humpbacks on
the bank, making him a favorite for whale watchers.
Nile and Tripod were associated, as
were Dice and Etchasketch.
Etchasketch was born to Thalassa in 1998 and is Salt’s second
grandchild. Etchasketch was
satellite tagged in 2011 and has a small divot below her left dorsal fin from
the tag. She’s can often been seen
kick feeding quite dramatically.
Crown has a very distinct tail, with
an unusual form due to an entanglement many years ago that left it damaged and
slightly misshapen.
We also saw several minkes and a
scarred finback named lightning, just a few miles east of Plymouth Harbor on
our way in. Lightning was hit by a
vessel many years ago and bears the scar of the encounter.
