Whale Watch Log

October 22, 2009

2009-10-22T08:38:00.000-07:00

Today we found some very lazy whales out on the Bank! We had another humpback mom and calf who were logging (or sleeping, for whales). Perhaps they were trying to get in a good last nap before their long trip south. We were able to get up very close to this pair and get some great looks! Since they were resting, and it was a calm day, we decided to shut off the boat's engine. It was such a unique occasion to just sit and listen to the water and these whales taking -- very loud -- breaths while they slept. We thought they might wake up a little, but they seemed to not be too interested in that. Like all wild animals, they just do what they want, when they want. It was a gorgeous day out on the water though, and a great (almost) last trip of the season!

~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

October 20, 2009

2009-10-20T10:50:00.000-07:00

Today was our first trip in a few days, since we've had some not-so-great weather here in New England lately. But it turned out to be a nice, sunny day! We found yet another mom and calf humpback pair out on the Bank. Mom didn't fluke for us, so we were not sure who it was, but they put on a great show nonetheless. At first, this pair was going on some very long dives, but then it seemed that the calf got tired of diving. It opted to hang out at the surface with us while mom dove some more. The calf was feeling a little playful and began rolling and flipper slapping, with mom coming up from dives every now and then. The light worked in such a way that we could see the calf rolling around under the water! We also got some great looks at this little whale's belly as it floated on it's back!

~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

October 15, 2009

2009-10-15T10:38:00.000-07:00

Today it took us a little while to find some whales, but we eventually came across Tulip and her calf! On our way to Tulip, we passed by another humpback traveling by itself, but we kept on going since we had already spotted our mom and calf a little further away. Tulip and her calf were having a lazy afternoon. We were able to get great, close looks at these whales. Tulip went on some dives while her calf stayed at the surface and treated us to a few rolls and flipper slaps! The pair kept switching sides of the boat, and the calf gave us a few more rolls before we had to head home. It was a cold, but very nice trip!

~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist, Photo of Tulip's calf

October 13, 2009

2009-10-13T20:18:00.000-07:00

Today it rained like crazy, but we found some of our favorite whales out on the Bank: Nile and her calf! As we approached, the pair were diving, and the calf did a little roll for us. As the calf began to get more and more curious and check us out, Nile decided to give a big tail breach! The calf quickly moved next to mom, while Nile proceeded to tail breach and slap her fluke a ton! The calf kept on rolling and swimming up next to the boat. It was very exciting behavior, and we were able to get some great looks at both of these whales. After what seemed like ages, Nile tired herself out and the calf calmed down a little, and they went for a dive. We watched them swim a bit more before heading home where the sun finally decided to come out!

~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist, Photo of Nile

October 8, 2009

2009-10-08T20:02:00.000-07:00

We had an unbelievably windy day out on the water, but we were able to find some whales! Our boat came across two juvenile humpbacks traveling together very close to the coast of Gloucester. They were moving around a bit, but we got some great looks at them. A few times these whales came up very close to the boat, and once even passed under our bow so that we could still see them under water! After some close looks, the whales decided to go on a few dives. While waiting for them to come up from one dive, a little minke whale stopped by!

~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

October 1, 2009

2009-10-01T09:05:00.000-07:00

We had a great first day of October on the water! It was a chilly day, and we were able to find some fun whales out on the Bank. Our first whales of the day were a pair of humpbacks traveling quickly. We were able to get some good looks at them, and it was very cool to see these whales moving fast against the wind and waves! We then found an individual whale, that I think was Colt based on a photo from one of our passengers. We saw a few dives from this whale before moving on to a mother and calf pair. Mom did not fluke for us, but based on some other features, we thought that it was Lavalier and her calf. This pair gave us some great looks, with the calf coming very close to the boat several times to check us out, and with mom giving us a big tail breach! While all of this was going on, there were several other humpbacks all around our boat, giving us a lot to look at!

~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

September 24, 2009

2009-09-24T07:47:00.000-07:00

Today we had a gorgeous day out on the water and saw a ton of whales! Our first whale of the day was a logging humpback. This whale was having a VERY lazy day, so after a few looks, we left it to keep napping in peace. We then found a pair of whales going on some dives, but giving us some good looks while they were at the surface. While we were waiting for them to come back up from a dive, we got some great looks at a mola mola who was floating nearby! After this we found Division and another humpback doing some similar diving behaviors as the previous whales. Then we saw a little splashing going on in the distance and came across at least 4 or 5 humpbacks diving quickly and kicking their flukes. They seemed to be trying to churn up some food, and sure enough, soon afterward the whole group began doing a variety of feeding behaviors all around the boat (including a big bubble net right next to us)! During this time a little minke popped up, perhaps for a snack of it's own. It was great to end the trip with such exciting activity! On the way home we even spotted another mola mola!

~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

September 15, 2009

2009-09-15T19:47:00.001-07:00

We had a great trip today! It began with fantastic weather and a couple of humpbacks going on some dives. While watching our first whales of the day, we spotted some splashing going on in the distance. We went to check it out and found a mother and calf doing some flipper slapping! I didn't get the best look at mom's fluke, so I'm still working on an ID, but we got some great looks at her and her little one flipper slapping in unison and swimming around our boat. There were a few times when they got super close to us, with mom even coming up between our bow pulpits! This pair seemed to calm down after a bit, and we moved forward to some more whales. We found a pair of VERY large adult humpbacks traveling together with another individual nearby. This group was mainly diving, but we were able to get some good looks at them. Just as we were about to head home, we heard from another whale watching boat that there were some humpbacks feeding not too far away. We decided to take a few minutes to check this out. When we arrived, we got a few looks at humpbacks kick feeding and open mouth feeding! There were 5 or 6 humpbacks in this group, and a whale named Draco was with them. The food seemed to move on, and the whales began diving, but the best treat was stumbling upon a pod of white-sided dolphin! The dolphin enjoyed jumping in the wake created by our boat, and there were whales all around us! It was certainly an exciting day.

~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

September 8, 2009 Afternoon Trip

2009-09-08T17:36:00.000-07:00

Photo of mola mola by Jackie O'Mara

Photo of Habanero by Jackie O'Mara

On our way out to the Bank in the afternoon we had to stop to check out an ocean sunfish, also known as a Mola Mola. It was a unique experience to see this animal--the largest bony fish in the ocean! After getting some good looks at the fish (ours was only about 3 or 4 feet long) and after giving it some good looks at us, we continued onwards to the whales. We first found a couple of humpbacks going on some dives. We spent a few minutes with these individuals before spotting a whale breaching in the distance! This humpback kept up the breaching until we got closer, and we were able to get a good up-close look at the breaching behavior. I had thought that this was a whale named Lapel, but we were later able to identify it as Habanero. Habanero began flipper slapping like crazy after the breaching, and treated us to some rolls! We got some great looks at this whale and some quick looks at a minke who stopped by for a bit. Habanero then tired out and began going on some dives. On the way home we stopped to check out two other humpbacks doing some flipper slapping and diving around a bunch of fishing boats!

~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

September 8, 2009 Morning Trip

2009-09-08T12:00:00.000-07:00

Photo of minke whale

Photo of Echo and another humpback

It was a very active day today for our whales! On our morning trip we found a group of 5 or 6 humpbacks feeding! This group included Thread and Fulcrum with her calf. We were able to see several different feeding strategies: kick feeding, tail lobbing, and a few open mouths all alongside our boat! Getting in on the action were a fin whale and a pair of minkes. We even caught a quick breach from Thread! After this, the food seemed to spread out, or maybe the whales were full, either way our group split up and began to travel. We stayed close to Thread for the chance of another breach, but instead Thread was joined by Echo and another individual, and they opted to go on some dives. This group gave us some nice looks, and we also got incredibly close looks at a few more minkes in the area. It was a rare experience to be so close to several individuals of this smaller whale.
~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

September 4, 2009 Afternoon trip

2009-09-04T05:14:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, we didn't get in a morning trip today, but the afternoon more than made up for it. It was beautiful out on the Bank with sun and calm seas, and it wasn't long before we found the whales! We came across a mother and calf humpback pair who were taking an afternoon nap. They woke up shortly after we arrived and the calf treated us to some rolling and flipper slaps. We followed this pair for a while as they met up with a bunch of other humpbacks. We had a trio and a second pair that Pinpoint was part of. We even got a quick glimpse of a minke!

~ Naturalist, Emily Griffin

September 1, 2009 Afternoon Trip

2009-09-01T18:00:00.000-07:00

During our afternoon trip, we started out by finding a humpback doing some flipper slapping in the distance, but it soon stopped. We waited around for some time with a few humpbacks in the area going on some very long dives. We then came across Pinpoint, who was getting rather excited, and started tail lobbing around the boat. I think some passengers even got splashed at one point! After tail lobbing, Pinpoint went on a dive and came back up unbelievably close to the boat! Also appearing--it seemed--out of nowhere was Coral, just ahead of Pinpoint and also RIGHT next to us! The sun was hitting the water in just the right way, so we were able to get rare looks at the entire body of both animals under the water. Pinpoint and Coral stayed with us and were quite curious, with Pinpoint even doing a little spy hop to get a better look at the boat. We got such awesome looks, the photos I took don't do them justice! As we pulled away from these two they gave us a nice wave of their flukes!

September 1, 2009 Morning Trip

2009-09-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

It was a great kick-off to the month of September today with two beautiful trips out on the water! During our AM trip, we were lucky to see two different species of whales. We first saw a small fin whale going on a few dives around our boat. Then we decided to explore the Bank to see what other whales we could find. Our guessing paid off, and we found a humpback named Lutris breaching! We were able to see a few good breaches from this whale before it switched to doing some flipper slapping. The flipper slapping went on for quite some time and then Lutris decided to tail lob for a bit. It was so fun to see all of these different behaviors! Lutris apparently tired itself out after this activity and began going on some long, lazy dives, but was kind enough to fluke for us so we could get an ID!
~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

August 21, 2009 Afternoon Trip

2009-08-21T18:10:00.000-07:00

We were a bit worried about spotting whales this afternoon because the wind had picked up, making it hard to see spouts. However, shortly after arriving on the bank we saw double breaches in the distance! Our acrobats ended up being Fulcrum and her calf. They kept up the breaching for a while, then started doing some shallow dives. We think there was some feeding going on as well. The calf wasn't too interested in food, though, and was doing some flipper slapping, and what looked like a whale backstroke right next to the boat.

~ Emily Griffin, Naturalist

August 21, 2009 Morning Trip

2009-08-21T12:00:00.000-07:00

This morning out on the Bank we were lucky enough to see two mother/calf pairs! We started with Lavalier, her calf, and Pinpoint. They gave us some great close looks, and the calf was doing some breaching! We even got a couple tail breaches from Pinpoint. Later, we moved on to Fulcrum and her calf. They were giving us some beautiful fluke shots and dives, then started feedining with huge open mouths right as we were leaving!

~ Emily Griffin, Naturalist

August 20, 2009 Afternoon Trip

2009-08-20T18:00:00.000-07:00

Photo by Melissa Rocha

We had some of the same whales that we saw on our morning's trip, with one exception. On our morning trip we had Pinpoint doing some flipper slapping and Liner and Alpha were logging, and Venom had left the group. This afternoon though, Pinpoint was off in the distance with another whale watch boat and Venom was back with Alpha and Liner and was doing the flipper slapping this time! Venom did a great job of showing off her large pectoral flippers! It is uncommon to see baleen whales traveling together they are usually solitary, not to mention all adults. Liner is a large female who showed off for us a little by doing a beautiful tail lob before diving!

~Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

August 20, 2009 Morning Trip

2009-08-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

Photos by Melissa Rocha

Our morning trip gave us some incredible looks at some humpback whales. We had a group of four adult humpbacks all traveling together, one of them was Venom who broke off and went in another direction. The other three then started to do some logging or resting at the surface, one of them Pinpoint who was closet to us, wasn't that tired cause he started rolling all around right next to us! Pinpoint was really showing even splashing some people on board at one point! Liner who was next to Pinpoint also showed off a little by doing a nice tail lob before going on a dive. Alpha was the 3rd whale of the group but not as social as the others.
~ Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

August 19, 2009 Morning Trip

2009-08-19T17:09:00.000-07:00

On this morning trip we came across some Atlantic white-sided dolphins! A special treat as we don't get to see dolphins all that often out on our trips. We also came across some humpbacks whales, first we spotted Alpha doing some deep feeding; we would see some bubbles being blow under the surface, then he would surface with his mouth just slightly open straining water. There was also another whale close by Alpha but only up at the surface for a few minutes. On our way home we passed by Fulcrum and her calf doing some logging or resting, giving us really nice looks at their bodies. We could see how big the calf is, yet pretty small compared to mom Fulcrum. ~Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist, photos by Melissa Rocha

August 16, 2009 Afternoon Trip

2009-08-16T18:14:00.000-07:00

This afternoon we were lucky enough to run into Reflection and her calf again! They were doing some logging, and we got some AMAZING close looks. After a little nap, the calf woke up and started doing a little rolling. Reflection also did some spyhopping right next to the boat for a better look at us.

~Emily Griffin, Naturalist

August 16, 2009 Morning Trip

2009-08-16T12:00:00.000-07:00

The morning was absolutely beautiful as we headed to the Bank with calm seas. Soon after getting there, we reached an area where we had three species of whales! We had fins, minkes, and a pair of humpbacks all feeding near the boat. The mother was identified as Reflection, and her calf even got a bit playful before we left! A really great trip.

~Emily Griffin, Naturalist

August 14, 2009 Afternoon Trip

2009-08-14T18:00:00.000-07:00

This afternoon we came across several minke whales that were doing a whole lot of moving. We got some pretty close looks at the shy little minke, then headed a bit south and found a few more whales; this time humpbacks. Anvil and calf came right up to the boat for a few minutes, but were still going on a few long dives. We moved on to a single adult humpback who was logging right next to the boat! Some great close looks!
~Emily Griffin, Naturalist

August 14, 2009 Morning Trip

2009-08-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

We had so many whales on this morning's trip; minkes, fins, and humpbacks were everywhere! We got some great close looks at both a fin and minke, and then we ran into Fulcrum and calf. They swam over to the boat for some amazing close looks, and the calf is getting so big! To top it off, as we were heading back we came across a baby basking shark! ~ Emily Griffin, Naturalist

August 12, 2009 Afternoon Trip

2009-08-12T19:33:00.001-07:00

During our PM trip we ran into Percussion! Percussion is not registered as one of our moms this year, but I am almost positive that this was the whale we saw and that it was with a calf! This would be a great sighting if we have yet another mom on the Bank this season, so I'm going to try and confirm that as soon as possible. We got some nice close-up looks at these whales, including some very rare under-the-water looks! Percussion even gave us a flipper slap at one point. We then moved on to explore the Bank a little more, and we came across several whales: at least two minkes and four to six humpbacks! At one point we had four humpbacks get very close together right next to our boat. I'm still working on the ID of some of these whales, but it was great to see so many individuals around.

~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist, Photo of Percussion

August 12, 2009 Morning Trip

2009-08-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

We had another great day out on the water! During our AM trip we found Tulip and her calf. At first, we just had her calf at the surface, playing around. We saw a few rolls from this calf and even a couple of half breaches! It was eventually joined by mom. Then the calf did some flipper slapping before calming down a bit. Tulip and her calf proceeded to travel a little and go on some dives, but we were able to stick by them for the entire trip. In that time there were signs of other whales further out on the Bank--always a cool sight!

~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist, Photo of Tulip's calf

August 11, 2009 Afternoon Trip

2009-08-11T18:00:00.000-07:00

During our PM trip we first found a pair of juvenile humpbacks who were going on some quick dives around our boat. We were able to get great looks at these whales, who at one point came up RIGHT next to the boat and between our bow pulpits! We then moved on to find Nile and her calf traveling with an escort. They were moving around a bit, but we were able to get some good looks at everyone's favorite mom-calf duo. The escort was definitely a younger whale, and it looked like Nile had her hands (or fins) full with these two playing around! At one point Nile came up taking a big gulp of water right off our bow -- like a combination of a spy hop and feeding behavior. It was an odd and cool thing to see from her. All in all it was a great afternoon!

~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist