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

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

Today's trip was amazing! Before we even reached Stellwagen Bank, we came across a pod of Atlanic White-Sided dolphins. It was a pretty large pod of about 50, and they spent quite a bit of time next to our boat. Soon after we left them, we came across a humpback mother and calf pair. We identified them as Nile and her calf, which are some of my favorite whales out in Stellwagen. They are a couple of show-offs! They were breaching and flipper slapping and tail-lobbing right next to the boat! I know quite a few people ended up a little wet...

~ Emily Griffin, Naturalist

Our PM trip was another great one! We found Nile and her calf (always a favorite pair of ours) and they hung out with us for the entire trip! Nile has a very playful calf this season, and it was doing a variety of behaviors for us while mom was diving. We saw some rolls and flipper slaps from the calf, as well as a couple of tail lobs and even some half breaches! An escort appeared for a little while, but soon left. At the very end of our trip, Nile and her calf came RIGHT next to the boat, with the calf looking like it wanted to jump right on board! This was the closest I've seen a whale get to us so far this season! It was such a special experience to get right up next to one of these animals.

~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Our sunset whale watch was spectacular, with beautiful sunset and whales that were showing off the entire trip! We first saw Banyan and another smaller humpback. The smaller whale was going on longer dives, but Banyan was at the surface about every minute, either breaching or flipper slapping. Then to top the trip off, we spotted Nile and her calf on the way home heading in the direction of Banyan. Well, Nile and her calf were also putting on a big show by doing some flipper slapping and a few breaches too! What a great night and trip!
~ Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist, photos by Melissa Rocha