Whale Watch Log
Sighting reports and photos from the whale watch crew
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10.13.2009

October 13, 2009

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

Labels: calf, humpbacks, mother, Nile, rolling, tail breaching

10.08.2009

October 8, 2009

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

Labels: humpbacks, minke whale

10.01.2009

October 1, 2009

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

Labels: Colt, humpbacks, Lavalier, mother and calf, tail breaching

9.15.2009

September 15, 2009

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

Labels: bubble feeding, calf. flipper slapping, Draco, humpbacks, mother, white-sided dolphins

9.08.2009

September 8, 2009 Afternoon Trip

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

Labels: dives, Habenero, humpbacks, lapel, Mola Mola

September 8, 2009 Morning Trip

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

Labels: dives, echo, Fulcrum, humpbacks, minke whale, tail lobbing, Thread

9.01.2009

September 1, 2009 Afternoon Trip

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!

Labels: Coral, humpbacks, pinpoint, spy-hopped

September 1, 2009 Morning Trip

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

Labels: breaching, flipper slapping, humpbacks, Lutris

8.20.2009

August 20, 2009 Morning Trip

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

Labels: Alpha, humpbacks, Liner, pinpoint, tail lobbing, Venom

8.16.2009

August 16, 2009 Afternoon Trip

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

Labels: calf, humpbacks, mother, Reflection

8.14.2009

August 14, 2009 Afternoon Trip

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

Labels: anvil, humpbacks, logging, minke whale

August 14, 2009 Morning Trip

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

Labels: basking shark, fin whale, humpbacks, minke whale

8.12.2009

August 12, 2009 Afternoon Trip

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

Labels: calf, calf. flipper slapping, humpbacks, mother, Percussion

August 12, 2009 Morning Trip

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

Labels: breaching, calf, flipper slapping, humpbacks, mother, Tulip

8.11.2009

August 11, 2009 Afternoon Trip

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

Labels: calf, humpbacks, Nile

8.09.2009

August 9, 2009 Afternoon Trip

This afternoon, we saw a couple different species! First we came across Circus, a humpback whale, who was treating us to some tail-lobbing, and soon started some really close breaches! Circus was also doing some huge tail breaches, which is rare to see. After the whale was tired, and started on some longer dives, we went to investigate a splashing in the distance and found ANOTHER whale breaching! This whale also showed us some great flipper slapping, and while we were watching a shy minke whale showed up!

~ Emily Griffin, Naturalist

Labels: breaching, circus, flipper slapping, humpbacks, minke whale

8.07.2009

August 7, 2009 Afternoon Trip

The whales were less spread out than they had been on our morning trip, and we came a across a trio that included Habenaro. They were doing some logging, and after a while started traveling and doing a bit of diving. Soon, they met up with another group of five humpbacks! This group included Music, Jaribou, Lavalier and her calf, and we had all eight whales together! We finished off the sunny afternoon trip with a quick glimpse of another baleen whale; the minke whale.

Labels: calf, habanero, humpbacks, Jabiru, Lavalier, minke whale, music

8.05.2009

August 5, 2009 Afternoon Trip

We had another great performance on our PM trip, coming across a humpback mother and calf pair! As we approached we caught a few breaches from the calf, and once we got to them, mom began doing some rolling and flipper slapping (maybe telling her little one to stay close by). We were able to get a look at the underside of this whale, which is always a cool and rare thing to see. While mom didn't fluke enough for me to ID her, we still got some awesome looks!

~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: calf, humpbacks, mother

August 5, 2009 Morning Trip

On our AM trip we came across Alphorn and Freefall. At first, these whales were just hanging out and going on a few dives. After a few looks we began to pull away to explore the Bank a bit more, but just then, Freefall began tail breaching! We quickly turned around to check this behavior out. Freefall put on quite a show, and then Alphorn joined in! We had both of these whales tail breaching and tail lobbing right next to our boat and right next to each other. It was very interesting behavior to watch, and made for a great morning!

~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist, Photos of Freefall and of Freefall and Alphorn

Labels: Alphorn, Freefall, humpbacks, tail breaching

8.04.2009

August 4, 2009 Afternoon Trip

During our afternoon trip, we had four or more humpbacks all around us going on some dives. A younger whale named Buckle was part of this group. We were able to get good looks at all of these whales from all sides of the boat. While we were checking out the humpbacks, we also had the luck to see a minke and a pair of fin whales! It was quite the busy afternoon!

~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: Buckle, dives, humpbacks

August 4, 2009 Morning Trip

On our AM trip we first found a fast-moving minke, but we moved on to look for some humpbacks. We entered into some fog, which made it difficult to spot whales, but luckily the fog cleared after awhile, and we were able to find Crown and Fracture! These two humpbacks were going down on some short dives, and stayed with us for the rest of the trip, giving us some good looks!

~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist, Photo of Fracture

Labels: crown, fracture, humpbacks

8.01.2009

August 1, 2009 Afternoon Trip

The whales started out a little bit lazy; we saw a few humpbacks in the area going on some shallow dives, and a couple minkes. We came across Follicle and her calf doing some logging. However, as we headed over, the calf must have woken up from it's afternoon nap because it was in the mood to play! It started breaching over and over, and doing a lot of rolling. We got a couple of tail breaches, too! Follicle gave us some great looks as well. Just before we left, a seal came over to check out the action!
~ Emily Griffin, Naturalist

Labels: follicle, humpbacks, minke whale, tail breaching

August 1, 2009 Morning Trip

Photo taken by a visitor.
See more visitor images and submit your own here.

We started the trip with Crown and Fracture, two humpbacks, going on some pretty long dives. They were giving us some beautiful fluke views as the went down, but we moved on to see if we could get some more surface time. After heading a bit south, we came across and area where there must have been 15 whales! All three species (minke, fin, and humpback) were there! They were in groups for the most part, and we got some great close looks at a HUGE fin before we headed back to Boston. August definitely started out well!
~ Emily Griffin, Naturalist

Labels: crown, fin whale, fracture, humpbacks, minke whale

7.31.2009

July 31, 2009 Afternoon Trip

We came across Tear this afternoon heading to join up with another group of humpbacks. There must have been a lot of sand lance somewhere in the area because a lot of whales were heading into the area. We saw minke whales as well, and a quick glimpse of a minke whale as well! Towards the end of the trip, we saw a calf do a tail breach!
~ Emily Griffin, Naturalist

Labels: =, fin whale, humpbacks, minke whale, tail breaching, tail lobbing

July 31, 2009 Morning Trip

After seeing a few minke whales, we found a couple humpbacks. They were traveling in some pretty large groups; we had three, including Alphorn, on one side of the boat, and five including Fulcrum and her calf on the other! They were going on some pretty deep dives, except the calf who would stay with the boat during the down time!
~ Emily Griffin, Naturalist

Labels: Alphorn, Fulcrum, humpbacks

7.30.2009

July 30, 2009 Afternoon Trip

We got some nice looks at a pair of humpback whales this afternoon, and a single humpback that was near by. The pair was staying up at the surface for a while giving really nice looks at how large and graceful they are, once they dove it was perfect timing, as the single started flipper slapping! We went over and checked out that whale, who showed off its large pectoral flippers to us waving them around. The humpbacks pectoral flippers can be up to 1/3 it's total body length as an adult!
~ Melissa Rocha Lead Naturalist

Labels: calf. flipper slapping, humpbacks

July 30, 2009 Morning Trip

Today we got to see two of our humpback mothers this year. First we Nile and her calf, who were doing a little bit of logging, the calf was roiling a bit for us showing off its pectoral flippers. Then we spotted Anvil and her calf who was breaching when first arrived at them, then slowed down but saw a few more half breaches out it. A beautiful day on the whales.
~Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: anvil, calf, flippers, humpbacks, mother, Nile

7.29.2009

July 29, 2009 Afternoon Trip

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

Labels: calf, flipper slaps, half breaches, humpbacks, Nile, rolls, tail lobbing

July 29, 2009 Morning Trip

We had another morning of feeding for our whales today! First, we came across at least 7 humpbacks feeding with open mouths, bubble nets, and a few tail lobs. One of the whales we saw was Coral! These whales were all around the boat, and we could even see bait fish in the water, as well as tons of birds snacking on the fish. After a bit, the group began to spread out, and we were able to get close to a mother and calf with an escort for some very nice looks!

~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: bubble netting, calf, Coral, humpbacks, open-mouth feeding, tail lobbing

7.28.2009

July 28, 2009 Afternoon Trip

On our PM trip today, the whales were relaxing after their breakfast. We first spotted a humpback mother, calf, and escort doing some flipper slapping! After a little while they calmed down, and we were able to get very close. We got some nice looks at these whales, and a very quick look at a fin whale that passed by. Leaving these whales to check out the Bank a bit more, we came upon another humpback mother and calf with an escort! These three were having a lazy afternoon as well, which allowed us to get nice and close. I didn't get a good look at the flukes of these mothers to ID them, but we sure got great looks otherwise!

~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: calf. flipper slapping, fin whale, humpbacks

July 28, 2009 Morning Trip

We had a very active AM trip today, spotting at least 20 or more whales feeding! This was one of the largest grouping of whales I've seen so far this season! There were all types of feeding behaviors going on around our boat -- tail lobbing, bubble netting, and open mouth feeding. Among the humpback whales we saw were Rapier and her calf, and Linear. We also caught some looks at a Minke and a Fin whale who were probably taking advantage of the good food in the area. There was so much going on, it was hard to know where to look! It was a great chance to see how these animals get their food. As we pulled away, we even saw a quick breach from one of the humpbacks!
~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: bubble netting, fin whale, humpbacks, minke whale, open-mouth feeding, tail lobbing

7.27.2009

July 27, 2009 Morning Trip

Our am trip today we came across some pretty cool whales, including a few we haven't seen yet this season. We saw several Humpbacks open mouth feeding, and a few were doing some kick feeding. Awesome looks at all of the whales including Anvil and her calf, Division, Polaris, Sundog ( our first sighting this season!) and Terrace! ~ Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist, photos by Melissa Rocha

Labels: anvil, Division, humpbacks, kick feeding, open-mouth feeding, Polaris, Sundog, Terrace

7.26.2009

July 26, Afternoon Trip

Tonight's Sunset we had several whales all around us. We go some really good looks at a few of them. As we started to leave we seemed to be just seeing more and more blows in the distance, sadly we were running low on day light and couldn't go look at them. It was great to see several whales around us, and get to see all the small differences that set them each apart. One of the whales we had tonight was Thread, who is a large male. ~ Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist, photo by Melissa Rocha

Labels: humpbacks, Thread

7.25.2009

July 25, 2009 Afternoon Trip

Our Sunset trip tonight was awesome! We got some beautiful looks at Isthmus and her calf. Isthmus was open mouth feeding RIGHT next to the boat and her calf was on the other side putting on quiet a show, by rolling around and doing several tail lobs! The sunset was nice too, but nothing can compare to the sight of the calf rolling around for us. ~ Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist, photo by Melissa Rocha

Labels: calf, humpbacks, Isthmus, open-mouth feeding

7.22.2009

July 22, 2009 Afternoon Trip

During our PM trip we found a ton of whales! First, we came across a bunch of humpbacks feeding together. We were able to see some bubble netting and open mouth feeding from at least 5 humpbacks around the boat! There were also at least 5 or more other humpbacks in the distance feeding. Among the whales around us were Coral and Rapier and her calf. There was so much to see, it was hard to keep track of everything. We had a few whales tail lobbing very close to the boat, as well as in the distance. I think some passengers may have even been splashed by a big tail lob right off our bow! While all of this was going on, there were two minkes close by AND a pair of fin whales in the distance lunge feeding cooperatively. It was quite an exciting afternoon!
~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: Coral, fin whale, humpbacks, lunge feeding, minke whale, rapier, tail lobbing

July 22, 2009 Morning Trip

We had a great day today, seeing all three species of our whales on BOTH trips! On our AM trip, we chased a few fin whales around and caught some quick glimpses of a minke whale. We then found a humpback mother and calf pair who we were able to approach very closely. These two stayed with us for the rest of the trip, giving us some great looks! I wasn't able to ID mom, but her and her adorable calf made it a great morning for us!
~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: calf, fin whale, humpbacks, minke whale, mother

7.21.2009

July 21, 2009 Morning Trip

On our AM trip today, we first found a humpback pair, but they went on a deep dive and we couldn't find them again. We then came across Fulcrum and her calf once again. They seemed to be having a nice morning, and treated us to some great close up looks! Fulcrum even decided to show us her fluke a couple of times. Just as we were about to head home, Fulcrum's calf did a cute little tail lob and a roll!

On our PM trip, mother nature was not so kind to us, and we had to turn back due to rough seas.
~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: calf, Fulcrum, humpbacks, mother, tail lobbing

7.19.2009

July 19, 2009 Afternoon Trip

We came across several humpbacks on our Sunset trip tonight! We saw a trio of whales, Freefall, Putter, and Vulture. They stayed at the surface for several breaths, but then headed towards a NOAA research vessel that was conducting some testing in the water and asked for a buffer zone around it.

Today was the first day of the annual tagging week out here on the Bank. Every year, humpbacks get tagged using a special tag called a D-Tag, which is applied using a suction cup to the whale.

We also saw Isthmus and her calf. Though we didn't get many looks at the calf, but we got few good ones of Isthmus. There were also several other whales near by and a beautiful sunset also!

~ Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist, photos by Melissa Rocha

Labels: 2009 Season, humpbacks, Isthmus, tagging, Vulture

7.18.2009

July 18, 2009 Afternoon Trip

The fog from this morning quickly burned off leaving us with a beautiful afternoon! We came across a pair of humpbacks logging, and as we moved in they became very interested in the boat! One of these whales was IDed as Tear. Maybe they were as eager for an afternoon of "people-watching" as we were for whale watching!
~ Emily Griffin, Naturalist

Labels: humpbacks, logging, Tear

7.17.2009

July 17, 2009 Morning Trip

Early out on the bank, we saw our first species of the day when we stumbled a couple of minke whales! However, they we being a bit shy so we moved on, and came across a bunch of feeding humpbacks! They were blowing bubble nets right next to the boat on BOTH SIDES! They were also doing some kick feeding, and finished off with some tail lobs!

Labels: bubble nets, humpbacks, kick feeding, minke whale, tail lobbing

7.16.2009

July 16, 2009 Afternoon Trip

Photo taken by a visitor.

See more visitor photos and submit your own here.

Our afternoon trip today, we watched a trio of humpback whales for most of the trip! We got some nice, close looks at them. One of them is a whale named Crown, a female who had a calf last year. We then moved over and checked out another humpback that was doing some tail lobbing, to end our trip with a little extra splashing!
~ Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: 2009 Season, humpbacks, tail lobbing

7.15.2009

July 15, 2009 Afternoon Trip

Photo taken by a visitor.
See more visitor photos and submit your own here.

We had a beautiful afternoon trip as well! We were able to find Reflection and her calf having a lazy afternoon. These two stayed right with our boat for the entire trip, and let us come right up next to them. We got amazing looks at these whales! Positioning our boat so that we blocked the sun on their side, we were able to see them in detail below the surface of the water, where I think they were getting a good look at us too!
~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: 2009 Season, humpbacks, Reflection

7.14.2009

July 14, 2009 Afternoon Trip

Photos by Melissa Rocha

We traveled to the southern part of the bank again this afternoon, and found a few humpbacks that were still feeding! We got some great looks at them. One of them swam close by after coming up with its mouth just slightly open as it was letting all water drain out from feeding. You can see the sandlance that they are feeding on in the water!
~ Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: feeding, humpbacks

7.13.2009

July 13, 2009 Morning Trip

Photos by Melissa Rocha

We had Nile and her calf and an escort whale for this morning's trip. This is the first time I have seen Nile with an escort this season. An escort whale is another whale who is helping mom with the calf, usually another adult female. The escort may stay with the mom for a few hours or days, or it could be with the mom for weeks even months. Last year, we had a mom whose escort was with it for months! If the whales weren't special enough on our way back we got to see some of the Tall Ships leaving, and a few of them were even at full sail. The captain gave us a treat by taking a different route back into Boston so we could go by them!
~ Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: 2009 Season, calf, humpbacks, Nile

7.12.2009

July 12, 2009 Afternoon Trip

We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful evening as we headed out to the bank, and soon found a pair of feeding humpback whales. The food must have been good because as we watched our pair was joined by five other whales! Fulcrum and her calf were among the group, but the calf was a little more interested in us than in dinner. We topped off the trip with a gorgeous sunset.

Labels: bubble feeding, calf, Fulcrum, humpbacks

7.10.2009

July 10, 2009 Morning Trip

This morning we came across two large groups of humpbacks traveling together. On one side of the boat we had five adults, and the other side we had Thumper and her calf joined by three other adults! They were all doing some pretty long dives, except for the last few when the calf hung out by the boat as the others dove!
~ Emily Griffin, naturalist

Labels: 2009 Season, calf, humpbacks

7.05.2009

July 5, 2009 Sunset Trip

We had a beautiful close to the Fourth of July weekend! Our sunset cruise featured great weather and calm seas. We also had some great whales! First, we found a humpback mother and calf pair. We got some nice looks at these two before spotting four humpbacks traveling together ahead of us. We moved forward to see these whales, who were heading south quite quickly. At one point we had three on one side of our boat and one on the other! After getting some looks we decided to explore the bank a bit. We headed north and found our mom and calf from earlier. There also seemed to be a few more individuals in the area, but they were difficult for us to get an exact location on. As we approached mom and baby, we saw a breach! We got a little closer and mom gave us a few waves with her pectoral fin and did some flipper slapping! We saw mom's fluke, which I'm working on an ID of, and as we were leaving she gave us another wave goodbye!
~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: breaching, calf, flukes, humpbacks, mother

7.04.2009

July 4, 2009 Sunset Trip

We had a fantastic 4th of July sunset watch! It began by finding a humpback mother and calf pair. We got some nice looks at these two, with mom even giving us a few tail lobs! This pair was traveling a bit, so we decided to head over to some other humpbacks nearby. We then found at least four humpbacks feeding! The best part was that our mother and calf from earlier came over to join the others. We saw some great open mouth feeding as well as a few rolls and tail slaps from all of these whales, who were very close together and very close to our boat. It looks like summer weather has finally come to New England, and we had a beautiful sunset, complete with fireworks as we approached Boston! Happy Fourth of July!
~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: calf, feeding, humpbacks, mother

July 4, 2009 Morning Trip

What a beautiful Fourth of July! The sun was out again and we had some feeding humpback whales! We saw Etch-a-Sketch doing some kick feeding right next to the boat ... Then we also got to see Pinpoint and Apex and her calf feeding with some huge open mouths, showing us their baleen plates! Plus to make it even better we saw some fin whales doing some lunge feeding! These fin whales are the second largest whale! All together we probably had about 6 different humpbacks!
~ Melisaa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: calf, Etch-a-Sketch, fin whale, humpbacks, kick feeding, mother

7.02.2009

July 2, 2009 Afternoon Trip

Wow it's already July! We canceled our morning trip today, due to some severe thunderstorms and the heavy fog. As we headed out on our afternoon trip we still had some fog but were able to find 3 humpbacks! We came across a mother and calf with an escort. I believe the mother was Lavalier. We were able to watch them for a while but then the fog rolled in pretty heavy and we lost them. As we moved around the area slowly we were able to pick the escort back up and then a few others! By the end of our trip we had about 4-6 feeding humpbacks and 2 lunge feeding fin whales! Just goes to show that even in the fog we still have hope and can still find the whales sometimes! One of the feeding humpbacks was a whale named Cajun, a whale we have seen several times this year.
~ Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: calf, fin whale, humpbacks, Lavalier, mother

7.01.2009

July 1, 2009 Afternoon Trip

Unfortunately, mother nature prevented us from going out on an AM trip. By the afternoon, however, we had reports of an area on the Bank where the fog had cleared. We headed that way for our PM trip and were lucky enough to find THREE different species of whales! First, we found a fin whale pair that may have been the same we had seen yesterday. We were able to get great looks at these individuals and even saw a lunge from one of them (the same unique behavior we saw yesterday as well!). While we were watching the fins, a little minke whale popped up, giving us a few quick looks at it. Our last species of the day was a humpback by the name of Pinpoint! Pinpoint was going on some deeper dives, so we were able to get great looks at it's fluke. Seeing all three species certainly made this a very special day!

~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: fin whale, flukes, humpbacks, minke whale, pinpoint

6.30.2009

June 30, 2009 Afternoon Trip

This photo was submitted by Paul Bishop.
View more whale watch photos and submit your own here.

Our PM trip was amazing! We first came upon two fin whales traveling together. This is a rare sight to begin with, but then they began lunge feeding! It was such a great opportunity to see the full size of these whales. Even our captain said she had never seen that behavior from finbacks. While this was going on, we had another 5 or so humpbacks around our boat. These whales were doing a variety of activities to take advantage of all the bait fish in the area. We saw some tail slapping, open mouth feeding, and bubble netting from these humpbacks. It was a fantastic trip!
~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: bait, bubble feeding, fin whale, humpbacks, lunge feeding, tail slapping

June 30, 2009 Morning Trip

Despite the heavy fog this morning, we were able to find whales! We came across a humpback pair that looked like a juvenile and another adult traveling together. We stayed with these two the entire trip while they went on some dives, possibly looking for food. Although I wasn't able to ID these two, we still got some nice, close looks at them and some beautiful flukes!
~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: flukes, humpbacks, juvenile

6.20.2009

June 20, 2009 Morning Trip

Photo by Melissa Rocha

Our AM trip today we came across a humpback whale that we have not seen yet this season! The whale is Mostaza who was born back in 2000, and its mother is Salt! Salt is considered the Matriarch here on Stellwagen Bank, first spotted back in the 1970s and still having calves! Mostaza is not named because of a mark on the underside of the tail, this is because Salt's calves receive their names the year of their births instead and are named after something salt like or a condiment. Mostaza is the Spanish word for Mustard.
~ Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: humpbacks, Mostaza, Salt

6.17.2009

June 17, 2009 Morning Trip

We saw some interesting things on our morning adventure. In all, we saw at least six humpbacks, if not more! We first found a few single whales going on some deep dives. While they were at the surface, we were able to get some great looks at their flukes. Moving on to some more whales a ways away, we came across TWO mother and calf humpback pairs, and possibly had a few more single whales in the vicinity. Both mother-calf pairs got close to our boat, so we were able to get great looks at them! Additionally, we spotted many birds on the water, along with some very large striped bass and HUGE schools of sandlance (a favorite treat for humpbacks!) in the water.
~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: bait, calf, flukes, humpbacks, mother

6.16.2009

June 16, 2009 Afternoon Trip

Our afternoon trip was another success! First we met a couple humbacks that we were able to get some close looks at. Then, seeing some splashing in the distance, we went to investigate. We came across Falcon, who was being quite the show-off! We had several breaches from this whale, including a tail breach and some flipper slapping. Falcon was definitely playing with the boat a bit, and we were able to get some great looks at it's upper body and belly. After this spectacular show, we all enjoyed a sunny ride home!
~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: breaching, falcon, humpbacks, tail breaching

June 16, 2009 Morning Trip

Photos courtesy of Wouter Groot
See more photos by whale watch visitors and contribute your own here.

Photos courtesy of Tim Poe
See more photos by whale watch visitors and contribute your own here.

We had some great whales today! During our AM trip, we found a couple of juvenile humpbacks who spent some time swimming around our boat. One in particular was being very playful. We had a couple breaches and rolls from this whale, getting great looks at it's underside! It waved to us with it's pectoral fins, and even did a spy hop (maybe to get a better look at us). We stayed with these two almost the entire trip, since they were putting on quite a show!
~ Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: breaching, humpbacks, juvenile, spy-hopped

6.15.2009

June 15, 2009 Morning Trip

We got to see a bunch of humpback whales feeding this morning! Two of the whales we saw were Refection and her calf, her calf was learning to feed, which allowed all of us some pretty cool and unique looks. The calf was trying to mimic it's mother, and the other whales around it, however they weren't all doing just one feeding technique they were all doing a few different ones. This resulted in the calf doing a strange attempt at all of them. It was pretty funny to watch at times, but on one of the times the calf came up next to the boat trying to lunge open mouth through the school of fish, we got to see it's little baleen plates so nicely! There was so much sandlance in the water, and schools of it as far as we could see. Also not only were the whales loving all the sandlance but we saw several large fish under the surface feeding on them as well.
~ Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: calf, feeding, humpbacks, juvenile, mother

6.13.2009

June 13, 2009 Sunset Trip

We had an exciting sunset adventure... At first, we stumbled into very heavy fog. We came across a humpback whale despite the weather, and after watching this individual for a little while, the fog cleared! We then found a humpback who was tail breaching! At this point the fog was completely gone, and we were enjoying a beautiful sunset. We got some very close looks at this whale, who had begun going down on some dives, affording some very nice looks at it's fluke. As we began to head home, we stopped briefly to check out a cute humpback mother and calf pair. The night was capped off by a beautiful view of the Boston city lights on the ride home!
~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: dives, humpbacks, tail breaching

June 13, 2009 Afternoon Trip

Photos by Melissa Rocha

Our afternoon trip we got some nice looks at 2 logging humpbacks! These resting whales were full grown adults so we got great nice looks at how large they can grow to be. Then a little further off we saw a mother and calf. The calf was very active at the surface, and so we went and checked it out. We found Nile and her calf! Nile is the 1987 calf of Mars who was first seen in 1979, and also has a calf this year! We got some great looks at both of them and the calf did a few tail breaches for us!
~Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: calf, humpbacks, Mars, mother, Nile

June 13, 2009 Morning Trip

Humpback open mouth feeding (top), including some sandlance coming out of the whale's mouth and sandlance at surface (bottom). Photos by Melissa Rocha.

On this mornings trip we saw at least 10-15 different humpback whales all feeding! We traveled to the South west part of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, the whales were feeding non stop while we were there! The whales were doing a lot of lunge and open mouth feeding, and the school of sandlance (bait) that they were feeding on was right next to the boat! A few times some of the whales came up next to us! There was one mother and calf pair out, it was Anvil with her calf. We also had Sloop who was a mother last year. Such a great day on the water with amazing whales feeding all around us!
~ Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: anvil, bait, bubble feeding, calf, humpbacks, mother

6.12.2009

June 12, 2009 Afternoon Trip

Photos by Melissa Rocha

Our afternoon trip today let us see the different ways Humpbacks feed! We had at least 10 different whales showing us some kick feeding, bubble feeding, lunge feeding and best of all open mouth feeding! Two of the whales we were watching were Anvil who is a mom this year and her calf which was learning to feed from mom and all the others! Another whale we had was Circus. The whales were lunging out of the water showing off their ventral pleats fully expanded. When whales start feeding like this the sea birds really love it, since they are able to get easy meals, like the one in this photo! So many whales and very active!
~Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: anvil, circus, humpbacks, kick feeding

June 12, 2009 Morning Trip

Photos by Melissa Rocha

What an AMAZING trip this morning! Sadly yesterday afternoon we were not able to come across any whales which was unusual, and we searched everywhere. That is the hard part of going out to see wild animals in nature they may not be any where to be found. Today though was another story! We came across Reflection and her calf, and 2 other humpbacks near by. The calf was doing a whole array of activities, including breaching! The calf breached several times next to our boat, and the would roll around slap the surface of the water with it's flipper! Such a great trip, with a rock star calf!
~ Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: breaching, flipper slapping, humpbacks, Reflection

June 11, 2009 Morning Trip

Our AM trip we came across 2 humpbacks and a few minke whales! Got some really nice looks at the minke whales and as we were leaving several people got to see one of the humpbacks BREACH!
~Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: breaching, humpbacks, minke whale

6.10.2009

June 10, 2009 Afternoon Trip

On our PM trip, the whales were being quite elusive. After much searching and exploring, we lucked out. Just as we were about to reluctantly head home, we found a mother and calf humpback pair going on a few shallow dives! We were able to get very close to these whales, with nice views of their heads and pectoral fins as well as a few good fluke looks. I was able to identify the mother as Photon, who is a new mom this year! This ID made our trip extra special and exciting.
~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: calf, humpbacks, mother, Photon

June 10, 2009 Morning Trip

We had some bumpy rides out to the whales today. Additionally, during our AM trip we had some fog to battle with. We got lucky, however: the fog cleared and we came across a single humpback whale going on some deep dives. After checking out this whale for a little bit, we moved on and found a humpback calf (mom must have been on a very deep dive). The calf showed us it's fluke, and even did a little fluke breach! We got a couple close looks at this little one before moving on one more time to check out another solo humpback. This whale was taking a few shallower dives, so we hung around a bit longer than normal to get some nice, close looks at it.
~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: calf, dives, humpbacks, mother

6.09.2009

June 9, 2009 Afternoon Trip

On our second trip of the day today the wind had picked up, making it harder to spot whales. We were lucky though, coming across a trio of humpbacks. At first, these whales were taking some longer dives, but allowing us to get nice and close to them while they were at the surface. We got some great looks at their bodies and flukes and were able to identify one of the whales as I.T. Then, just as we were about to leave, I.T. breached! We caught a few nice breaches, making for a great finale!
~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: breaching, dives, humpbacks, I.T.

June 9, 2009 Morning Trip

We had a lovely New England day today (grey and rainy) and some incredible whales! On our AM trip, we first found a breaching mother and calf humpback pair! The calf was very small, perhaps getting it's first breaching lesson, and also did a few breaches of it's fluke. They then practiced slapping their pectoral fins a bit. We moved away from these two and found another humpback mother and calf traveling with an escort. This calf was being very playful and rolling around.
While we were checking out these whales a curious seal popped up to investigate our boat! It was a very eventful morning!
~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: breaching, calf, humpbacks, mother, slapping

6.07.2009

June 7, 2009 Morning Trip

Photos by Melissa Rocha

Our AM trip today we got nice looks at several minke whales! minke's are usually a very shy whale so it was a great treat. Plus gave us a good size comparison between them and the Humpbacks that we saw later in the trip. We saw Ursa and two others that started to do some bubble feeding. Beautiful day on the water!
~Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: bubble feeding, humpbacks, Ursa

6.06.2009

June 6, 2009 Sunset Trip

Photos by Melissa Rocha

Our sunset trip was beautiful! We had four whales around us, but really got great looks at two that were right next to us! We got to see one of them breach two times! Then tail breach a few times and did some rolling! And with the beautiful sunset, and full moon on the way back in it was great night! The whales we saw were Division and Wyoming.
~ Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: Division, humpbacks, Wyoming

June 6, 2009 Afternoon Trip

Photo by Melissa Rocha

Our afternoon trip today we got some great looks at 3 fin whales all swimming really close together. Plus some amazing looks at a mother and calf pair that were swimming under the surface of the water.
~Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: calf, humpbacks, mother

6.05.2009

June 5, 2009 Afternoon Trip

Photos by Melissa Rocha

This afternoon's trip we had a mother and calf pair. Mom is Mars who was first spotted on the Stellwagen back in 1979, meaning she is at least 30 years old! Scientist think Humpbacks can live as long as 50 years but maybe even longer we're not really sure. The calf was very playful, rolling all around and even doing a headstand right next to the boat!
~ Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: calf, humpbacks, Mars, mother

June 5, 2009 Morning Trip

Photo by Melissa Rocha

Our AM trip we had at least 7 different humpbacks! We saw a mother and her calf, the calf sadly had some scars on its body, they were well healed though, which is good. We then saw 2 pairs of adults, Tornado and another adult, plus Canopy, and Whisk.
~ Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: calf, Canopy, humpbacks, mother, Tornado, Whisk

6.04.2009

June 4, 2009 Afternoon Trip

Photo of Pinch by Melissa Rocha

Today's PM trip was just as spectacular as the AM, we saw Fracture and Pogo again, as well as Pinch, and several others who I am still working on ID's for, but a few were juveniles probably only 30 ft long instead of a full 50 ft! There was SO much bait in the water, and birds working on the surface but not really any whales feeding, which was rather strange. The last several days we have seen a lot of this behavior. So many whales all around the boat a great sign for season! ~ Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: bait, fracture, humpbacks, juvenile, pinch, Pogo

June 4, 2009 Morning Trip

Photo by Melissa Rocha

Today's AM trip we had several humpback whales! We saw Pogo, and Fracture, and a bunch of others that were off in the distance and a few close by that weren't really showing us their flukes, but we did get really nice close looks. We saw some kick feeding, but not that much considering how much bait was in the water and the amount of birds working on the surface. A beautiful day on the water! ~ Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: fracture, humpbacks, kick feeding, Pogo

6.03.2009

June 3, 2009 Afternoon Trip

During our PM trip, we got a quick and close look at a Minke whale. We then came across a pair of larger humpbacks travelling together. Deciding to go off and explore a bit more, we found a mother and calf humpback pair. We got some close looks at these whales, with several other humpback individuals around us in the distance. As we were heading back to Boston another calf breached right next to our boat! It happened so fast that most of us missed it, but we stopped for another minute and were able to catch a quick tail breach. All in all, a very satisfying trip!

~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: breaching, calf, humpbacks, mother

June 3, 2009 Morning Trip

We had another beautiful day on the water today! Our morning excursion started off with a quick look at two fin whales. We were also lucky to get some close looks at a humpback mother and (very playful) calf traveling with an escort. I was not able to positively ID the mother, but based on the dorsal fin, it may have been Anchor again. We got a terrific show from the calf, who decided to roll around and float on it's back at the surface while mom and the escort were going on some deeper dives.

~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: Anchor, calf, humpbacks, rolling

6.02.2009

June 2, 2009 Afternoon Trip

During our afternoon trip, we got nice and close to several humpback whales. First we found a mother and calf pair going on some dives. We then saw some splashing going on in the distance and went to investigate. When we got there we discovered Anchor traveling with her calf and an escort. Anchor is a whale we spotted a few days ago. We got great looks at all three of these whales who stayed close together and close to us! Our trip was capped off with a gorgeous,
sunny ride home!
~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: Anchor, calf, humpbacks, mother

June 2, 2009 Morning Trip

We had a beautiful day today for viewing whales! On our AM trip, we first got a quick glimpse of a minke whale. Since minkes are a bit shy, this one didn't stick around too long. We then came upon Isthmus with her calf. They were having a lazy morning, but were curious and playful with our boat. The calf kept swimming from one side of the boat to the other--keeping us all on our toes. We got some great, very close looks at these two, who stayed right with us for the rest of the trip!
~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: calf, humpbacks, Isthmus, minke whale, mother

6.01.2009

June 1, 2009 Afternoon Trip

Photos by Melissa Rocha

We traveled down to the southern part of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary today to find quite a few humpbacks this afternoon! We saw several in the distance but really stayed with a Mother and her calf with their escort. The mother is a whale named Anvil, and her little calf put on a nice show for us by breaching a few times right next to us! A beautiful afternoon on the water!
~ Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: anvil, breaching, humpbacks

June 1, 2009 Morning Trip

Mural photos taken by Melissa Rocha

We had a great trip this morning! We came right up on a humpback named Pinpoint doing some kick feeding! Then as we were watching that whale another large Humpback named Mural (photo) popped right up next to us! We also got some nice looks at a few fin whales that seemed to be looking for some food as well. There was a lot of bait in the water and birds everywhere!
~Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: humpbacks, kick feeding, mural, pinpoint

5.31.2009

May 31, 2009 Afternoon Trip

Our PM trip was quite the ride. The seas were very bumpy, but we made it out to the whales anyway. Once we got out there we had an amazing show! We had several Humpbacks around us, with about three breaching! Among this group was a mother and calf pair, and the calf was doing some breaching as well (maybe learning how to breach from Mom and the other adults around). After some breaching and good looks at the torsos of these whales, two of the adult humpbacks began lobbing their flukes together. They were side by side slapping their flukes in unison and we even got a double breach at one point! Despite our sea conditions, we had a phenomenal day. As we pulled into Boston Harbor in the rain, a rainbow appeared over us--a nice metaphor for the afternoon.
~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: breaching, calf, humpbacks, mother, tail lobbing

May 31, 2009 Morning Trip

Today was a crazy day out on the water! We started out this morning seeing several humpback and fin whales! It was quite a nice surprise to get good looks at multiple individuals from these species. One of our fin whales was absolutely huge and going on some shallow dives. As far as our Humpbacks were concerned, we had a mother and calf doing some shallow dives as well, and a couple of other adults all diving and showing us their flukes on occasion. A few good photographers on board got some shots and we were able to ID one of the adult Humpbacks as Anchor! We weren't sure if Anchor was the mom we were looking at, but she is a confirmed mother. Apart from these whales that we were able to get close to, there were several others around us that were much further away. All in all, it was quite a busy morning.
~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: calf, fin whale, humpbacks, mother

5.30.2009

May 30, 2009 Sunset Trip

Photo of Pepper by Melissa Rocha

Our sunset trip tonight, gave us beautiful view of the sun setting and of Provinctown, MA. We got to get some nice looks at 2 humpbacks close up, one of which being Pepper, who is one of the whales who was first spotted back in the 1970's! She was traveling with another whale, who I haven't gotten an ID on yet but hope to by the end of the week so check back!
~ Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: humpbacks, pepper, sunset

May 30, 2009 Afternoon Trip

photos by Melissa Rocha

Such a nice afternoon to be on the water. We saw about 4 fin whales and got amazing looks at them! They usually don't hang out at the surface for as long as they did today, giving us a great opportunity to see how big they are. Then we saw several humpbacks, one group we were watching was a mother and calf pair with an escort. The calf was being very playful and rolling all around, but then one of the adults started to show off for us as well a real treat! And we had a special birthday today, our boat the Voyager III turned 10! Thank you to everyone who helped with signing to it!
~ Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: calf, humpbacks, mother, rolling, Voyager III

May 30, 2009 Morning Trip

The AM trip today we saw breaching from humpback whales, fin whales and a few white-sided dolphins! The seas were bumpy but worth it to see all the activity from the humpbacks! We know we saw Tornado and Barb but that is all we could get ID's on so far.
~ Bart Ostrum, Naturalist

Labels: Barb, dolphins, fin whale, humpbacks, Tornado

5.28.2009

May 28, 2009 Morning Trip

Photo by Melissa Rocha

We saw about 4 humpbacks this morning, one that was a juvenile (only a few years old) stayed by us and gave us some nice looks.
~ Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: humpbacks, juvenile

5.27.2009

May 27, 2009 Afternoon Trip

Today a small but hardy group of us braved a chilly, grey day to look for whales. The water was choppy, so finding whales proved to be extra difficult. We lucked out, though, and came across a mother and her adorable calf! They were having a relaxing afternoon with mom taking some deeper dives while her little one stayed closer to the surface. We got some nice, very close-up looks at the backs and pectoral fins of these whales, and the calf even gave us a little fluke slap!

~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: calf, flukes, humpbacks, mother

5.26.2009

May 26, 2009 Afternoon Trip

Photo courtesy Yvonne Baur
See more photos from visitors and submit your own here.

Photos by Melissa Rocha

We canceled our AM trip but went out in the afternoon, and had a great trip! We saw several humpback whales, including Lavalier and her calf! We saw some beautiful open mouth feeding, which started as the whale was kicking the surface and then going down on a dive and blowing bubbles as the whale swims up.
~Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: calf, feeding, humpbacks, Lavalier, mother

May 25, 2009 Sunset Trip

Photos by Melissa Rocha

Our sunset trip tonight was Whalerific! So many whales, I couldn't even keep track!! They were having a fairly low key night, but there was lots of them. We had at least 12 different Humpbacks! One was a mother named Lavalier and her calf and she had an escort who I wasn't able to get an ID on. Then there was Trident, Vulture, Spirit, and 2 others all traveling together, and thanks to our captain being so nice let us stay another few minutes longer to get another look at them and let me get the fluke shot I needed to ID them. And of course to top off all the whales the sunset was absolutely beautiful!
~Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: calf, humpbacks, Lavalier, mother, Spirit, sunset, Trident, Vulture

5.25.2009

May 25, 2009 Morning Trip

Photos courtesy of Jordan Carswell.
See more visitor photos and submit your own here.

Photos by Melissa Rocha

On our AM trip we had several whales all around us! We got some really nice looks at both feeding humpbacks and a breaching one! One of the feeding whales came up with its mouth wide open right next to the boat, lunging out of the water giving great looks at the ventral pleats! Such a great look! Then we went and check out a breaching humpback and it started to breach so close to us! Some of the whales we had today were: Cajun, Isthmus and her calf, and Pixar! There were a few others that either didn't show off their tails or I wasn't able to catch them. A great way to start off Memorial Day!
~ Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: breaching, cajun, feeding, humpbacks, Isthmus, pixar

5.24.2009

May 24, 2009 Sunset Trip Pt. 2

A few more photos.~ Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: flipper slapping, humpbacks, sunset

May 24, 2009 Afternoon Trip

Photos submitted by a visitor.
See more and submit your own here.

Photos by Melissa Rocha

We had 2 species on our PM trip! We first got AMAZING looks at 2 Fin whales, the second largest species of whale! They swam nice and close showing how large they really are! One of the animals had a propeller scar on it's right side. Entanglements and ship strikes are the biggest dangers to whales today. Then as if the fins whales weren't enough we went and saw a mother and calf pair that was super active on the surface! The mother was rolling at the surface flipper slapping then would go on a dive and come up BREACHING! Such a great afternoon with such cool looks at whales!
~ Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: breaching, calf, fin whale, humpbacks, mother

5.23.2009

May 23, 2009 Afternoon Trip

Photos by Melissa Rocha

On our PM trip we had several humpbacks around us, and we got really nice looks at three different ones. Two of the ones that we got especially nice looks at were Filament and Draco. One of the whales spy-hopped right next to us! There was another whale that we got some looks at I believe it is a whale named Wizard.
~ Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: Draco, Filament, humpbacks, spy-hopped, Wizard

May 23, 2009 Morning Trip

The AM trip today we saw several humpback whales, including a mother and calf pair. All the animals gave us some great looks looks, and we believe there were some fin whales in the area as well!
~ Naturalist Bart Ostrum.

Labels: calf, fin whale, humpbacks, mother

5.21.2009

May 21, 2009 Afternoon Trip

Photo by Melissa Rocha

Our PM we had several Humpbacks, including a mother and calf pair. We saw about 3 different Humpbacks that were breaching! We got some really nice looks at one of the ones that was breaching. We then took some looks at the mother and calf pair that was logging (resting) with 2 other humpbacks. Nice looks especially at all the breaching!
~ Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: breaching, calf, humpbacks, mother

5.20.2009

May 20, 2009 Afternoon Trip

Photo courtesy of Alberto Brando.
See more whale watch photos and submit your own here.

During our afternoon trip today we had quite the whale variety show! We saw not one, not two, but THREE species of whales. It seemed like a pretty low-key afternoon at first, and we spotted a fin whale going on some shallow dives. We moved away from this whale to search for more and passed by two shy little minke whales, each of whom hurried away from our boat. The grand finale was coming upon a humpback mother and calf pair. While we were watching the little calf, Mom came up on the other side of the boat and proceeded to slap and lob her fluke at least 20 or 30 times! We got great looks at the fluke of this mother whale, with the calf coming over to stay nearby and take breaths with it's mom every now and then. I wasn't able to identify this mother, which means we could have a new mom out on Stellwagen Bank! If we are unable to figure out who she is, she will be up for naming, and we had a group on board come up with the name "Whoopee" for this whale. We'll see what she gets!

~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: fin whale, humpbacks, minke whale, tail lobbing

May 20, 2009 Morning Trip

This morning we came across a humpback whale feeding. It was doing some good tail slapping and circling around the boat searching for food. We then got some great looks at two fin whales travelling together, which is a rare sight! We finished up with another Humpback also feeding with some tail slapping and bubble nets. There were some eager gulls taking advantage of the fish churned up by this whale, some even brave enough to get right up on top of the whale's head and open mouth. We got some great shots of the open mouth of this whale, especially it's baleen plates.
~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: bubble nets, feeding, fin whale, humpbacks, tail slapping

5.19.2009

May 19, 2009 Afternoon Trip

During our PM trip, we saw yet another adorable mother-calf pair. This calf was very playful, doing some fluke and flipper slapping and even breaching! It waved to the boat a few times while mom went down on some shallow dives. These humpbacks were also travelling with a juvenile whale. We got some nice close looks at these whales, and we were lucky to see a little seal poke its head above the water to check us out!
~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: breaching, calf, dives, flipper slapping, harbor seal, humpbacks, mother

May 19, 2009 Morning Trip

Today was "cute calf" day out on the water! On our morning trip we saw a Humpback mother and calf pair. The calf seemed to be a little curious about our boat and was also learning how to feed by practicing its bubble blowing techniques! We also came across Etch-a-Sketch along with a couple of other humpbacks and a fin whale.
~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: calf, Etch-a-Sketch, fin whale, humpbacks, mother

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