Labels: humpbacks, minke whale

Photo of minke whale

Photo of Echo and another humpback

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

~Emily Griffin, Naturalist

Labels: feeding, minke whale, Reflection

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

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

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

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

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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

Photo taken by a visitor.
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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

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

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

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

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

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

Photo taken by a visitor.
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This afternoon we had a great whale watch to pair with the beautiful weather! Once we were on the bank, we came across a shy minke whale. However, we saw so many spouts in the distance that we moved on and came across Vertex and her calf feeding! They were blowing bubble nets, which is when the whales releases bubbles underneath a school of fish to confuse them into a tighter group- then gulps the whole thing! We were also getting some rolling from the calf and tail lobs from Vertex when Vulture, another humpback, popped up right next to the boat with a big open mouth! There were a few other humpbacks feeding in the area as well, and even another minke whale!
~ Emily Griffin, Naturalist

Labels: humpback whale, minke whale, Vulture

We had to brave some rain this morning, but we were able to find some whales! Our AM trip was unique in that we only saw fin and minke whales! We had a fin swimming close to our boat, even popping up for a very close look. It was great to get a real sense of the size of these whales. We had at least one other fin in the area, and while we were watching them, we had a minke appear for a few quick looks!
~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: fin whale, minke whale

We had an amazing day today in terms of whales, even if the weather wasn't the best! On our AM trip we first found Fulcrum and her calf. We got some nice looks, with Fulcrum's calf rolling and flipper slapping. Next we passed by three humpbacks doing some deep diving, but we continued on to another mother and calf. Mom was most likely Lavalier (we ran into her and her calf again on the PM trip and were able to positively ID her then). While the mother went on some dives, the calf breached! This calf was being very playful with us. As if this wasn't enough, we then proceeded to find at least four humpbacks doing some deep feeding as well as a pair of fin whales and a minke!
~ Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: calf, fin whale, Fulcrum, Lavalier, minke whale, mother

The afternoon trip we went to the area we had been in this morning, and there was still bait fish all over! Lavalier and her calf were in the area, as were so many others. We had a pair of lunge feeding fin whales, bubble nets and kick feeding from humpbacks. We had Pinpoint and Cajun in the area, as well. Cajun gave us some amazing open mouths very close to the boat! We also got a few appearances from minkes in the area.
~ Emily Griffin, Naturalist

Labels: bait, cajun, fin whale, Lavalier, lunge feeding, minke whale, pinpoint

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

It seems third time was the charm today. Our sunset cruise began in the same very dense fog that was around earlier in the day. We lucked out though, and it cleared up half way into our voyage! The first whale we found was a minke! This little whale stayed near us for a bit before swimming away, allowing us to get some good looks at it. We then saw a breach from a humpback! It happened quite quickly, so only a few of us saw it, but we stayed with this whale and got some great close looks at it's body including it's fluke. This individual even treated us to a little roll - perhaps interested in the school of sandlance in the water!
~Jackie O'Mara, Naturalist

Labels: bait, breaching, flukes, minke whale, rolling

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

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

Photo by Melissa Rocha

This afternoon's whale watch turned out to be nice. We started off with some rough seas, and cloudy weather but ended with calm seas and sunny weather! We found a few minke whales one of the smallest of the baleen whales, and a fin whale the second largest whale! The fin gave us some incredible looks, and it wasn't even a fully grown adult so you can only image how much larger they get!
~Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: fin whale, minke whale

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

Photo by Melissa Rocha

On our PM trip we had several humpback whales, and a fin whale, and minke whales as well! Three of the more commonly seen species. We first got some beautiful looks at 2 logging (resting) humpbacks, this gave us a great look at how graceful they are by swimming right next to the boat and diving underneath! Then we saw one of my favorite humpbacks, Fulcrum, and her calf for this year! Her calf was doing some rolling for us showing us all it's little ventral pleats and flipper off. We had Fulcrum the other day too, but it's always nice to see a mom and calf, it gives a great idea of how big they are even as babies!
~ Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

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

We saw 2-3 minke whales out on Stellwagen Bank, as well as 3-4 Humpbacks and got some nice looks at all the whales today.
~ Naturalist Deb Ridings

Labels: humpbacks, minke whale

Photo by Lead Naturalist Melissa Rocha

Today's trip we saw a few humpbacks and about 2-3 minke whales! We also came across several groups of Northern Gannets which is a large sea bird we see in the springtime. One of the Humpbacks that we saw today was Pixar who is a regular out on Stellwagen.
~Melissa Rocha, Lead Naturalist

Labels: humpbacks, minke whale, pixar

Lots of birds and whales today! Some of the birds we saw were: Jaegar, Cory and Greater Shearwaters, Wilson Storm Petrels, Herring and Greater Black-back Gulls, and a Common Tern. Some nice close looks at some minke whales. We even saw some White Sided Dolphins! Not to mention the Fin and Humpback whales. Humpbacks that we saw: Tectonic, Etch-a-Sketch, Percussion, Jabiru.

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Labels: 2008 Season, fin whale, humpback whale, minke whale

photo by naturalist Melissa Rocha

As we enter into the fall and the season of hurricanes and tropical storms, the seas aren't always as pleasant as we would like. The afternoon trip was canceled due to seas but the morning trip got some awesome views. We had lots of whales and feeding, there was so much bait in the water that even the minke whales were feeding! Whales: Lavalier, Nile, Anchor, and Jabiru. There were a lot of birds out on the bank as well. Shearwaters, gulls and a few terns.

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Labels: 2008 Season, humpback whale, minke whale

Some great looks at some well known regulars. Mom's Echo and Crown continue to be seen just about everyday with their calves. Some of the whales have been seen doing some feeding at the surface. All that feeding has even made several minke whales come right up by the boat for some good looks. Whales seen: Lavalier, Echo and calf, Tectonic, Anchor, Crown and calf, Fulcrum, Tear, and Rune.

Labels: 2008 Season, feeding, humpback whale, minke whale

photo by naturalist Melissa Rocha

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Labels: 2008 Season, breaching, humpback whale, minke whale