Gloucester

13 HUMPBACK WHALES (including 1 mother and calf pair), 3 FIN WHALES, 3 MINKE WHALES, 30-40 ATLANTIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHINS, 1 BASKING SHARK and 1 OCEAN SUNFISH!

Humpback Whale calf

This was a great day on the water. We had to travel much further than usual (in fact we traveled further than any other whale watch boat from Gloucester) but it was VERY worth the extra time and effort! We saw lots of Humpback whales feeding, and in 19 years of whale watching I can’t say that I have EVER had such great looks at dolphins (who were conveniently traveling with a Fin whale that we got equally great looks at!).

Atlantic White-sided Dolphins

The first whale sighted this afternoon was actually right on the northwest corner of Stellwagen Bank just 12 miles from Gloucester. It was an adult Humpback called “Pinpoint”. Pinpoint surprised everyone onboard when “he” (we don’t know if Pinpoint is male of female yet) surfaced just a few boat-lengths away on our port (left) side. We got a great look at pinpoint and got to see “his” beautiful all-white tail. Pinpoint was spending a lot of time beneath the surface, however, so rather than stay on Pinpoint I decided to head further to the south in hopes finding more whales that were spending more time at the surface…and we sure did!

Feeding Humpback Whales

Just a few more miles south we came across 12 more Humpback whales all of whom were feeding at or near the surface. We could see the whales blowing huge rings of bubbles that they use to trap schools of fish and thus make it easier for the whales to feed. Strangely, I am not sure exactly what species of fish the whales were feeding on. Normally the whales in our area are feeding on a small pencil-sized, pencil-shaped fish called the “American Sand Lance” but today they were feeding on something different. I could see the fish in the water (and leaping from the whale’s mouths when they would surface through the bubble-clouds) but I couldn’t identify the species. But no matter what species of fish they were feeding on it was great to watch. One whale in particular (a male whale called “Geometry”) was lunging to the surface with jaws wide open giving us unparalleled good looks at how these Humpback whales feed.

This feeding behavior from the Humpback whales alone would have made the trip a good one, but towards the end of the trip were treated to a very special sight: A pod of Atlantic White-sided Dolphins traveling with a giant Fin whale! Now, one of the reasons today’s sighting of Dolphins was so special was because of the weather. There was a slight roll out of the southeast, but the water itself had a smooth and glassy surface. Thus looking at the dolphins beneath the surface was like looking at them through pane of glass…. You could see every inch of the dolphins as they swam all around an under the boat! I think the pictures speak for themselves…

I took MANY more dolphin pictures today...but I can only put so many pictures on each page or else it would take forever to load on your computer! I wish I could have posted them all...

As if seeing the Dolphins so great wasn’t special enough, the fact that the Dolphins were traveling with a Fin whale made it even better. Fin whales are the second largest animal on Earth (reaching up to 75 feet in length) but despite their great size are amazingly fast. They have been nicknamed “the greyhounds of the sea” because they can easily reach speeds of close to 35MPH! They also tend to be rather shy and elusive animals by nature so getting a good look at a Fin whale normally requires a lot of patience, a lot of work, and a little luck…. But not when you have Dolphins helping you! The Dolphins, unlike the larger whales, have the ability to echolocate (send out blasts of sound and then listen to the echoes of those sounds to get a clear picture of what’s in the water around them). The Dolphins will (for reasons I simply don’t know) often times use this sophisticated echolocation system to follow the larger Fin whales beneath the surface. I have seen dolphins “shadow” Humpback whales in this way on a few occasions, but they seem to prefer following the Fin whales much more. Perhaps they are using the Fin whale to help guide them to their prey and since Fin whale and Dolphins feed on similar food (larger fish usually than whale the Humpback whales feed on) this explains why the Dolphins tend to “shadow” the Fin whales more. I’m really not sure. But it is wonderful when they do this because all we need to do is follow the Dolphins and, because they are using their echolocation to follow the Fin whale as it swims deep in the ocean, we are in just the right place to see the Fin whale when it surfaces. At one point today we had the Fin whale right next to the boat and, with the weather conditions being so calm and clear, we could see the eye of the whale, the flippers, and every detail of the blaze and chevron pattern that makes the Fin whale such a sublimely elegant creature. Fin whales are amazing animals and this look we got today was a once in a lifetime experience. (To learn more about Fin whales please visit our Fin whale page here).

Ocean Sunfish

On the way home we spotted a few Minke whales and got great looks at an Ocean Sunfish… one of the most bizarre fish in the sea.

AND A NOTE TO THOSE ONBOARD TODAY’S WHALE WATCH:

I was glad to have such a great crowd out today too. You were all very enthusiastic and seemed very appreciative of the great whale sightings and the special day we had on the water. Your excitement was contagious and I think you know that those of us on the crew were having as much fun as you were! Thank you for you patience as we did have to traveler further than normal to find the greatest number of whales, but I know you are in agreement that it was well worth the extra effort!

S. Jay Frontierro

7 Seas Whale Watch Naturalist

ALL PHOTOS TAKEN FROM THE 7 SEAS WHALE WATCHING BOAT PRIVATEER IV

Some of the above photos were taken by our good friend Oktay Kaya. To see more of Oktay's beautiful whale photographs and other wildlife pictures he has taken please visit his site at http://www.whalesandwhales.com

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