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2009 whale sightings reports: ________________________ 2008 WHALE SIGHTINGS REPORTS: View photographs and view sightings reports from the memorable 2008 whale watching season 2009 PELAGIC BIRD REPORTS : A new section of this site reserved just for ocean birds and birders |
2009 WHALE SIGHTINGS REPORT: MAY 23, 2009 Total Sightings: 8 HUMPBACK WHALES, 5 FIN WHALES, 1 MINKE WHALE, 2 ATLANTIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHINS, 2 HARBOR PORPOISE, and 1 LEACH'S STORM PETREL
A Humpback Whale Called "Geometry" Chin Breaching
A Tail breaching Humpback Whale on May 22, 2009 Today’s whale watch started of challenging as we were mired in thick fog nearly as soon as we left the harbor and all the way out to Stellwagen Bank. When we reached the area where we have been seeing whales recently, however, the fog cleared just a bit and we were able to spot our first whale, an adult female Humpback whale called “Cajun.” Cajun was initially traveling at the surface but soon began feeding which was wonderful to see. As we were watching Cajun we spotted a pair of Humpback whales on the edge of the fog bank and one of the whales was doing some surface active behaviors that are difficult to describe. The whale was rolling at the surface and slashing its tail from side-to-side. This certainly peaked our curiosity so we went over to investigate. It turns out the whale was reacting to a pair (literally 2!) Atlantic White-sided Dolphins that were swimming around the whale’s head! The Humpback seemed visibly annoyed with the dolphins and repeatedly thrashed the tail in the direction of the Dolphins. The second Humpback seemed un-phased by their little followers. Exactly why the Dolphins were swimming around these whales I don’t know. Perhaps they were trying to steal some of the fish that the Humpbacks were feeding upon. Perhaps they just liked bugging the larger whales. In any case it was great to see both species together. Later we moved on to another pair of Humpback whales (one of which was a whale called “Spirit” whom we had seen breaching earlier in the week) that were initially resting at the surface, but soon after we arrived they swam over to the boat for a closer look at us! The two whales crossed right under our boat and surfaced within a few feet of the people on the bow a couple of times. All of a sudden a third whale burst to the surface making our pair of whales into a group of three. The third whale was Cajun again, and after Cajun’s arrival the group continued traveling to the south. I guess Cajun was more interesting then us!
On the way in some of us got a brief look at 2 Harbor porpoise which are very unusual this time of year (much more common in the early spring.) Other highlights of the past week included: The sighting of 3 different mother and calf pairs in one trip. One of the mothers was my personal favorite whale in “our” population… “Nile.” I was very happy to see her with a new little one!
"Nile" is Named for the Black River-like Marking on the Left Side of Her Tail A juvenile Humpback Whale that put on a great display of “tail breaching.” This is when the whale twists and throws the back 2/3rds of the body out of the water. This type of activity really gives you an impression of the true power of the whale. Imagine the strength it takes to twist 2/3rds of a 60,000 pound animal out of the water! On one particularly choppy day at sea (with southwest winds gusting to over 30MPH) a very well-know male Humpback called “Geometry” was traveling with a second whale (“plateau”… the same pair we saw lunge-feeding last week) when suddenly Geometry burst from the water in huge, full-spinning breach. Geometry followed up this monster breach with a series of high “chin breaches.” Unfortunately I wasn’t quick enough with my camera to get the first spinning head breach but I did manage a few good photos of the chin breaches.
One last great sighting was of a Finback whale. We spotted it from a distance moving slowly at the surface and thought it might be a good opportunity to get a close look at this normally fast-moving and elusive species. Sure enough we were able to get right up next to the whale and, being such a calm day (unlike the day we saw Geometry breaching!) we were able to see quite a bit of the whale beneath the surface as is slowly moved up the side of our whale watch boat. Then, without warning, the whale gave 2 quick flicks of its tail and accelerated. We could see the whale beneath the surface take off like a submarine. While this was, unfortunately, the last look we were able to get of this whale, but seeing the legendary speed and elegance of a Fin whale in action was really amazing.
So in closing it was a good few days on the water. I hope these great sightings continue long enough to share them with many more passengers over this Memorial Day weekend! BIRD STUFF After work today I hosted a little Memorial Day weekend cookout at my house and everyone enjoyed watching the bird feeders and taking a walk through the woods behind the house. Here are 3 photographs I took during the cookout....
Barred Owl sleeping in a White pine tree
Great Crested Flycatcher
Ruby-throated Hummingbird _____________________________________________________________________________________________ All photos on this page were taken aboard the 7 Seas Whale Watch boat "Privateer IV" Some of the BEST photographs on this site were taken aboard our whale watching trips 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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BIRD SIGHTINGS REPORTS: |
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Massachusetts 01930 |
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Cajun surfacing alongside the Privateer IV
Atlantic White-sided Dolphins
"Spirit" Breaching
Tail Breaching Humpback Whale
Geometry Chin Breaching on a Choppy Day
2008
