|
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 26, 2009 Total Sightings: 19 HUMPBACK WHALES, 1 FIN WHALE, 2 MINKE WHALES, and for birds 1 NORTHERN FULMAR, 1 POMARINE JAEGER, 2 SOOTY SHEARWATERS, 2 GREATER SHEARWATERS, and 15 NORTHERN GANNETS.
Humpback Whale breaching. Photographed from the 7 Seas Whale Watching vessel "Privateer IV" in May 2009 Our whale watch today brought us the most whales of the season to date with a conservative estimate of 19 Humpback Whales! We had to travel a bit farther than normal to find them (24 miles from the entrance to Gloucester harbor), but I’m sure no one onboard minded the slightly longer ride because once we got there the whales were excellent! And besides our boat goes fast J. A Humpback Whale called "Cajun" Diving The first group of whales we spotted was a group of 3 Humpback whales: A mother and calf pair traveling with an “escort.” The mother was a whales called “Lavaliere” and the escort was a whale called “Jabaru” (like the stork). At first they were traveling at the surface but soon began feeding. We watched them for about 20 minutes and then our Captain decided to take a risk and leave those whales to go exploring… and we are glad he did! Feeding Humpback Whales, May 2009. We headed east about 6 miles and found a group of AT LEAST 16 (probably more like 20) Humpback whales feeding. Every so often one of the whales would breach (leap from the water), tail breach (twist and throw the back 2/3rds of the body from the water), and one whale put on quite a display of lob-tailing (laying on its back and pounding the tail repeatedly at the surface.) A Humpback Whale Called "Tear" Breaching One whale, a male whale called “Tear” breached a number of times very close to the boat affording everyone onboard fantastic looks at this uncommon but spectacular Humpback whale behavior.
MUST SEE VIDEO!!! (Be sure to click the "HD" button in the lower right of the YouTube player to view the video in High Definition) The highlight of the trip for many people, however, was a group of five (at one point 6) Humpbacks feeding in unison. The whales would work together to blow a huge ring of bubbles around a school of fish then lunge to the surface with mouths wide open in the middle of the ring. They did this many times so everyone could really appreciate the precise coordination such a feeding strategy entails. At one point we were all looking for the bubbles to start to appear on the port side of the boat when we heard the bubbles but couldn’t see them. Then we realized the bubbles were actually coming up all around us! People ran to the rail on either side of the boat and waited. Sure enough the whales lunged within a few feet of the boat and I got video to prove it. Such a close look feeding whales is very rare but with the number of whales in the area right now I would not be surprised to have more up close encounters like this. Hopefully many more.
A couple of other good photos I took on this trip If you have been thinking of going whale watching I would HIGHLY recommend that you do so soon. The whales are abundant right now and feeding activity is at an all-time high for the year. Who knows how long sightings like this can last?! For you whale watch enthusiasts out there who might be keeping track of the individual whales were are seeing, here is my list IDs for this trip: Lavaliere and calf Jabaru Tear Cajun Falcon Monarch Geometry Compass Sloop Nile and calf (probable… they were far away)
And for you bird enthusiast (like me) today brought us the most birds to date as well. I saw 2 Sooty Shearwaters and 2 Greater Shearwaters (both first-of-the-year sightings for those species), 1 Northern Fulmar (light phase), 1 Pomarine Jaeger (light phase subadult), 15 Northern Gannets, and 250+ Common Terns (there may well have been a few Arctic and Roseate Terns mixed in but I was too busy watching the whales to examine all the terns too closely.)
BIRD STUFF:
Check out this footage of a Barred Owl being harassed by Grackles I took in my backyard yesterday! As always be sure to click the “HD” button the lower right of the player to see the video in greatest detail. More bird photos taken over Memorial Day weekend:
Barred Owl sleeping in a White pine tree, Hamilton MA
Great Crested Flycatcher, Hamilton MA
Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Hamilton MA RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY (just because):
_____________________________________________________________________________________________ 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
|
