WSU09 7-20-2009

Over the past week the whales have settled into a somewhat predictable pattern where the greatest concentration is seen over Stellwagen Bank’s southwest corner, although smaller numbers are occasionally seen on the northern parts of the Bank and even up on Jeffrey’s Ledge (to the northeast of Gloucester). In other words, there are A LOT of whales out there.

Humpback Whale Diving

Our whale watches have mainly focused, however, on the southwest corner of Stellwagen Bank where the majority of the whales have been seen. Sometimes as many as 25 whales are seen on a single trip feeding on huge schools of American Sand Lance… the small, pencil-sized, fish that the Humpback Whales in this part of the world prefer to feed upon.

Feeding Humpback Whale

The “best” feeding whale has been a well-known adult Humpback called “Etch-a-sketch.” This whale is known for her spectacular feeding displays. This whale is often seen pounding her tail at the surface to stir up/stun the fish, then she blows a huge ring of bubbles around the fish (the bubbles act as a physical barrier through which traps the fish) and then she rises through the bubble… mouth wide open… consuming fish as she goes. Etch-a-sketch is certainly not the only whale we have seen feeding recently, but she probably is the whale seen feeding most regularly.

Nile Lobtailing

Another pair of regularly seen whales has been “Nile” and her calf. Nile just happens to be one of my favorite whales in our population so have been very happy to see her so much recently. Our most exciting encounter with Nile and calf was no doubt when we saw them DOUBLE BREACHING (!!!), flipper slapping, and lob-tailing. This spectacular display of surface activity occurred at the very end of a trip when the whales were, well, just not doing very much. There were a lot of whales in the area (probably 10-15 at least) but they were simply traveling or deep diving. Then out of nowhere Nile’s calf leapt from the water. Nile herself immediately followed with a “breach” of her own. They alternated breaches a few more times before Nile began lob-tailing and the calf flipper-slapped and breached. It just goes to show that in whale watching (like all nature watching) patience is usually rewarded with spectacular sightings!

"Nile's" Calf flipper-slapping

"Nile" lobtailing

Nile Breaching

Other individual humpbacks seen recently include:

Livelier and calf

Fulcrum and calf

Pinpoint

Alphorn

Vulture

Isthmus

Tear

Percussion

Trident

Anvil and calf

While we never know exactly how many whales, or which whales, or which behaviors will be seen on a trip the sheer number of whales on Stellwagen Bank has made for some very good whale watching recently. And besides, the unknown nature of the trip is part of the fun! Whale watching is, after all, a nature trip and the animals we are looking for are WILD and ENDANGERED creatures that are free to roam the oceans at will. Simply catching a glimpse of one of these whales is a special sight. To have the opportunity to see so many or to see any of these spectacular behaviors is truly a privilege.

In Birding news Cory's Shearwaters have been regularly sighted in fairly large numbers (25+) per trip. These normally southern birds are seldom sighted north of Cape Cod but, for the second year in a row, have been a regular on Stellwagen Bank

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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