For the past few days we have been finding whales in a slightly unusual place, an area  called Tillies Bank.  Tillies Bank is located a few miles to northeast of Stellwagen Bank, and just to the south of Jeffrey’s ledge. In other words, directly between the two areas we usually find Whales! It’s an odd place for Whales gather for any length of time, but there seems to be an abundance of fish there, in particular Sand lance, and so not surprisingly the Whales have gathered there also.

The number of Whales we have been seeing there varies with anywhere from 8 to 30 Whales sighted in a day, but as I said in my last sightings update, the number of Whales spotted on a trip doesn’t matter as much as what the Whales are doing.  Today was a good example.

When we first arrived at Tillies Bank we could see a number of whales, single animals and a few pairs, spread out over a large area.  We first stopped on a pair of adult Humpback whales who were traveling and making short dives of about 3-4 minutes. One of the Whales did role on its side and lift its flipper out of the water, which was great, but after watching these whales for a short while we left because we spotted the tell-tale splashes of Dolphins not far away!  Dolphins are very fast moving animals so when you spot Dolphins it’s best to go see them right away (you can always go back to the larger whales later).

As it turns out, the pod of about 200 Dolphins was traveling with 4 (possibly 5) Finback whales.  The Finbacks whales were feeding, and at one point one lunged to to the surface much like a Humpback whale, showing us a good portion of its head, something you rarely see of a Fin whale.  This was the highlight of the trip for me.

After enjoying the Fin whales and Dolphins for a good while, we went back to where the Humpback whales were, just a mile or two away.  By this point the Humpbacks had begun to feed as well...in particular a well-known Whale called “Fulcrum” who was very actively feeding.  Fulcrum was feeding in the typical Humpback whale style, and since I talk about feeding whales a lot (this area is a feeding ground of course) I want to describe it in more detail:

Fulcrum would begin each “feeding sequence” by slashing her tail at the surface,  presumably to stun the schools of fish beneath her.  This is called “kick-feeding” and is observed in the majority of Humpback whales in the area.  Then she would make a quick dive to position her self beneath the fish and blow a cloud of bubbles which rise through the school.  All of this commotion causes the fish to panic and group tightly together.  Normally grouping together helps a school of fish protect itself from predators, but in this case it simply means that the whale can get more in each mouthful.  So after creating the bubble cloud Fulcrum would rise up through the bubbles with her mouth open, scooping up fish as she went. 

Fulcrum was later joined by two of my personal favorite whales, “Nile” and “Tunguska”.  Nile, a a little bit Tunguska, also began feeding and the three of them were wonderful to watch.

So whether or not the Whales will remain on Tillies Bank, move back south towards Stellwagen, or wander north to Jeffrey’s Ledge is impossible to say.  But that’s part of the fun of whale watching... it’s a nature trip and each day is different.  Each day brings its own challenges, but so often its own rewards.  This certainly the case today.

I’ll be sure to do another update soon!

19. S.Jay Frontierro
    

7 Seas Whale Watch