7 Seas Whale Watch           Our Vessel           Whale Sightings Home          Photos

 
 
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES! Let me just say before I start talking about today’s trips that yesterday (June 13th) we did not see any whales for the first time in over 2 years! It wasn’t because there weren’t any whales in the area. Rather it was because of VERY thick fog. Despite the best efforts of all of the whale watching boats out of Gloucester, who all worked together to cover as much of Stellwagen Bank as thoroughly as we could, none of us were able to find whales. MORNING TRIP (8:30am) Today (June 14th) started off much the same. When we left Gloucester harbor we again found ourselves in thick fog. We traveled out to Stellwagen Bank never being able to see more than 100 yards from the boat. In these conditions finding whales is difficult of course. So we were a little nervous that the fog would prevent us from finding whales for the second day in row. But..... When we were 31 miles from Gloucester we spotted a “fluke print” in front of us. A fluke print is the circular smooth patch left behind on the surface of the water when a whale dives. So we knew there was at least one whale close by. We stopped the boat and waited, hoping we could see or hear it when it resurfaced. We didn’t have to wait long. After only a few seconds a group of 3 Finback Whales surfaced right alongside our boat. Almost at the same time 3 Minke Whales surfaced as well. Then 1 Humpback Whale. We circled the boat around to get closer to the Humpback Whale and realized that there was a group of 3 Humpbacks feeding just 50 yards away but had been completely concealed by fog! CUSTOMER COMMENT FROM THIS MORNING’S TRIP : “Very cool experience. Saw a curious Humpback whale slide by the boat - extremely close - and opened it’s big eye to check us out. Definitely a highlight. Thank you!” -Tania Hey Tania! Check it this photo our naturalist Jodi Sivak took on today’s trip! Look familiar? Shorty thereafter another group of 4 feeding Humpback Whales materialized through the fog as well. Then more, and more. In a matter of minutes (literally less than 5 minutes) we found ourselves surrounded by 10-15 Humpback Whales all actively feeding. They were slashing their tails at the surface, blowing huge clouds of bubbles, and lunging to the surface with wide-open mouths. All the while Finback Whales and MInke Whales darted through the swarm of feeding Humpbacks. The fog (and I know this is ironic) actually made sitting amidst all these whales even more spectacular. It added a very “moody” element to the scene which was great for photography. CUSTOMER COMMENT FROM THIS MORNING’S TRIP : “Was feeling pessimistic with the fog... but awesome! Minke, Fin, and Humpback... fantastic... will recommend. Would love to come back again one day!” -Will It really was an amazing trip. To have spent so many consecutive hours staring at gray fog, only to find yourself suddenly surrounded by whales was one of the coolest things I have seen in the 20 years I have worked with 7 Seas. While we have many great whale watching trips each year, it’s not often that I can say that I will remember this particular trip for a long, long time. But this morning’s trip was “one of those” trips for sure! AFTERNOON TRIP (1:30pm) By afternoon the fog had lifted and we got to enjoy sunny weather!!! This allowed us to easily relocate the whales from the morning trip and we had another great trip this afternoon. We saw 16 different Humpback whales including 4 mother and calf pairs. The first mother and calf pair was “Reaper” and calf with whom we spent only a short time. We then visited “Cajun” and calf who were traveling with a third adult Humpback whale called “Milkweed”. After watching this trio for about 10 minutes they joined with another group of whales that included “Whisk” and calf, “Free-fall”, “Pele,” and a couple of unidentified whales brought the total for the group to 10 whales! One of the calves (Cajun’s calf) breached many, many times. Some of the breaches were very close to the boat. We watched this breaching and group of ten for a while, then we saw another mother and calf pair double-breaching (leaping from the water at the same time) not far away so we went there and found it was “Rune” and calf. The calf breached a few more times while his/her mother (Rune) flipper-slapped. Then Rune and calf joined with the group of 10 making a total of 12 whales. What else can I say? KID’S COMMENT FROM THIS AFTERNOON’S TRIP : “This was my first whale watch and will probably be my favorite. The crew was very nice. The whales were the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.” -Ella (Age 9) SPECIAL NOTE: I know that some of you who went out with us yesterday in the fog and didn’t see whales came back out today and that is obviously GREAT! For those of you that couldn’t come back today, please come soon! Not seeing whales is a very unusual occurrence and is usually the result of fog more than anything else. Like I said at the start of this update, yesterday was the first “skunk” trip (industry slang for a trip in which you see no whales) in over 2 years. And I will be honest and say I feel a little bad writing this update knowing some of you may read it! What can I say? Whale watching is a nature trip, and we can’t control the whales or the weather. However, because the Stellwagen bank area is such a productive whale feeding ground, we rarely are not able to find whales, even in the worst conditions. So I really hope you will try again. I’m sure you will be glad you did. Please check back soon for another update! Jay Frontierro 7 Seas Whale Watch

June 14, 2010

LATEST SIGHTINGS :

DATE June 14, 2010

location  Stellwagen Bank (31 miles from Gloucester)

WHALES 16 Humpback Whales, 3 Finback Whales, and 4+ Minke Whales

BIRDS Numerous Greater and  Sooty Shearwaters, 3 Manx Shearwaters, Numerous Northern Gannets, 1 Common Loon, and 2 Laughing Gulls

(Numerous = 30+)

Recent Photos taken aboard the PRIVATEER IV :

WHALE SIGHTINGS  JUNE 14, 2010

~ a site by S. Jay Frontierro with photographs by Oktay Kaya

Cajun’s Calf (photo by Jodi Sivak)

<<< BACK to WHALE SIGHTINGS HOME PAGE

Humpback Whales Feeding in the Fog

Humpback Whale Calf

Humpback Whale Calf Breaching

A Humpback Whale called “Reaper” Feeding

Humpback Whale Calf flipper-slapping

Humpback Whale Tail

A Humpback Whale Calf Breaching VERY Close to the Boat

Picture of the Day : A Wandering Albatross I photographed just north of Islas Malvinas, Argentina, in January 2007
Quote of the Day: “The creatures that inhabit this Earth, be they human beings or animals, are here to contribute, each in its own particular way, to the beauty and prosperity of the world.” -Buddhist proverb

Humpback Whale Feeding