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Today was an absolutely perfect weather day to be out on the water. Light westerly winds, clear skies, and not as hot as the past few days. MORNING TRIP We departed Gloucester and made out way east towards an area known locally as “the funny hump” where a number of Humpback whales had been reported from a fishing vessel earlier that morning. Unfortunately the report didn’t turn out to be that good and no Humpbacks were found there. We did, however, find a mother and calf pair of Finback whales... something that is very rare. In fact it was our first sighting of a mother and calf pair of Fin whales this year! CUSTOMER COMMENT FROM TODAY’S TRIP : “This trip went beyond my expectations. I’m amazed at how many whales we saw and how close we were. Crew was awesome and did a great job explaining everything. Two big thumbs up!” -Shawna After a few good looks at the Fin whales we started heading towards the area where we have been seeing a lot of Humpback whales for the past couple of months which was about 14 miles further south. Before we even got there we encountered a group of 8-10 Humpback whales all feeding actively at the surface. We got to see about 20 minutes of spectacular feeding behavior from these whales. They were blowing huge rings of bubbles and lunging through these bubble rings with mouths wide open, giving everyone onboard great looks and, as you can see, great photos as well. CUSTOMER COMMENT FROM TODAY’S TRIP : “Whether you’re a tourist from afar or a “back yard” tourist, this will be a life-changing experience.” -Lisa One really neat part of this feeding display was when we were surprised by a Minke whale that suddenly lunged between us and the Humpback whales and came directly at the boat! This little whale (and by little I mean “only” about 25 feet long) rolled on it’s side and went right under the boat. It was an extraordinary look at a Minke whale, a species that is usually very difficult to get a close look at because of their small size, fast speed, and shy nature. AFTERNOON TRIP On our way out of Gloucester we saw a mother and calf pair of Humpback whales (“Compass” and calf), however there were a number of other boats watching them already (we like to spread out as much as possible to reduce stress on the animals), plus we had reports of a greater concentration of whales further to the south, plus the weather was great, so we decided to keep heading south. It worked out great! SPECIAL CUSTOMER COMMENT FROM THIS AFTERNOON’S TRIP : “What a way to spend my 70th birthday! I couldn’t have asked for a better day!” -Sandra Happy birthday Sandra! CUTEST CUSTOMER COMMENT OF THE DAY : ‘I slept the whole time because I’m 8 weeks old, but my dad had fun.” -Finley We ended up seeing at least 14 other Humpback whales, including 2 more mother and calf pairs, and even saw many DOUBLE BREACHES! Though a little distance away, we could clearly see two adult Humpback whales leaping from the water simultaneously. I would have moved the boat in that direction but we had a group of 7 Humpbacks right alongside the boat, and I have learned from experience that “chasing white water” often doesn’t work out because breaching and other surface active behaviors often last only a minute or two, so by the time you get there the whales stop breaching and it ends up hurting your trip more than helping it... it’s a tough call. But this time I decided to stay put and not 30 seconds later one of the whales (a whale called “Yurt”) we were watching leaped from the water and did a full, spinning head-breach just 20 yards from the boat (picture below!). So it worked out well. Everyone got to see the double breaching from a distance of about 1/2 mile (not far at all when on the water), and while everyone was looking in that direction Yurt leaped from the water in the same direction so I know everyone saw it. It was a good day. CUSTOMER COMMENT (My favorite comment of the year so far) : “This was amazing! I’ll tell all my friends. CAPTAIN JAY ROCKS!!!” -Heather That’s the report from today’s whale watches. I’ll be sure to do another update soon. Captain Jay 7 seas Whale Watch Gloucester, MA

JUNE 25, 2010

LATEST SIGHTINGS :

DATE June 25, 2010

location  Stellwagen Bank (28 miles from Gloucester)

WHALES 14 Humpback Whales (including 3 mother and calf pairs), 2 Finback Whales (a mother and calf seen on the morning trip only), and 1 Minke whale

BIRDS 2 Northern Gannets, 1 Common Loon, many Greater shearwaters, 5 Sooty shearwaters, 1 Cory’s shearwater, and 1 Brant

All Photos on this page were taken on June 25, 2010 aboard the 7 Seas Whale Watch vessel PRIVATEER IV :

WHALE SIGHTINGS  JUNE 25, 2010

A Humpback Whale Called “Cajun” (photo taken June 25, 2010 aboard the 7 Seas Whale Watch vessel Privateer IV)

Humpback Whale Feeding

A Humpback Whale called “Cardhu” Diving

Humpback Whales Feeding

Cajun and her new calf

A Humpback whale Breaching (photo taken June 25, 2010)

Humpback Whale Diving

Cajun Close to the Boat Again

“Buzzard” Diving

INDIVIDUAL HUMPBACK WHALES SEEN TODAY :


Perseid and calf

Cajun and calf

Pele

Buzzard

Milkweed

Pepper

Cardhu

Hananero

Compass and calf

Nile

Alphorn

Tectonic