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Over the past week the majority of the Humpback and Finback whales have been found in a deep water area between Stellwagen Bank and another, smaller bank called “Tillies Bank.” This area is still within the boundaries of STELLWAGEN BANK NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY, and is about 12 miles southeast of Gloucester Harbor. The number of whales sighted on any particular trip varies, although 4-8 Humpback whales seems to be average. As far as Finback whales are concerned, some days there are only 1 or 2 in the area, and then the very next day there may be 15 or more! What is also interesting is that the individual whales being seen each day changes a lot. Unlike our whale watching trips earlier in the season, where we sere sighting the same whales almost everyday (i.e. Cajun and calf, Perseid and calf, Pele, Milkweed, etc), lately we have seen a constant ebb and flow of Humpback whales through the area. Here’s an example: Three days ago, on a morning whale watch, we saw 8 Humpback whales: Tear, Compass and calf, Jabaru, Habanero, Nile, and two unidentified whales. Two days ago we saw: Leukos and calf, Wyoming, Nuages, and 1 unidentified whale. Yesterday we saw: Leukos and calf, Rapier, Broomball, and 3 unidentified whales both of whom where whales that we hadn’t seen yet this year... a “type-1” (all white tail) and a “type-3” (half black, half white tail). The “type-3” was the whale who came over and “spy-hopped” or lifted its head out of the water to look at the boat (photo to the right). CUSTOMER COMMENTS FROM YESTERDAY’S WHALE WATCH : “Wow! Excellent trip. Knowledgable naturalist. Very fin and informative. This was my 4-year-old’s first whale watch and he loved it!” - Lori So as you can see there are a lot of whales moving through the area. This, by the way, is EXACTLY why it is so important to the study of whales (or any wildlife) to be able to recognize individuals. If we were not able to identify the individual Humpback whales we see then we may well assume that we are sighting the same 4-7 whales everyday. This would, of course, be a mistake and it would mean that our understanding of these whales would be incomplete at best, downright inaccurate at worst. For example, being able to “ID” individual whales allows us to (among other things) : Accurately asses the number of whales in the area and thus the number of whales that utilize the waters off the Massachusetts coast to find food We would have a much less complete picture of how whales interact with their environment (such as where they travel throughout the feeding season, how long they spend in each place, and how their behaviors change throughout the summer months). We would not be able to figure out what the associations are like between individual whales. For example, when we see whales traveling together, are they of different ages or do whale prefer the company of similar-aged animals (this seems to be the case)? Are whales of different sexes more are less likely to associate with one another (no clear answer to that one yet)? Do whales that are related to each other (brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc) associate more or less than would be expected if associations were formed at random (less likely)? And how do these associations change over time? These are all the important things we need to understand if we are going to be able to better conserve the whales, their habitats, and their food resources! It will be interesting to see if the whales settle into a regular place, with the same individuals being found there day after day (as is often times the case in late summer), or if this constant moving from one area to another continues. Personally, I find it fun challenging to have new whales sighted each day. Identifying whales in the field is fun! STRANGE NEW ENGLAND WEATHER : In addition to the whale sightings we have also had a lot of interesting weather recently. It has been VERY hot almost everyday which of course makes being on the water a big relief from the heat on the land, but sometimes when the winds are calm it’s been oppressively hot on the ocean too! While some hope this heat wave will last, other are looking forward to a change to cooler, drier air. The weather in New England can change quickly, and yesterday’s weather illustrates that perfectly : Yesterday morning when we left Gloucester it was very foggy... we couldn’t see more than 25 from the side of the boat. Somehow we still found whales (Leukos and calf traveling with Geometry). Then as the morning went on the fog cleared and it was a beautiful, clear, calm, summer day. On the way back to Gloucester, however, it got very foggy again. In fact it got so foggy that we couldn’t even see land until we were about 200 yards from our dock! Shortly after arriving back in Gloucester the fog again cleared and the sky became clear and sunny. An hour later, when we departing for our afternoon trip, the sky began turning gray and ominous. By the time we left the harbor (about 15 minutes later) it was pouring rain, lightning was flashing everywhere, and 35MPH winds blew streaks of foam across the surface of the water. By the time we reached the whales (about 45 minutes later) it was again a clear, blue, sunny sky and the wind and seas were again calm. A half hour or so later we got hit with another heavy band of rain... but thankfully the was no wind associated with this storm. Of course by the time the whale watch was over the sky had cleared and while sailing around Cape Ann later that evening on a private charter we saw a beautiful sunset over Thatcher Island in Rockport. Strange weather for sure... but it made for some great photographs: Check back soon for another update! Captain Jay 7 seas Whale Watch Gloucester, MA

JULY 13, 2010

LATEST SIGHTINGS :

DATE July 13, 2010 (Totals for Both Trips)

location  Between Stellwagen and Tillies Bank (12 miles from Gloucester)

WHALES 7 Humpback Whales (including 1 mother and calf pair), 3 Finback Whales, and 1 Minke Whale

BIRDS 2 Northern Gannets, many Greater and Sooty shearwaters, 8-10 Cory’s Shearwaters, 5 Manx Shearwaters, abundant Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, and 3 Common Terns

All Photos on this page were taken in July 2010 aboard the 7 Seas Whale Watch vessel PRIVATEER IV

WHALE SIGHTINGS  JULY 13, 2010

A Humpback Whale CALLED “NILE”  chin-breaching

(Photo by Oktay Kaya, to view more of Oktay’s photos click here)

Humpback Whale Calf In The Fog (Photo taken July 12, 2010)

A Curious Humpback Whale “Spy-hopping” (Photo taken July 12, 2010)

A Humpback Whale (the unidentified “type-1” described in this update) Diving

(Photo taken July 12, 2010)

The Tail Of The Same Humpback Whale Shown “Spy-hopping” Above. Do You Know Which Humpback Whale This Is?!?!

The PRIVATEER IV

Humpback Whale Diving

(Photo Taken July 10, 2010)

A Humpback Whale In The Rain

(Photos taken July 12, 2010)

Finback Whale Surfacing

Greater Shearwater

A Storm Over Gloucester’s Easter Point

(Photo taken July 12, 2010)

Passengers aboard the Privateer IV

(Photo taken July 2010)

And Just For Fun : A Great Egret Catching Fish From Our Dock

(Photo taken July 2010 by Oktay Kaya)

Sunset Behind Thatcher Island

(Photo taken July 2010)

Schooner And The Storm

(Photo taken July 12, 2010)

A Young Passenger And His Art

(Photo by Robert Galbraith)