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Both of today’s whale watches were a lot of fun. And although we saw many of the same whales on both morning and afternoon trips, there were some significant differences between the two trips as well. On the morning trip we saw 7 different Humpback whales, including 2 mother and calf pairs: “Rune” and calf, and “Giraffe” and calf. For many people onboard it was Giraffe and her new calf that stole the show. The little calf was very surface active and he/she (the gender of the calf is not yet known) tail-breached (twisted and threw the back half of the body out of the water), tail-lobbed (Pounded the surface of the water with its tail), and chin-breached (leapt from the water and landed chin first in the water) a number of times. These displays of surface activity are what have made Humpback whales a favorite amongst whale watchers not just in New England, but throughout the world. And while Humpbacks are more prone to this type of surface activity than most other large whale species, it is not every day that we get to see breaching, tail-breaching, lob-tailing, flipper-slapping, etc, so it is always special to see. You might think that this activity from Giraffe’s new calf would have been the highlight of the trip (and perhaps it was for many people), but for many of us the most amazing sighting of the morning was the surprise sighting of 2 North Atlantic Right Whales while were on our way home. Right whales are the most endangered of all the great whales with perhaps fewer than 300 left in existence. These whales are called the “Right” whale because whalers considered them the ‘Right” as in “correct” whale to hunt. Whalers felt that these whales were the ideal species to hunt because they were large (and thus yielded large amounts of blubber and oil when killed), they were slow moving, lived close to shore, and floated when dead (most whales sink when dead, therefore whalers could spend hours, even days, risking their lives to kill a whale only to have it sink and be lost. This didn’t happen with Right whales). All of these traits meant that Right whales were hunted mercilessly from about 1712 to the mid 1800’s. During that time the Right whale population off our coast declined dramatically. Whalers in the early 1700’s wrote in their journals that Right whales were so abundant that they (meaning the whalers) could “...walk from Gloucester to Provincetown on the backs of all the Right whales in the area.” Now, because of over hunting, the species is teetering on the brink of extinction. Obviously seeing an animal this rare is something that few people ever get to experience, so this morning’s trip was one of the most memorable of the year so far simply for having seen them. Unfortunately we were not able to get very close to these whale as they are protected by very strict approach limits. This prevented me from getting up-close photos to share with you, but I did get this one nice shot (below) of the tail of one of the Right whales when it dove. Note how triangular the flukes (each side of the tail) are, and how the trailing edge of the tail is smooth as opposed to jagged as in the Humpback whale (compare to the tail of Giraffe’s calf to the right). Right whales! Wow! KID’S COMMENT FROM TODAY’S TRIP: “It was awesome. We saw a basking shark and sawFin whales lunge feeding. I want to come back here every single day! (then she drew a little smiley face)” - Emma The afternoon whale watch was a special trip too. We saw 5 Humpback whales including 3 mother and calf pairs: “Dome” and calf, “Rune” and calf, and “Spoon” and calf. “Giraffe” and calf, the stars of the morning trip from an activity standpoint at least, were missing this afternoon. But no worries! Spoon and her calf more than made up for their absence! We had already had a wonderful trip watching the different Humpback whales traveling and diving. We had even gotten to see two Fin whales lunge feeding which was A LOT of fun! But then, rather than go straight back to shore where it was VERY hot, we decided to stay out on the cool water a little longer and see what else we could find. We ended up traveling a few miles to the east of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and there we found “Spoon” and her new calf who were traveling with a small pd of Atlantic white-sided dolphins! Spoon herself was resting at the surface (something that Spoon is famous for) but her calf was very curious about the boat. The calf crossed back and forth beneath the boat, rolled over and swam upside down next to us, lifted it’s flipper in the air, and gave us wonderful looks from just a few feet away. All the while the dolphins were swimming in circles around the boat which made for an exciting end to our trip. This sighting of Spoon and calf was the first sighting of these two whales for us this year. Seeing a whale for the first time is always special, but seeing Spoon and calf was extra special because Spoon happens to be my father’s favorite whale in our population, and today was his birthday! I won’t say how old he is though. While dad wasn’t out on the water today (who wants to work on their birthday?) I immediately texted him when we realized we were watching Spoon with a new calf and he was excited to hear she was still out there and doing well. I think it was a good birthday surprise. So here she is dad: CUSTOMER COMMENT FROM TODAY’S TRIP: “The entire crew was so nice, helpful and passionate about what they do. It made the trip so much more enjoyable! Thank you! Especially the commentator (naturalist) and captain.” - Elaise CUSTOMER COMMENT FROM TODAY’S TRIP : “Awesome! I can’t believe the sightings. The crew kept us out to continue watching more whales and dolphins. I highly recommend!’” - Debra So it was a fun day on the water and a great way to beat the heat on land. I have another two whale watches tomorrow and can’t wait to see what new surprises we will find. Will the Right whales still be out there? Will we see Giraffe and calf again and, if so, will the calf be active again? How about the basking sharks that we have been seeing lately! Will they still be out there too? No one can say. That’s why each trip is exciting. You never know what you will see or where you will find the whales. But if you look hard enough you will always find something new or unusual. For example today, while watching the Fin whales lung feeding, I saw a Common murre fly by the boat! These penguin-like birds (They are NOT penguins... just “penguin-like”) are rare and seen only in the winter (usually after large storms blow them close to shore). Seeing one on a hot summer day in July is virtually unheard of! So you just never know what will happen. Check back for another update soon! Captain Jay 7 seas Whale Watch Gloucester, MA

JULY 3, 2010

LATEST SIGHTINGS :

DATE July 6, 2010 (Totals for Both Trips)

location  Stellwagen Bank (11 miles from Gloucester)

WHALES 7 Humpback Whales (including 3 mother and calf pairs), 4 Finback Whales, 3 Minke Whales, 2 Right Whales, and ~15-20 Atlantic White-sided Dolphins

BIRDS 1 Northern Gannet, many Greater and Sooty shearwaters, abundant Wilson’s Storm-petrels, and 1 Common Murre

All Photos on this page were taken between July 3rd and July 6th, 2010 aboard the 7 Seas Whale Watch vessel PRIVATEER IV

WHALE SIGHTINGS  JULY 6, 2010

Humpback Whale calf (Giraffe’s calf) chin-breaching

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

A Humpback Whale called “Spoon” (Photo taken July 6, 2010)

Spoon’s calf (Photo taken July 6, 2010)

Atlantic White-sided Dolphin (Photo taken July 3, 2010)

A Humpback Whale Calf  Breaching

Giraffe’s calf  “Tail-lobbing” (Photo taken July 6, 2010)

Atlantic White-sided Dolphin (Photo taken July 6, 2010)

Humpback Whales Feeding (Photo taken July 3, 2010)

SPOON!

(Photo taken July 6, 2010)

Passengers aboard the Privateer IV

(Photo taken July 4, 2010)