Saturday, May 23, 2015 Whale Watch

9 am trip - Tammy

Winds out of the NW made for a rough ride offshore today but the whales made it worth it! Once we got to Stellwagen Bank, we had about 10-15 humpback whale scattered over a couple of miles.

humpback whale traveling

We started watching several single animals and several pairs of humpbacks. Some animals were feeding and we got to see multiple behaviors related to feeding. One humpback whale was lunge feeding at the surface and we could just see the tail-end of the lunge as the mouth closed and the animal started to strain water out of the mouth.

humpback whale straining

Another humpback named Tornado was kick feeding, or using her tail to stun small bait fish. Tornado is a female humpback whale with a mostly black fluke.

tail pattern of Tornado

We ended our trip with great looks at a group of four humpback whales including a yearling and a mature adult named Tear. Just as we approached this group, we saw Tear tail -breach! The young animal then became quite curious and gave us a close approach as three of the other whales swam behind and very close to the boat. It was a great ending to this morning's trip! Identified humpback whales include Tornado, Tear and Pleats. 

humpback whale Tear diving

group of humpbacks traveling by our boat

2 pm trip - Tammy

The winds and seas died down this afternoon making for a more comfortable ride. We headed back to Stellwagen Bank where we picked up a pair of humpback whales that were leisurely traveling just below the surface. We then moved on to a group of five humpback whales. This group included a mom and calf pair, Bolide and calf.

Bolide (left) and calf (right)

Bolide's tail

The group also contained a humpback whale named Owl. Owl had some deep propeller scars on her back, indicating she has been struck by a boat. It is known that Owl got hit by a boat several years ago, but the scars we saw today look different and new. We will be sharing these photos with the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies humpback whale research program so that this case can be documented. While this serves as a harsh reminder about the dangers that humans can cause to whales, Owl seems to be doing just fine and she may even be a mom! We had a second small whale in the group that might be a calf and could belong to Owl. 

Owl's propeller scars

Owl (back) and Bolide (front) traveling

At one point we even saw a young gray seal pop up and curiously swim towards us!

gray seal

We had amazing views of the group of five humpbacks as we watched them for the remainder of our trip. It was a great day offshore!

Saturday, May 16, 2015 Whale Watch

9 am trip - Tammy

Humpback whales, finback whales, Atlantic white-sided dolphins and lots of activity made for a great morning! Everywhere you looked there were whales, dolphins and birds charging, bubble-netting and lunging with open mouths taking advantage of the plentiful small forage fish of Stellwagen Bank.  We got to see 10-15 humpback whales kick-feeding and using bubble nets to catch prey. 

humpback whale finishing a lunge

humpback whale surfacing through a bubble net

 There were probably about a dozen finback whales throughout the area. Some finbacks were side-lunging and we had incredible views of the rorqual pleats.

finback whale

100-200 dolphins were spread out over a wide area foraging along-side the whales.  When we would travel, dolphins would ride our bow or surf our wake.

Atlantic white-sided dolphin

dolphins on the bow

Identified humpback whales include: Storm, Hatchmark, Striation and Reaper. It was an exciting morning offshore!


2 pm trip - Tammy

We headed back to the same area this afternoon. The number of whales around was still impressive and humpback and finback whales could be seen all around the boat, near and far. But the whale behaviors were different this afternoon. Most humpback whales seemed to be logging or resting. 

We had really nice looks at several animals including single humpback whales Tongs and Storm as well as a pair of humpbacks named Putter and Strike.  Putter and Strike stayed together most of the afternoon, logging and occasionally diving. 

humpback whales Putter and Strike

The occasional large splash in the distance told us that there were active whales in the area, though the activity was sporadic and short lived. We watched finback whales cruise through the area; some were traveling solo but we saw three finbacks swimming quite fast together.

finback whales traveling

Just before heading home we got to see a small harbor seal pop it’s head up for a few seconds.  While a little more low key, it was still a great afternoon offshore with sightings of three different species!

harbor seal

Sunday, May 10, 2015

12 pm Whale Watch - Tammy

Lots of sun, temperature's in the 70s (on land) and more than a dozen whales made for a great Mother's Day whale watch! We had sightings of 3-6 North Atlantic right whales as we left Plymouth Harbor. These animals were all a good distance away but we could see some big splashes made by animals that were breaching or jumping out of the water.

Our final destination today was the south west corner area of Stellwagen Bank. Here, we found ourselves surrounded by 10-15 humpback whales doing a variety of behaviors. We started watching a single humpback whale doing some kick feeding and a pair of humpbacks using bubble nets to catch their prey. The feeding activity eventually slowed down a bit, but we did get to see some up close bubble nets and lunging! One of the whales that was bubble-netting is named Quarternote.

two humpback whales lunging through a bubble net

Another humpback whale who was hanging out on its own gave us a fantastic display of lobtailing; a behavior where the humpback whale is upside down and smacking it's tail on the surface of the water.

humpback whale lobtailing

Singletons, pairs and trios of humpback whales moved throughout the area. For the rest of our trip we settled in and watch a group of four humpbacks traveling together at the surface. We had fantastic looks at these four whales, who eventually became a trio of whales when one individual left the group. Humpback whale groups are very fluid and it's normal to see individuals joining and separating quite frequently.

two humpback whales traveling

a diving humpback whale

In this group we recognized Tongs, a female humpback whale. I mentioned to some passengers that Tongs had a calf last year and I'm happy to report that Tongs 2014 calf has already been sighted in the Gulf of Maine this year. It's always great to hear that that last year's calves are healthy and doing well.

Saturday, May 2, 2015

12 pm Whale Watch - Tammy


Today we started seeing whales before we had even left Plymouth Harbor! Our first sightings were of several endangered North Atlantic right whales that were in and around Plymouth Harbor and Gurnet Point. We slowly moved through the area, keeping a sharp look out for these animals as they skimmed the surface filtering zooplankton. Over the past few days, many endangered North Atlantic right whales have been spotted throughout Cape Cod Bay, including around the Cape Cod Canal and Manomet Point. There are only about 500 right whales in the world and we are quite privileged to be able to see these animals each year when they come to Cape Cod Bay!

North Atlantic right whales skim feeding off Gurnet Point

Once we got out to Stellwagen Bank we could see lots of splashing and bird activity. We spotted a finback whale that was chasing bait below the surface and quickly lunging to take in all the prey. After spending a few minutes with the finback whale, we moved on and picked up a trio of humpback whales.

finback whale surfacing

The three humpback whales, Snare, Canopy and Bounce, were using bubble nets to help them catch fish. A ring of green bubbles would start forming and the excitement would build as we waited for the three whales to surface mouth open in the center of the ring! We had amazing views of the heads and baleen of all three whales.

humpback whales open mouth feeding

Soon an unidentified 4th humpback joined the group and we watched the group of four whales feed together.

humpback whales Snare, Canopy, Bounce and unidentified whale

the top jaws of humpback whales surface feeding

Just before heading home we added a fourth species to our sighting list with quick looks at a couple of minke whales. We also got to see another pair of humpbacks and a couple of single humpbacks surface feeding as we made our way home. It was a fantastic day four species day!