Monday, June 29, 2015 Whale Watches

9 am trip - Tammy

This morning we were met with clouds, cool temperatures and a solid south easterly swell as we traveled to the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Our first sighting was of a finback whale spending lots of time at the surface which allowed us to get some great looks.  

finback whale

We then picked up a pair of humpback whales named Nile and Pitcher. These two whales have been together for a couple of weeks now and were traveling and diving together this morning.




humpback whales Nile and Pitcher

  We left Nile and Pitcher to see what else we could find. Lots of birds including shearwaters and Wilson's storm petrels flew overhead and around our boat. Soon we found ourselves in an area with 4-6 minke whales, the smallest of the baleen whales. We had some quick looks at several individuals.

minke whale

On our way home we saw another finback whale surface for several breaths for arching its back and going down on a dive. It was a great three species morning of whale watching!

finback whale

2 pm trip - Tammy


This afternoon we traveled to the east side of the Sanctuary where we found 10-15 humpback whales. Our first sighting was of a couple of familiar "faces": humpback whales Nile and Pitcher. Both animals were logging or resting, bobbing up and down at the surface with the big rolling waves.

humpback whales Nile and Pitcher

 Lots of single animals were moving through the area, including a possible calf that was waiting for mom to surface. We also spent some time with another mom and calf pair, Nimbus and calf. Nimbus started doing some kick-feeding but quickly resumed traveling with her calf.


humpback whale Nimbus (right) and her calf (left)

  We ended our trip with several animals that passed right under the boat as they were open mouth feeding or lunge feeding. Some whales were using a kick-feeding technique and some animals were bubble net feeding. We had amazing looks at open mouths and the baleen hanging down from the upper jaw. It was a fantastic whale watch! Identified humpback whale include: Nile, Pitcher, Nimbus and calf, Angus, Aswan, Ventisca.

humpback whale Aswan

two humpbacks using bubble net feeding

open wide!





Saturday, June 13, 2015 Whale Watches

9 am trip - Tammy

Today we traveled to the south west corner of Stellwagen Bank. Here we found 8-10 humpback whales that were mostly hanging out in pairs.



pair of humpback whales

 We spent a little bit of time with each pair, watching the whales take several breaths at the surface before lifting the flukes and diving.



humpback whale diving

 Calm seas and clear water gave us some amazing views of these animals when they came near the boat. We had a couple of close approaches and we could see the entire outline of the whale's body.

humpback whale at the surface

 Towards the end of our trip, a pair of humpback whales joined with a trio of humpbacks to create a group of five whales. The group included a male humpback named Tear and a mother named Spoon and her calf. Spoon is an older (and exceptionally large!) whale, first seen in the 1970s and she has had several calves.  This group swam right under our bow giving us amazing looks. Tear was also quite active throughout the morning. We saw several breaches at a distance and also some flipper slapping from Tear. It was a great morning offshore! Other identified humpback whales include: Music, Nile, Pitcher, Tear, Spoon and calf.

Tear's fluke

humpback whale Tear flipper slapping

2 pm trip - Tammy

Our afternoon trip took us to the same location, the south west corner of Stellwagen Bank. Some of the same whales were still around, but other individuals had moved in this afternoon. In total, there were likely still 8-10 humpback whales. Many single humpback whales were resting (logging) or slowly traveling.



humpback whale



humpback whale fluking out

We started watching a trio of humpback whales that were logging. Occassionally one animal would lift it's head out of the water, a behavior called spyhopping. It's thought that spyhopping whales are attempting to get a better look at what's going on above the surface.

trio of humpbacks logging

trio of humpbacks, note the middle whale spyhopping

Soon this trio of humpbacks became a group of four whales. There was lots of rolling, trumpeting, splashing: all signs of social interactions between these whales. We had several close looks off the bow as the whales went under the boat.

four humpbacks interacting

A great afternoon trip to round out the day!

Saturday, June 6, 2015 Whale Watch

2 pm trip - Tammy

We started today's trip by traveling south of Stellwagen Bank. Here we spotted a single finback whale. This whale was making fairly consistent dives and staying on the surface for several breaths in between, giving us some great looks.

finback whale

As we were watching this finback whale, we noticed we had another visitor: a curious gray seal. We had some nice views of this seal, as it surfaced several times near our boat and seemed to be checking us out.

gray seal

To end our trip, we headed to the southwest corner of Stellwagen Bank where we got to spend some time with two humpback whales. Both animals appeared to be small, juvenile whales that were alternating between bouts of resting and slow traveling. The laid-back behavior of these animals gave us the opportunity to just sit back and just enjoy their presence. It was a great afternoon on the water!

two humpback whales

Saturday, May 30, 2015 Whale Watch

9 am trip - Jasmine

It was a beautiful day! A foggy and cloudy morning gave way to abundant sunshine and warm temperatures as we headed out from Plymouth harbor. Off the tip of Provincetown, in the southwest corner of Stellwagen Bank, we saw two groups of adult humpback whales. Both groups had 4-6 individuals and two calves. The adults were likely bottom feeding, as they regularly came to the surface for several breaths and then dove down again. Both calves approached our boat closely, giving us excellent looks. One had raw marks on the tail or fluke, possible from an entanglement. The calves rolled and swam under the boat, popping up on either side. We also spotted two seals a few times, one harbor and one gray seal. Both seals bobbed close to the boat and then splashed away suddenly. It was a great day!