12 pm trip - Tammy

It's always a bit sad when the whale watching season comes to an end. But 2015 was a great year and the whales certainly didn't disappoint on our last weekend offshore. Sightings today included about 12 humpback whales (with many more in the area) and 3 finback whales.

humpback whale Etch-a-Sketch

humpback whale Banyan

Humpbacks and finbacks were traveling solo or in pairs. We started with three lone humpbacks, Etch-a-sketch, Reflection and Bayan before picking up a pair of finback whales just for one surfacing.

trio of humpback whales

We had fantastic looks at a trio of humpback whales who switched from resting behavior, to some active social behavior and back to resting. In this same area were an additional 5-8 humpbacks that we saw from a distance as well as a finback that was swimming quite fast. Whales were everywhere today! On our way home we even spotted a small group of harbor porpoise.

humpback whale group



humpback whale group

Our last trip of the year will be tomorrow, October 25, marking the end of a fantastic season. Fair winds and following seas to our whale "friends" as they prepare for their winter migration. Thanks to everyone who joined us this year! See you and the whales in April!

Saturday, October 17, 2015 Whale Watch

  12 pm trip - Tammy

Great sightings on today's trip! We traveled to the east side of Stellwagen Bank and found 7-8 different humpback whales.

humpback whale diving

We had several sightings of different whales traveling alone and in pairs, including whales named Habenero and a mother named Hancock and her 2015 calf. Four humpback whales named Bounce, Pleats, Diablo and her calf gave us fantastic looks.

humpback whales traveling

Pleats and Bounce

We had the opportunity to see some impressive behaviors like flipper slapping from humpback mother Diablo. Her calf even joined in, flippering beside mom. One whale also showed us spyhopping or raising its head above the surface, possibly to get a better look at what's happening above.

mom flipper slapping with calf by her side

humpback whale spyhopping

Eventually this group of four split into two pairs; Pleats and Bounce and Diablo and calf swam off separately as we took our last looks. Great trip today! One last week of whale watching to go before our 2015 season comes to a close!

Saturday, October 9, 2015 Whale Watch

12 pm trip - Tammy

Rough seas made for a tough trip today. But even though it's getting late in the season, there is still lots of activity offshore.  We traveled to Stellwagen Bank and managed to find a concentration of 4-6 humpback whales feeding with hundreds of birds including northern gannets, great sheatwaters, sooty shearwaters and gulls. 



humpback whale

Some humpbacks were kick-feeding or chin-kick-feeding to stun their prey. We identified one humpback whale as a female named Echo.


humpback whale fluking out


Hundreds of birds were feeding alongside the whales, taking advantage of the work the whales were doing to concentration the bait at the surface. Sometimes the whales would lunge mouth open. We could see the jaws and head of the animals as they strained the water out through the baleen. Humpback whale Echo even surprised us and surfaced right off the bow at one point. It was a wet and wild ride for sure, but we love great whale sightings into October!

humpback whale traveling