We have been traveling up and down Stellwagen Bank to see whales lately, including the ‘regulars’ as well as newer whales. Spoon and her calf continued to highlight many of our trips, with the young whale showing us often how acrobatic he can be. We have also had a couple of close encounters when the pair decided to visit our passengers up close and personal. The feeding frenzies that we had been seeing have died down a bit, but we have been treated to a number of days of intense and exciting surface activity- everything from flipper slapping to full breaches.
During both of our trips on Saturday, July 25 there were a few instances that the whale surfaced so close it startled us. They exhale at more than 100 mph- such a powerful sound coming from these 45 foot long animals certainly takes you by surprise when you are not expecting it! The number of whales sighted on our trips has varied from one or two to more than 15, but I can honestly say that the number of whales doesn’t make a trip better or worse than another, just different.
As always, it will be interesting to look back over the course of the season to see where the whales spent most of their time. There is nothing predictable about it- sometimes it appears that whales might stay in an area due to the amount of food available, and sometimes they appear to be traveling, however our predictions are only educated guesses. Let’s hope the weather remains warm for a while and enjoy the whales while they are here!
Bayou tail breaching off the bow
Lunge feeding humpback
Tail breach
An unknown juvenile or possible calf breaching completely out of the water
This whale was very, very small, and we wondered if it might have become separated from its mother
It spent our entire trip active at the surface- calling out to other whales?
Adult breaching on a sunny day
Center for Coastal Studies has begun deploying satellite tags- Here is Tongs one day after tagging
A harbor seal pup who stopped by to say hello
Nothing like a breach!
Cape Ann Whale Watch 