Looking Back at 2009

We can hardly believe it is December! The boats are out of the water and Bar Harbor has transformed back to a sleepy, quiet town. With winter and the new year on our door step it won't be long until we are counting down the days until we will be back on the water again and the boats are filled with excited passengers.

To echo naturalist Linda in the previous post, The Bar Harbor Whale Watch Company would like to thank everyone that joined us out on the whale watch this season. By coming on our whale watch trips as well as participating in Allied Whale's adopt-a-whale program, purchasing a "Save the Whale" and/or "Friends of Maine Seabird Islands"pin, you have helped in the conservation and protection of endangered Gulf of Maine wildlife!

We were fortunate to have seen many of our adoptable whales this year. If you are considering adopting a whale, they do make a wonderful gift! To order online go to:

http://coa.edu/adoptawhale.htm

or call Allied Whale at:

(207) 288-5644

Finally, to wrap it up, the clip below features video and photographs from some of our best trips of the 2009 season. We hope that for all that came aboard it was an experience to be remembered for years to come. We will continue to keep you posted on our trips during the 2010 season, so stay tuned!

On behalf of the Bar Harbor Whale Watch Co. we wish everyone a happy holiday season!

See you in 2010!

Here's looking back at 2009!

Thanks for a great season!

So as we rap up these last days of the whale watch, I would like to thank all of our crew for working so hard keeping the boats running and for tending to our passengers, and overall for making this a great year. While our whales left our ballpark for Canadian waters, even in the final days of the whale watch, we had been seeing great whales on all our trips. Though it took us longer to get to them, we had great sightings. On the Grand Manan Banks we had two feeding humpbacks and one Finback whale! We stayed with them for an hour and forty-five minutes and everyone had a great time and came back to a beautiful sunset greeting them. Not a bad way to end the season! We do hope that everyone comes back next year to enjoy these magnificent whales and scenery with the Bar Harbor Whale Watch Company again! Thank you!

Naturalist Linda

Lunge/Bubble Feeding Hump!

Naturalist Kaitlyn, crew and 245 lucky passengers were very patient and it did pay off with yesterday's trip! Along with plenty of seals, offshore birds and a Minke Whale, the highlight of Friday's trip was a humpback whale!! Normally, just seeing a humpback and it's beautiful tail coming out of the water is plenty of excitement for us whale watchers, but yesterday they had a lunge and bubble feeding one! Lunge and bubble feeding are two ways that humpback whales eat, and both ways are very exciting to see! Now, while it was very exciting to see a humpback, we did have to travel a longer way to find them. Instead of our normal 20 to 25 miles offshore, yesterday the crew had to go all the way to Grand Manan, Canada in order to see the whale. But with patience comes rewards, and as I hear it, this whale was worth the wait! I can't help but be a little bit jealous of yesterday's crew, but hopefully the whales will stop by the ballpark before completely heading down south! Keep reading.

Naturalist Linda

Maine Audubon Pelagic Bird Trip

On October 3 at 6am, the Friendship V left Bar Harbor and ventured offshore for the annual Maine Audubon Pelagic Seabird Trip! On their way to and from Grand Manan passengers had the chance to see multiple pelagic seabird and marine mammal species! Whale species sighted included: minke, finback, humpback whales, long-finned pilot whales, and even the highly endangered North Atlantic right whale! We will update you on the bird species when we hear from senior naturalist, Zack Klyver, who guided the trip. This offshore adventure is usually offered every fall by the Bar Harbor Whale Watch Company and it is an incredible trip! Maybe we'll see you next year?

Check out pictures from this trip on our Flickr site!

Pilot Whales Galore!

We had our hopes built up and then let down when we had two Finback whales run through the "Ballpark" a few days back. We had no luck with them one day, found them the next, and then we unfortunately lost them again.
So after a few days of not much luck we finally had some of the most fun whales yesterday Monday September 21st! Pilot Whales! We knew it was going to be a great trip because we found a Minke whale at Egg Rock (just 20 minutes into our whale watching trip!) We had great looks at Harbor Porpoise, Gray and Harbor Seals at Mount Desert Rock, plenty of Phaloropes and Puffins, and them we found the happiest little whales on Earth, the Pilot Whales!
We came across a pod of about 50 pilot whales, including very large males, plenty of females and even a very cute calf who loved showing off for the boat. If anyone ever wondered whether or not whales liked boats, this trip proved that they do! The baby was breaching close to the boat, spyhopping, tail lobbing and blowing bubbles underwater! Even the adults were having fun!
The adults were also blowing bubbles, rolling around on their backs and slapping their flippers on the surface of the water! You could even hear the clicks that these whales made! That almost never happens! It was quite an amazing trip and our naturalist Lauren (also one of our Research Assistants (RA)) did a great job narrating the trip. And our RA of the day Laura also took amazing pictures. For more of her photos of the day, please visit our flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bhwhales
So there is still plenty to see out there in the ocean and we hope you can join us on one of our amazing trips!

Bye for now,
Naturalist Linda

Back up and Running!

We do apologize for not keeping up with the blog, but all us naturalists have been very busy now that fall has picked back up. But we do hope to stay on top of things this time! Now, we've all been very busy, but the whales have been a different story!

After a great and amazing August, we were hit by tropical storm Bill and by Danny and boy did they do a number on us! We suspect that they scattered all the food around and disrupted the foraging whales! So at the end of August and beginning of September, we experienced a lull in the whale sightings. We went days without seeing our wonderful Humpbacks and Finbacks, but we did see some amazing other creatures!

We saw Ocean Sunfish also known as Mola mola, their scientific name. We saw Pilot Whales for a number of days and even basking sharks! It was great seeing those creatures, but alas no large whales. But then we decided to go to the East! And we were pleasently surprised to seeing lots of Finback whales by Jonesport close to Canada!

We would like to thank all our passengers for being so patient on our l0ng trips to the East. They were long but well worth it! To see our recent photos from the Jonesport area, please visit our flickr site at www.flickr.com/photos/bhwhales Our wonderful research assistants have been great at updating the photo site, and now us naturalists are also stepping up to the plate!

Even though we've been checking out Jonesport pretty regularly, we did explore the Ballpark (an area we went to all the time early in the summer) and we were amazed when we found not one, but TWO FINBACK WHALES! However, we went back to that same sight yesterday 9/17/09 and found only one Minke whale. No finbacks. Hopefully they'll come back.

Either way we hope you will join us again or for the first time in our search for whales. They've all been excellent trips: beautiful weather, sunfish, basking sharks, bluefin tuna and great birds! Now all we need is for our whales to stick out the rest of the season with us! So pack up some patience, warm weather, a few snacks and a camera and join us for great trips!

Bye for now,
Naturalist Linda

A Whale of an August!

All we can say is WOW! The last few weeks have been wonderful with both great whales and weather! We apologize for not keeping up with the blog lately, but the whales have been keeping us busy! Stay tuned as we will post soon, but in the meantime check out the great photos on our Flikr site!

3rd Trip, August 12th

Today ended up being beautiful as the fog rolled out this morning. On the 4:30 sunset whale watch we had a whale a mile, if that, from Egg Rock! A minke whale surprised us as we traveled out of Frenchman Bay. We got some great looks considering that this species can be quite elusive and shy. After a few nice looks we continued on seeing numerous pods of harbor porpoise and seals! Birds were numerous to including razorbills, terns, gannets, and greater shearwaters.

Once we arrived to the Ballpark we eventually found 4 juvenile humpback whales. Lauren, our research assistant, identified all four which included: Spinnaker, Gavel, Canine, and Sonogram! Gavel and Sonogram are related because they share the same mother, a female named P.D.! It was interesting to see these four juveniles milling around the same area. They were most likely feeding on their own small patches of fish. But they took short dives allowing us to get great looks!

And the weather just could not have been better! The water was glass calm and we enjoyed a beautiful sunset on the way home!

Stay tuned for pictures!

Beautiful Thursday!

August 6, 2009

The 9:00 whale watch on the Bay King III and Friendship V were great. The weather and whales were wonderful. We finally had a day with no fog. The two whale watch boats ventured offshore today and were very successful. We found 3 finback whales and 3 humpback whales. Two of the humpbacks were identified as Sonogram and Canine. These two young whales were circling around taking turns coming up to the surface. We got great looks at these whales. Other wildlife included harbor porpoise (photo below), seals, and many seabirds including northern gannets, shearwaters, and Wilson storm petrels.

It was a beautiful day!

Check out our Flikr site for more pictures from today's trips aboard the Friendship V and Bay King III

A Visit With Old Whale Friends

August 4, 2009

A fairly foggy morning ended up turning into a nice whale watch! Through the thick fog the crew picked up the pungent smell of whale breath or snarge. Suddenly three humpback whales surfaced nearby. Two of which were Gemini and Notchy. Gemini is one of the oldest visitors to the Ballpark. We've seen this male humpback since 1976 and Notchy since 1981!

We also saw pods of harbor porpoise and a couple of harbor seals. Pelagic seabirds were also abundant including northern gannets, fulmars, shearwaters, Wilson storm petrels, and even a puffin! We lucked out on our morning trip today!

August 3- 1:00 & 4:30 What a Day!

We had a great day on the water this afternoon! The fog finally moved offshore and the seas were decent enough to head to the Ballpark!

On our 1:00 we ventured out to the Ballpark because we received a call from a tuna fishermen named "Cookie" who had seen a few whales out there. As we approached the Ballpark and spotted the tuna boat, we started to spot blows everywhere! The whales were a bit spread out but there were at least 5-6 humpback whales all around us! Two of the humpbacks were identified as Egret and Canine. These two whales share the same mother, a whale named Siphon. Egret was born in 2007 and Canine in 2004.

Many harbor porpoise and seals were seen as well. The pelagic seabirds were also plentiful which included puffins, shearwaters, petrels, and gannets.

Our sunset whale watch was great as well! We first spotted whales breaching in the distance and as the boat approached we soon discovered 3 humpback whales-Canine, Egret, and Sonogram hanging out together! Traveling along with them was a pod of 20-30 Atlantic white-sided dolphins! This was the first trip of the season with dolphins. At one point, two of the humpback whales surfaced right next to the boat! We got incredible looks!

We then spotted another humpback whale flipper slapping in the distance. This active humpback was Flyer. At one point he was on his back lifting both flippers out of the water! He did this numerous times right next to the boat!

Harbor porpoise were everywhere! A large group of northern gannets were circling around the dolphins and humpbacks. We also saw 2 puffins, 3-4 northern fulmars, dozens of shearwaters, and a large feeding group of Wilson storm petrels! And we had a beautiful sunset to enjoy! A great day!

July 23rd - Four Humpbacks!

8:30 AM: Today started off foggy and overcast then cleared and became sunny. We were thrilled to have calm seas and returned to the area we call the Ballpark. On our way out we located a great diversity of seabirds including 100's of Greater shearwater, dozens of Sooty, 1 to 3,000 Wilson's Storm Petrel, 6 Northern Fulmar, 3 Pomarine Jaegar, 1 Parasitic Jaegar, 100 Northern Gannet, and 20 Red-necked phalarope. Along the way we saw lots of seals and 100's of porpoise and watched a Minke whale that was moving quickly and diving deep. We finally saw a bunch of blows to the east and upon arriving discovered four Humpbacks that seemed to be moving with lots of energy and feeding. In this group that were near each other by not always side by side, we identified Canine, Arrowhead, Sedge and a unknow type five juevenile. They eventually spilt up and started moving away in all directions so we followed Canine to the west. On the way in we heard from our friends on the Acadian that they had spotted a Minke whale in the bay near egg rock. A really exciting trip!

Super Tuesday - July 21st!

TUESDAY JULY 21, 2009 8:30AM:
We began the trip with overcast skys and thick fog in the bay and out to our Puffin nesting island. Upon arriving at Petit Manan the fog cleared just enough that we could see the shore and lighthouse. Heading out to our whale feeding grounds the fog began to lift and we started to see lots of shearwater, storm petrels, 100's of porpoise and dozens of seals. We also saw a Northern Fulmar and atleast 10 pairs of adult father razorbill with chicks. All of a sudden there were whales in all directions and we hadn't even arrived at our normal whale watching area! We had amazing looks at a group of five Finback whales charging through the ocean, one of which our research assistant Lauren identified as #3017. We then found two humpback whales which we recognized as Tusk and Partition, a male and female. Tusk has a dark figure in it's tail that looks like an animal head with a tusk and is a great friend of ours having been sighted since it was a calf of Eqqus in 1979. During this encounter Kaitlyn Allen, conducting acoustic research for her Phd recorded megap-clicks (glass 2006) which are thought to be the sounds humpbacks make when feeding. Not surprisingly our fish finding recorded a significant shoal of life below the boat that were probably serving as prey for the 8 to 10 Finbacks and 2 humpbacks we saw. A fabulous trip!


1:00PM: On our second tour of the day we returned to the area we found whales in the morning and discoverd five Finbacks. There were two pairs and a single whale moving with energy and acting as if they were feeding down deeper in the water column. We then caught up with our two humpback whales Partition and Tusk who were resting on the surface. Eventually they woke up and started swimming and showed us the beautiful patterns on the underside of their tails. Then Tusk did something that I have never seen a humpback whale do before. Tusk lifted his tail in the air and proceeded to wag it back and forth violently? This was a side to side motion and not up and down motion. The consensus among the crew was that this new behavior should be called Tail-wagging. It would be interesting to know from colleagues whether this is a behavior that they have seen in other parts of the Gulf of Maine as well. Overall - a great trip!

4:30PM: During our third trip it started to rain but that didn't dampen our spirits. We got great looks at 2 Humpbacks and 1 Finback whale. The star of this tour was a teenage humpback whale named Canine that lifted it's flukes out of the ocean repeatedly. This whale has a type four tail with many white streaks and marking agianst the black background. Canine was a calf of our favorite mother whale Siphon - four years ago. During this tour we saw lots of seabirds and 100's of porpoise and seals as well.

Patience Pays Off

July 28th

Even though the waters offshore were covered in a dense patch of fog, the whale watch crew decided to take the chance and venture out beyond the coast of Mount Desert Island to find whales. The weather has been a bit uncooperative with persistent fog and rain. But when determined and patient the whale watch can be successful in finding whales.

The morning trip was able to find a finback whale. But it was taking long dives most likely spending its time feeding in deeper water. Many species of pelagic bird species were seen such as shearwaters, razorbills, gannets, terns, and petrels.

On the 1:00 trip the whale watch ventured further offshore. Though the search was long it was worth it as the whale watch ended up finding 1 minke whale and 4 humpbacks. The four humpback whales included Siphon and her calf, a male humpback named Flyer and Canine, which was Siphon's 2004 calf. Siphon and her calf swam up to the boat, swimming around and across the bow! Also many seals and harbor porpoise were seen on the trip!

The whale watch decided to take another try and sailed off on their 4:30 whale watch. Being lucky once again they found 5 humpback whales on this trip. The humpback whale seen were Siphon and calf, Flyer, and on this trip Arrowhead was seen! The fifth whale was unknown as we were unable to get a look at the distinctive markings on the fluke or tail. But Siphon's calf put another great show for passengers as it performed some head stands and flipper slapping!

So despite the thick fog today's whale watch trips were a great success!

So How Are the Whales?

July 22nd

Despite some dense fog and rain, passengers on the 8:30am trip on July 22nd were treated to a finback which came right next to the boat! We also spotted harbor and gray seals along with harbor porpoise. Pelagic bird species also included northern gannets and greater shearwaters.

However, on the second trip, due to the fog, we were unable to find whales. Kaitlin Allen was on the boat using her hydrophone listening in for whales nearby. She was able to pick up some humpback calls! The seabirds were numerous offshore which is a good sign, showing us that there is still life around. Wilson storm petrels, greater shearwaters, and a pomarine jager were sighted.

July 20th, 2nd and 3rd Trip: What a Marvelous Monday

On Monday afternoon, hundreds of passengers were treated to beautiful weather and an abundance of marine life. Crystal clear skies and glass calm water awaited us offshore.

We had quite a busy 1:00 trip. All of our research staff was on board including: Laura Kennedy conducing seabird surveys, Kaitlyn Allen and George from the University of Maine's Ocean Engineering department taking time to listen in on whale vocalizations, our Allied Whale research assistant Lauren, and Dominique Walk who soon will be surveying lobster gear in relation to whale sightings. WOW! Amazing how much research takes place on the whale watch!

The whale sightings were just as amazing! On the 1:00 we saw 4 humpbacks, 7-8 finbacks, and 3-4 minke whales! We were able to identify all the humpbacks, which included Siphon and calf, and two others traveling together, Tusk and who we later identified as Partition! This was our first time seeing Partition this season. This is a female humpback first sighted in 1986! Maybe Tusk was practicing his courtship skills for this upcoming winter breeding season? We got great looks at one group of four finbacks to start off the trip and we then spotted Siphon's calf breaching in the distance. Once we approached Siphon and her calf, it seems the little one tired itself out and decided to rest a bit at the surface. Occasionally it rolled and did some flipper slaps.


As we turned for home, along the way we suddenly spotted a humpback whale flipper slapping and decided to quickly investigate. This is when we found Tusk and Partition. We got some great looks but then looked at our watches and discovered we were running late! So we headed for home. However, soon after leaving the two humpbacks we saw a whale breaching in the distance! Oh my! Poor Captain Jerry thought we would never get home! We thought it might have been a breaching minke whale! A couple of minkes were seen not to far from the breaching whale.

On the way home we saw a couple of more minkes, lots of harbor porpoise, seals, and birds. Pelagic birds seen on this trip included: greater and sooty shearwater, Wilson storm petrels, red-necked phalaropes, a North Atlantic puffin, and a skua! The life seen offshore was incredible!


Our 4:30 sunset cruise was wonderful as well! We first spotted a pair of humpbacks. It was Tusk and Partition! Tusk started flipper slapping as Partition rested at the surface. Tusk also demonstrated a really interesting behavior I had never seen before. He was doing some kind of tail "wiggle"! He would lift his tail up high and then shake it all around!


There were other blows in the distance. Two finbacks surfaced behind us. All the other whales were humpbacks. It looked like another associated pair, one juvenile, and a lone adult, with a count of at least 5-6 humpback whales. And boy did the air just stink of whale breath! We got one look at the single adult whale as we left for home and Lauren snapped a photo of the tail. After searching through the humpback whale catalog we identified this whale as a female named Fundy! This is a very special whale because it was named in memory of College of the Atlantic alum and Allied Whale researcher Rebecca Ann Clark, who passed away during the 2004 Tsunami while studying sea turtles. She grew up along the coast of the Bay of Fundy.

Fundy

Numerous seals, porpoise, and birds including, Wilson storm petrels, sooty and greater shearwaters, and northern gannets, were seen on the way out and on our trip home. Just another BEAUTIFUL day!

July 20 - First Trip (Three Whale Tour)

We sighted our first whales just five miles from our puffin island - Petit Manan. Two Finbacks were within a 1/2 mile of each other diving and moving with great energy. There were 100's of Greater Shearwater and dozens of Sooty Shearwater. Wilson's Storm Petrels were everywhere and dozens of Gannets, many of which were diving into the ocean. Seabird highlights also included 10 pairs of father Razorbill with young. We continued offshore and found a pod of five Finbacks over a great amount of life on our fish finder. Within in a few miles were a number of single finbacks charging around and making deep dives ...ocasionally with sun glistening off thier backs. A Minke surfaced off our bow a number of times giving passengers a great look. After awhile our friend Ed Blair arrived in his boat the Lovely Lucy, and quickly discovered a pair of humpback whales that were swimming our direction. It turned out to be Tusk (1979) and a unknown companion. Everywhere we looked their were porpoise and seals. Overall a really fabulous trip.

Close Encounters of the Whale Kind

July 16, 2009

The marine life continues to be incredible! Wow, what another wonderful day! Still many whales, birds, and seals offshore. The weather was overcast, but calm allowing us a comfortable ride and amazing looks at the whales.

During the morning trip the whale watch found 3 minkes, 10-12 finbacks, and 4 humpbacks. Three of the humpbacks were identified as Triton, Sedge, and Tusk. One other humpback was seen breaching in the distance. Many different birds as well including sooty shearwaters, greater shearwaters, a northern fulmar, northern gannets, and Wilson storm petrels. There were also tons of harbor porpoise and few jumping blue fin tuna.

On the second and third trip we defiantly had some close encounters. After stopping to check out a couple of spouts we found ourselves surrounded by 2 humpback whales! It was Siphon and her calf! They came right next the boat, swimming along the sides and underneath us!





Apparently this calf loves to be a show off and Siphon does not seem to mind at all. The calf was rolling over, flipper slapping, and trying out some headstands. It even spent time playing with some seaweed!














Coming up to say hello!

With the water being so calm you could see the entire body of the whale below the surface. While watching these whales another large humpback surfaced nearby, but it was to far to get a look at the tail. People were thrilled at the curious and playful behaviors of Siphon and her calf.















On the third trip we were afraid that the fog was going to be an issue, but we lucked out as the fog cleared as we headed offshore. We were able to find Siphon and her calf, but they were not alone. They had an escort whale with them this time. And oddly enough it was Canine, which was Siphon's 2005 calf. Maybe doing some sibling bonding?


Once again this calf was putting on quite a show! It approached the boat numerous times. It even breached several times near the boat! Siphon and Canine joined in the action as they started lobtailing and flipper slapping!
















Throughout this amazing interaction a large thunderstorm was headed our way. Huge bolts of lighting split the sky and loud claps of thunder rumbled overhead, but this did not make anyone stray from watching these whales.



Along with the whales we saw numerous amounts of harbor porpoise, seals, and birds including northern gannets, greater shearwaters, wilson storm petrels, and even a puffin which appeared in front of the bow!

Another incredible day of experiencing some of mother nature's greatest wonders!

What Can We Say? What a DAY!

July 15, 2009

Wow! That's what we can say! We had another beautiful summer day and numerous whale sightings. Naturalists, Zack and Linda, were on the first trip and reported great bird sightings at Petit Manan and offshore. The whale watch passed by this large group of greater shearwaters.














There were a ton of whales off shore as well! Zack and Linda said that at times it was hard to keep up! During this trip the whale watch saw 10-12 finback whales. One of the finback whales seen was later identified by research assistant Lauren as a finback named Half Moon! This might be due to the half moon-like crevice in the dorsal fin.


After some more exploring the whale watch found three humpback whales: Siphon and calf and Sedge. Siphon and Sedge are two individuals we've been seeing since 1988!


The 1:00 trip brought awe and excitement to our passengers! There were whales all over the place. I lost count! We spotted at least 5-6 finback whales in the area. We had some great looks at these whales. Checking out other spouts in the distance we came across and juvenile humpback whale! Lauren, our whale research intern thinks it might be a whale named Canine. We will confirm this once she has a chance to look at the photos. We'll let you know!

But another whale came to the surface and it was a humpback named Tusk. This is a whale that we've seen since 1980 and he is a regular to our area. Most humpback whales demonstrate site fidelity, returning to the same feeding grounds. We got great shots of his tail! He has two horizontal markings on right hand side, along upper edge of his tail that look like tusks. That is how he received his name.


While watching Tusk we then spotted a huge splash a couple of miles away so we decided to give Tusk a break and go investigate! As we approached we discovered it was a breaching humpback whale! This whale continued to breach numerous times! Over and over and over! It ended up being Siphon's calf! The calf breached a couple of time right next to the boat. Siphon was not far. She surfaced soon after the calf started breaching. But we lost count of the number of times this little calf breached! A stunning display that we don't see everyday!




We eventually ran out of time and had to head back. Also, Allied Whale's research vessel the Borealis was approaching and we wanted to give them the opportunity to see these whales and conduct their research. Along with the whales we had close up looks at harbor and gray seals and many pelagic seabirds like gannets, storm petrels, and shearwaters! We even saw 4 puffins on the ride out! Overall an incredible afternoon trip!


Our 4:30 whale watch was just as enjoyable! As we headed offshore we first came across a finback whale. We got some good looks, but it ended up take long dives so we decided to venture further offshore. As we were searching a large humpback whale surfaced close by so we stopped to take a look. This humpback was Sedge a male humpback we've been seeing in the Gulf of Maine since 1988! We got some great looks at Sedge as he circled around the boat. Many other blows were seen around us and 2 other finback whales surfaced nearby.

We were looking carefully at the blows in the distance. Some were finbacks but two looked like the blows of humpback. One blow looked smaller than the other. We thought this might be Siphon and her calf. As we left Sedge and slowly ventured closer we saw a calf logging or resting at the surface. Soon the mother surfaced and we discovered it was Siphon and her calf. These two humpback whales treated us to some incredible close up looks. They surfaced nearby on the left hand side of the boat, took shallow dives, a popped up right next to us! Siphon and her calf hung out right next to the boat. People were in awe and could not believe what they were seeing!




Eventually they moved off and by that time we had to head home. On the way home we spotted a large group of gannets flying over the water and had 2 more finbacks and a minke whale! Just an awesome day!

Finbacks: Up Close and Personal

July 14, 2009

Well we certainly had a nice morning on the Friendship V! Passengers were treated to great looks at terns,puffins, razorbills, and many black guillemonts at Petit Manan. We even had a common murre fly-by! The pelagic bird diversity was great offshore as well including sooty and greater shearwaters, northern gannets, a juvenile northern fulmar, and numerous wilson storm petrels!

The whales were also numerous offshore. We spotted at least 9-10 finback whales on this trip! And we were fortunate enough to get some amazing looks. We first found two pairs of finbacks swimming in close proximity of each other. It seemed like these whales were circling around in search of or corralling their prey. One pair of finbacks suddenly surfaced near the boat! A whale went under the boat while the other came right across the bow! It was AMAZING! I could not believe how enormous this whale was! Captain Larry was able to spot the other whale on the fish finder and watch it as it quickly dived down to 150 feet below the surface! Check out this video of this close encounter. My apologies for the video beinging a bit bouncy. I was so excited I could not hold the camera still!




After those incredible looks we decided to do some more exploring and soon came across a group of 5 finbacks. People were in awe as they saw the entire group surface together. We were lucky to have such great whales out there today.





The second trip was just as exciting! Naturalists Zack and Linda reported seeing a humpback whale named Canine! This whale was born in 2005 to a humpback named Siphon. The boat was also treated to great looks at 4 finback whales with one group of three traveling together. There were also jumping tuna and many birds.


The last trip wrapped up the day nicely with 3 humpback whales. Two of the three were juveniles, one of which was very curious, coming very close to the boat! The other humpback was Triton! An old favorite to our area. So an another great day and the chance to see two of Allied Whale's adopt-a-whales: Triton and Canine!

Bring on the Whales!

July 13, 2009

Well, today marked the start of our three trip days and we hit it off with great sightings! The 8:30 trip had many whales and birds. On the Ball Park, aka Whale Park, naturalist Zack Klyver reported 6-7 finback whales and 4 humpback whales were seen. Two of the four humpbacks were Siphon and her calf. The calf was very active, breaching 8-9 times! The calf came right up to the boat and started doing head stands and rolling around. Our research intern, Laura got some great pictures!

Birds seen included a parasitic jager, Wilson storm petrels, and northern fulmers. A great trip!



The afternoon whale watch was wonderful as well. Siphon and her calf were seen in the afternoon with calf continuing to be curious as it approached the boat many times and showed off by doing headstands. Also 2 finback whales were seen!



As the boat headed out offshore for the sunset cruise the Friendship V got great looks at 4 finback whales. We also came across and juvenile humpback that gave us a great looks at its tail! A nice way to wrap up the last trip of the day!

Saturday's Whales

July 11, 2009

Well Saturday's whale watch trips were also successful. Naturalist Kaitlyn Allen reported 7 finback whales- a group of 6 and a single whale, on the first trip. Many birds were seen including northern gannets, Wilson storm petrels, and even a roseate tern at Petit Manan!


On the second trip a juvenile humpback was seen along with 9 finback whales- a group of 2, 3, and 4 individuals. Many northern gannets, gulls, and terns were seen everywhere!















Beautiful weather and lots of life on the whale grounds!

Whale of a Weekend

July 10th, 2009

Phew! The beautiful weather and awesome whale sightings this weekend kept us busy! Finally have some time to catch up on the blog! On July 10th passengers and crew aboard the Friendship V enjoyed many finback whales and a few different humpback whales. Many different species of pelagic seabirds were seen as well. It seems like food remains plentiful for the marine life offshore.


On the morning trip the whale watch came across a juvenile humpback whale. This is an individual we saw a couple of days ago. Along with this humpback 6 finback whales were in the area- a group of two and a group of four.


In the afternoon a pair of humpback whales, Siphon and her calf, were found resting at the surface. We call this behavior "logging" because the backs of the whales look like logs as they rest at the surface. It is thought that whales shut half of their brain off to rest, while the other half stays awake to keep the whale swimming and breathing. After resting for a while the calf decided to do some head stands, sticking its tail out of the water.















In the late afternoon the whale watch continued to see Siphon and her calf. The calf was lob tailing and doing headstands. Such an active calf! A minke whale and 5 finback whales were also seen.

Jumping for Joy!

July 9, 2009

What a BEAUTIFUL day we had offshore today! The sun was shining and the seas were calm. There was an abundance of life on the feeding ground today. The wildlife was also closer to shore than usual. We only had to go about 20 miles out, 5 miles shy of the Ball Park, the area in which we go to find the whales.

At Petit Manan Island we had many nice looks at the puffins. We saw many terns and puffins carrying fish in their mouths as the flew towards the island! The researchers on Petit Manan reported over 100 pairs of nesting puffins-a new record number for this nesting island! Puffins, razorbills, and terns flew by the boat as we talked with Brian, the research station manager.

We eventually left Petit Manan to head offshore to search for whales. As we traveled through the glass calm waters, we saw many harbor porpoise, seals, jumping tuna, and birds including sooty and greater shearwaters, Wilson and Leech's storm petrels, northern gannets, and northern fulmars. Then we suddenly spotted a blow.

It was a finback whale. We got a few good looks, but Captain Jerry received calls from a couple of boats- the Lovely Lucy and a fishing vessel that found whales along the northern boarder of the Ball Park. So we decided to go check them out.

As we spotted the Lovely Lucy in the distance a whale surfaced. It was a humpback whale! After spending a little time with this whale we spotted more blows and found another humpback whale.

There were whales all around us! We got a glimpse at a second finback whale that surfaced close enough for us to get a couple of nice looks. Eventually, we had run out of time and had to head back in. The captain told me that there was a lot of bait below the surface. A beautiful morning with 2 finbacks and 2 humpbacks.

Our afternoon trip was also just as enjoyable. The first whales we found were Siphon and her calf. This is a mother and calf humpback whale pair that we have seen over the last few days. Siphon and the calf were resting at the surface.We also had looks at two large finbacks that surfaced nearby. Like this morning there were many blows all around us and there was a patch of fish 100 feet thick coming up from the bottom of the ocean floor!

And suddenly the calf and Siphon became very active and the calf breached two times!

An awesome trip and a beautiful summer day! Our research intern, Laura, took amazing pictures. Also, check out the active calf on this video taken the day of the trip:

Lunge Feeding Finbacks and a Humpback or Two

July 8, 2009

Although we had cloudy skies and a bit of rain it was another great day out on the water! After spending time with the puffins this morning the boat ventured off to the feeding grounds. Naturalists Zack and Linda along with research intern, Laura, were anxious of what awaited offshore. And well, it seemed that the breakfast bell was ringing! Passengers were treated to 3 lunge feeding finback whales, with 4 other finbacks surfacing nearby. Lunge feeding is an exciting behavior to witness and we don't get to see whales doing this very often. They are usually feeding deeper down in the water column. But the finbacks lunged over 30 times! There were patches of krill seen at the surface. This was probably what they were eating.



When these large baleen whales feed they open their enormous mouths, taking in prey and seawater. Being mammals, they can't drink the saltwater. The fringed, keratin plates called baleen strain the water out and keep the food in. Finback whales can have up to 900 individual baleen plates hanging down from their upper jaw. Also, stretching from the lower jaw to their belly button are approximately 80 throat pleats or grooves that expand like an accordion causing the lower jaw to balloon out and act like a pouch to gather up their prey. This allows them to catch up to 100-150 pounds of prey in one big gulp!

The afternoon trip was just as successful as the 1:00 whale watch saw 5 finbacks as well as a mother and calf pair of humpback whales. The mother was a humpback named Siphon!

The whale watch crew were happy to see that she decided to stick around and continue to feed and show off her calf. Her calf is at least 5 to 6 months old at this point. It was born in the warmer waters of the Caribbean, somewhere off the coast of the Dominican Republic or West Indies. Siphon and other calving females can lose up to 15,000 pounds during the winter months. She loses a great deal of her weight due to providing fatty rich milk to her calf and from surviving off her fat reserves while traveling to and from the breeding and calving grounds.

A great way to wrap up another day offshore. We hope to continue having many more nice days to come! Many thanks to research intern, Laura, for taking such great pictures!

Finbacks, Finbacks Everywhere!

On July 6th, the whale watch found numerous finbacks on the feeding grounds. Naturalists Linda and Zack reported a total of 9 finback whales. The finbacks were traveling in groups of three or four.

Everyone got great looks as a group of three finbacks surfaced near the boat! It was both interesting and exciting to see these finbacks traveling in a group. It is not uncommon to see this type of behavior, but considering a single finback consumes up to 1 million calories a day, it is thought that feeding alone is more beneficial. But when there is an abundance of prey they may travel together, cooperatively feeding as they help each other corral schooling fish.

Our research assistant, Lauren, took many great photos of the whales seen out there. Still many seabirds and seals, including this juvenile northern gannet and gray seal! It was a beautiful day with an abundance of whales!