It has nearly been a week since we have been on the water due to the rain, fog, and rough sea conditions offshore. Last week, we had great weather and whales, but mother nature has not been cooperating lately. Today, despite the patchy fog in Bar Harbor, conditions seemed promising offshore so we decided to take the chance and venture out into the Gulf of Maine!
While venturing through the "Ball Park", an area where whales are typically found due to large concentrations of food, the fog crept back in, making it slightly more challenging to find the whales. When searching in fog we use our ears and listen closely for the audible blow or exhalation of a whale. During the whale search we did see many seals at the surface as well as numerous pelagic seabirds such as, Wilson Storm Petrels and Greater Shearwaters. Captain Jerry noticed a great deal of bait on the fish finder. So there seems to be a lot of activity going on in the Ball Park, but the whales were elsewhere.
Heading southwest, Captain Jerry stopped at Mount Desert Rock, a small remote island 25 nautical miles from Bar Harbor. This island is home to the Edward McC. Blair Marine Research Station, where Allied Whale conducts marine mammal and seabird studies during the summer months. This island is home to approximately 800-900 harbor and grey seals. A working historic lighthouse, built in 1847, is also on the island.
The search continued as the boat headed home, but no whales were spotted. We usually have a high sightings rate, but with the fog and whale distributions being a little wide spread at this time of year, we sometimes have difficulty finding them. But this is mother nature we are working with and summer has just arrived! Hopefully the weather will improve and we will be back out on the water again tomorrow!
While venturing through the "Ball Park", an area where whales are typically found due to large concentrations of food, the fog crept back in, making it slightly more challenging to find the whales. When searching in fog we use our ears and listen closely for the audible blow or exhalation of a whale. During the whale search we did see many seals at the surface as well as numerous pelagic seabirds such as, Wilson Storm Petrels and Greater Shearwaters. Captain Jerry noticed a great deal of bait on the fish finder. So there seems to be a lot of activity going on in the Ball Park, but the whales were elsewhere.
Heading southwest, Captain Jerry stopped at Mount Desert Rock, a small remote island 25 nautical miles from Bar Harbor. This island is home to the Edward McC. Blair Marine Research Station, where Allied Whale conducts marine mammal and seabird studies during the summer months. This island is home to approximately 800-900 harbor and grey seals. A working historic lighthouse, built in 1847, is also on the island.
The search continued as the boat headed home, but no whales were spotted. We usually have a high sightings rate, but with the fog and whale distributions being a little wide spread at this time of year, we sometimes have difficulty finding them. But this is mother nature we are working with and summer has just arrived! Hopefully the weather will improve and we will be back out on the water again tomorrow!
