Friday, August 21, 2009
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!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
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!
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!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
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.
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
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
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!
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!
Monday, August 3, 2009
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!
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!
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.
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