Things still seemed to be slowly picking up on the whale grounds. However, wildlife sightings continue to be successful on the puffin nesting island of Petit Manan. When our senior naturalist spoke with Petit Manan Island's lead biologist, Linda Welch, on June 2nd, the current puffin count was 123 individuals! She also reported one roseate tern sighting (a federally endangered bird), a frequent visit of a peregrine falcon, and a snowy owl! On one trip, approximately 150 puffins were sighted in addition to numerous razorbills, common and Arctic terns! By June 7th, the "official" puffin count was 156 individuals nesting on the island!
In regards to the whales, the whale watch found the first large whales of the season on their June 2nd trip! Being adventurous, the boat decided to travel to some different feeding areas further Downeast. Traveling approximately 52 miles from Bar Harbor, the boat checked out the Grand Manan Banks. There they found numerous birds such as greater shearwaters (up to about 500 counted), sooty shearwaters, northern gannets, phalaropes, and northern fulmars! A good sign that whales could be in the area. After some searching, two minke whales, about 20-22 feet long, were spotted traveling together! Though this species can be hard to track and a bit elusive, passengers were treated to numerous great looks at these two whales!
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| Minke Whale at the Surface! |
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| Balaenoptera acutorostrata meaning a whale with a pointed snout or rostrum! |
Minke whales are a species of baleen whale that ranges from 20-30 feet long and weighs about 8-10 tons. Now, what is baleen? This term refers to the thin plates of keratin (same protein in our hair and fingernails) that hang from the upper jaw. Having 200-300 plates, a minke whale uses the plates to filter out seawater while trapping prey, such as herring, within the mouth. Essentially, its a filter system within the mouth.
Over the next few days the whale watch decided to head out into different areas a little closer to home. Traveling between Mount Desert Rock, the Schoodic Ridges, and the Bumps, large whale activity remained absent. However, harbor porpoise appeared in various places and passengers were delighted to see many seals hanging out at Mount Desert Rock! Also, a large group of red-necked phalaropes were sighted at Mount Desert Rock on the 3rd!
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| A small flock of Red-necked Phalaropes! |
When working with Mother Nature we need to be patient. Yet, we were very fortunate to have sunny skies and calm waters along with the other great wildlife sightings this week!
