Whale Watcher Sightings April 25-30, 2013
Thursday, May 2 2013 07:15 PM
| Cape Cod, finback whales, humpback whales, whale, North Atlantic right whale, harbor porpoise, whale watch, whale watchers, basking shark, sharks, sei whale, whale watching, right whales
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We have had some incredible action on the few whale watch trips we have run in the past week. Humpback, finback and minke whales have all been seen. North Atlantic right whales have been observed daily. A few rarities including, sei whale, harbor porpoise, and basking shark, were also encountered Seabirds have been great as well. Thursday, April 25th was a record breaker as we had FIVE species of baleen whale in one trip!
Cape Cod Bay has been host to great numbers of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales of which there are fewer than 500 in existence. Though federal law mandates a minimum distance of ¼ mile from right whales, we have had some great encounters with these massive animals. On the 27th we had five right whales high skim feeding in echelon (nose to tail) formation. On the 28thwe had a right whale breach 3 times within ½ mile of the Whale Watcher. On the 30th right whales where seen lob-tailing in the distance on two separate occasions.
Humpback whales have been seen on every trip this past week. A trio of humpbacks, have been feeding heavily on alewife or another fast moving baitfish species, and have been seen lunging to the surface following fast paced feeding efforts. Individuals identified have included: Measles, Evolution, and Nile. On every trip they have provided whale watchers with their trademark tail shots and great looks!
Minke and finback whales were also regularly seen. Though the two appear similar in the plates of a field guide, the 20+ foot minke whales, the smallest baleen whale species in our area, are dwarfed in the field by their larger cousins, the finback whales. Finback whales can be the size of two school buses parked end to end! One individual, a finback whale named Loon was again seen feeding in the northern portion of Cape Cod Bay.
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| Two North Atlantic right whales high skim feed in Cape Cod Bay. Four whales are in the frame; one right foreground and another in distance right. Note "funny water". Photo:HWWC |
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| Humpback whales Measels and Nile head down for another feeding effort! Photo:HWWC |
On Thursday, April 25th, we had a sei whale feeding in the vicinity of some right whales. The third longest finner whale, and very similar to a finback, they can be identified in the field by a dark right jaw line and by the simultaneous, and diagnostic appearance of both the blowholes, and the dorsal fin when the whale is surfacing to breathe. Sei whales are always a rare sighting and often offer only fleeting glimpses. This individual however, was busy skim feeding on plankton for over a half hour providing excellent looks for all whale watchers on board! Sadly, this animal also had a distinct scar on his right flank, likely from a vessel collision.
Harbor porpoise have been seen on almost every recent trip. The high numbers of individuals and groups surprised the crew. The smallest toothed whale in the Atlantic, they are most often seen in small groups and are difficult to spot in choppy seas as they rarely measure over 5 feet in length. We believe that the calm sea conditions we have enjoyed this past week have allowed us to spot many more than we would have in bigger seas, and this leads us to hypothesize that they may be more common in spring than we previously thought; with windy spring conditions often leaving them undetected.
On Sunday, April 28th we had an enormous basking shark in the middle of Cape Cod Bay. An tall, ominous dorsal fin was sighted on our return trip. Likely close to 30 feet, this harmless plankton eater was swimming at the surface. After a few minutes of watching the shark swim along, it opened its huge mouth, and began to feed. Whale watchers could see the gill slits flare as the baleen-like gill rakers combed its food from the water column.
Seabirds observed: common, and red-throated loon, double-crested cormorant, razorbill, thick-billed murre, northern gannet, oldsquaw, bufflehead, common eider, surf, black, and white winged scoters, red-breasted merganser, red, and red-necked phalarope (with more, apparent, associative feeding near right whales), parasitic jaeger, herring, greater black-backed. ring-billed, and Bonaparte's gull, black-legged kittiwake.
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| A sei whale feeds alongside the Whale Watcher. Note white scar on right flank. Photo:HWWC |
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| Harbor porpoise are the smallest whales in our waters. This adult is only four or five feet in length. Photo:HWWC |
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| A HUGE basking shark filter feeding just below the surface shows the white interior of its open mouth! Photo:HWWC |
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| Lots of razorbills lingered into this past week to the delight of bird watchers! Photo:HWWC |
Whale Watcher Sightings April 20, 2013
Tuesday, Apr 23 2013 03:06 PM
| humpback whales, whale watching, North Atlantic right whale, whale watch, whale research, whales, Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, whalewatchers, right whales
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Though cold, windy weather has cancelled some recent trips, Cape Cod whale watching has been red hot! We are currently offering whale watch adventures Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Check out our full schedule at: http://whales.net/calendar/full_calendar.html. Here's what was going on out there on Saturday, April 20. Though we can only watch them in the distance, right whale sightings have been incredible. They may only be around for a bit more, before making their exodus. So here's what Joanne noted:
The rain stopped just in time for us to board our passengers for our 11 AM whale watch. We had only traveled a couple of miles into Cape Cod Bay when we had our first sighting of North Atlantic right whales, the most endangered large whale in the world. We could see the whale’s high black fluke being raised out of the water as the whale dove. We recorded the position and time to report in to the Sightings Advisory System which would send an alert to mariners.
We continued through Cape Cod Bay and spotted several more right whales to our west. As we headed north, following the 10 knot speed restriction which is in place to protect right whales from vessel strikes, we noticed from a distance a right whale behaving slightly differently. Even from 2 miles away, we could see it was high skim feeding, holding its head out of the water as it skimmed the surface feeding on planktonic animals called copepods. The whale was zigzagging through a patch of plankton, which was evident by a slick in the water. We noticed this particular whale had a scar near the tip of its rostrum, we used binoculars to confirm it was a scar and not an entangling line, as right whales second biggest threat is entanglements in fishing gear. Once confirmed, we continued north.
Just past Race Point Lighthouse, we could see blows of a different form, those made by humpbacks. We had our first humpback sightings of the season. There were about a dozen spread out of a two mile radius. We stopped on a single and a pair. The pair included a mature male named Tunguska. Tunguska was born in 1997 to Leukos and has been seen every year since his birth. Tunguska has a nearly all white fluke with black lines along the leading edges and a large, pointed dorsal fin. He was named for the comet that exploded in the atmosphere above Siberia in 1908 above Tunguska. Although it did not make contact with the earth, it estimated 60 million trees were knocked down by the blast.
Traveling in association with Tunguska was a whale named Eruption. Both whales were traveling just below the surface, never raising their flukes. They moved very slow, taking periodic breaths. Occasionally, we could see their long white flippers glowing green through the plankton and algae rich waters. Humpback whales have just started returning to the high latitude, cold water feeding grounds after spending several months in the low latitude, warm water breeding and calving grounds.
We returned to Cape Cod Bay, passing through the ‘rip’ at Race Point and saw a grey seal and found a few harbor porpoises milling about. The smallest of the toothed whales in our area, they travel in small pods or family units. Back in the bay, we saw a minke whale in the distance and as we came back south, we noticed more and more right whales high skim feeding. Something had changed and we could see heads and whales echelon (in line) feeding for quite a distant. We saw a line of 5, including two pairs, and then another group of 3-5. Just two miles outside of Barnstable Harbor, we still saw right whales high skim feeding in the distance.- Joanne Jarzobski
The rain stopped just in time for us to board our passengers for our 11 AM whale watch. We had only traveled a couple of miles into Cape Cod Bay when we had our first sighting of North Atlantic right whales, the most endangered large whale in the world. We could see the whale’s high black fluke being raised out of the water as the whale dove. We recorded the position and time to report in to the Sightings Advisory System which would send an alert to mariners.
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| A North Atlantic right whale fluking up near Sandy Neck |
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| High skimming right whale. Note white scar from previous entanglement with fishing gear. |
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| Humpback whale: Tunguska Our first humpback of the season! |
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| The dorsal fin shaped dorsal fin of humpback whale: Eruption. A regular off Cape Cod. |
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| Two right whales echelon feeding in the distance. |
Saturday's birds were awesome, as we had gone out a bit further toward the sanctuary, and included: common & red-throated loons, common eider, all three scoters, razorbill, common, and thick-billed murre, northern gannet, common goldeneye, oldsquaw, double-crested cormorants northern gannets, red-necked phalaropes (interestingly, foraging at the edge of the right whales' "funny water"!) Bonaparte's, ring-billed, laughing, herring, and greater black-backed gulls, and parasitic jaeger
Whale Watcher Sightings April 15-19
Friday, Apr 19 2013 06:32 PM
| Cape Cod, finback whales, whale, whale watch, whale watchers, whale research, Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, birdwatching, springtime, seabirds, jaeger, gannets, whale watching
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Our whale watch season began last Sunday with a strong start! Whale watchers encountered five different whale species. Baleen whale species included, finback, minke and the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale. Toothed whales observed were harbor porpoise, and Atlantic white-sided dolphins! We had great seabird sightings for the birdwatchers on board as well!
We remained in the southwestern side of Cape Cod Bay, heading towards a tall, narrow spout that looked to belong to a finback whale. We confirmed from a distance it was an endangered finback whale before approaching. Finback whales are the second largest animal to ever live. We got an amazing look at the finback whale as it surfaced next to us, allowing us to see the swirling pattern of grey (blaze and a chevron) along its right side for which individuals can be identified. As the finback moved closer to the right whale, we moved away and headed back towards Barnstable Harbor, seeing several more right whales in the distance along the way.
This season, you will see more of trip log style to our recent sightings posts. We are pleased to welcome Joanne Jarzobski to our naturalist staff, and at the risk of embarrassing her, she's awesome! Joanne has seventeen years experience as a naturalist and whale researcher, and is a gifted public speaker and educator. She is also a great photographer, and accordingly we want to share that talent with our whale watching community!
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| The v-shaped blow of a North Atlantic right whale. |
We have decided that posting short entries more frequently will give whale watchers up to date information in greater detail than Twitter allows for. That said, keep an eye out for topical posts, including the end of our seabird series to be interspersed among trip-logs. And let us know what you think. post your comments, and tell us what you'd like to see! So with no further ado, here's what's up out on the water!
Sunday, April 14, 2013
We began the 2013 whale watch season with lighter winds and calm seas, good conditions for spring whale watching. We traveled into Cape Cod Bay, where we saw numerous blows (spouts) from North Atlantic right whales. From a distance, we saw them traveling alone and in pairs, spread across the bay for many miles. North Atlantic right whales are protected by a federal law that prohibits vessels from approaching within 500 yards without special permission from the federal government. We traveled slowly and kept a safe distance, as to provide the critically endangered right whales plenty of room to make their living feeding on planktonic animals called copepods.
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| Two critically endangered North Atlantic right whales surface in the distance. |
We remained in the southwestern side of Cape Cod Bay, heading towards a tall, narrow spout that looked to belong to a finback whale. We confirmed from a distance it was an endangered finback whale before approaching. Finback whales are the second largest animal to ever live. We got an amazing look at the finback whale as it surfaced next to us, allowing us to see the swirling pattern of grey (blaze and a chevron) along its right side for which individuals can be identified. As the finback moved closer to the right whale, we moved away and headed back towards Barnstable Harbor, seeing several more right whales in the distance along the way.
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| A finback whale, second largest animal on the planet, finishes a breathing sequence. |
April 17, 2013
We had a wonderful spring day watching whales in Cape Cod Bay. We traveled slowing through the middle of the bay north, adhering to the mandatory 10 knot speed restriction in place to protect the critically endangered North Atlantic right whales residing in the bay. From January 1 through May 15, vessels over 65 feet in length must travel at 10 knots or less to protect right whales from their biggest threat--vessel strikes. The speed restriction is in place in areas of known annual concentrations of right whales. Cape Cod Bay is one of 5 areas right whales are known to frequent, particularly in the later winter and spring months.
Not far out of the bay, we saw a right whale in the distance. The whale appeared to be subsurface feeding, pushing the water at the surface and raising its flukes high out of the water, only to resurface minutes later. As we headed north, we passed several more right whales. Sightings of right whales are reported to NOAA, so alerts can be sent out to mariners.
Off of Provincetown, we came across a small pod of Atlantic white sided dolphins, along with a quick glimpse of a minke whale, the smallest of the baleen whales in our area. Like all toothed whales, Atlantic white sided dolphins travel in family units of related individuals which range in size from a dozen to a mega pod of over a thousands animals traveling together.
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| A right whale flukes up as it heads down on a dive. Note the white scar tissue on the tail stock,indicative of an entanglement. |
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| Atlantic white-sided dolphins delighted whale watchers on Thursday's trip! |
Not far from the dolphins, an endangered finback whale, the second largest animal on earth, surfaced. We got incredible looks as it traveled south, its white lower right jaw glowing green below the surface of the water. Nicknamed 'greyhounds of the sea' for the speed with which they can travel, finback whales can exceed 25 mph in short bursts. The animal we watched was not traveling anywhere near to that fast and came to the surface for several breaths before arching and diving.
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| Thar' she blows! Breathtaking looks at a finback whale taking a breath. |
April 18, 2013
Thursday's whale watch had both finback whales and North Atlantic right whales. The right whales seemed to be feeding deeper than the previous day, and were spending less time at the surface, but there were more of them. In fact, the day before, aerial survey teams had recorded 81 whales in Cape Cod Bay and surroundings; almost a third of the world's population.
While observing a distant right whale, a different individual surfaced and made its way past our boat providing whale watchers with great looks!
A finback whale we watched doing some deep feeding turned out to be a well known individual named Loon! Loon is a real Cape Codder having been observed for many years, until a several years ago when the whale was injured in a vessel-strike. It was a couple years or so before it returned to its usual haunts around Race Point at the tip of Cape Cod. Feeding happily, it's always good to see an old friend!
Seabirds observed: common, and red-throated loon, horned grebe, double-crested cormorant, razorbill, alcid spp. northern gannet, common goldeneye, oldsquaw, bufflehead, common eider, surf, black, and white winged scoters, red-breasted merganser, parasitic jaeger, jaeger spp., herring, greater black-backed. ring-billed, bonaparte's gull, black-legged kittiwake, and the first laughing gulls of the season!
While observing a distant right whale, a different individual surfaced and made its way past our boat providing whale watchers with great looks!
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| The smooth black flukes of a North Atlantic right whale. |
A finback whale we watched doing some deep feeding turned out to be a well known individual named Loon! Loon is a real Cape Codder having been observed for many years, until a several years ago when the whale was injured in a vessel-strike. It was a couple years or so before it returned to its usual haunts around Race Point at the tip of Cape Cod. Feeding happily, it's always good to see an old friend!
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| Finback whale- Loon. Note the scarring in front of the dorsal fin, the result of a vessel strike. |
Our vessel operates in compliance with NOAA's Northeast Whale Watching Guidelines and are active WhaleSENSE participants.