A Minke Weekend

Minke whales were plentiful on and near Jeffreys Ledge this weekend. Today we were fortunate to have 5-6 different minke whales circling the Atlantic Queen while they hunted for prey apparently just below the surface. We got great looks at these minkes!

We grabbed a water sample with our plankton net at one point, and found it chock-full of plankton, especially copepods, which in addition to being a fun word to say, is an important organism in the Gulf of Maine. The copepod forms an important link in the food web as they feed on small phytoplankton and are in turn fed upon by fish like Atlantic herring, which are eaten by whales. We saw the food web in action today, with the high abundance of plankton apparently drawing lots of fish, which attracted the minkes!

I enjoyed meeting and talking with everyone on board today, including many repeat visitors, many visitors from Pennsylvania and some "regulars" who were honoring us by celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary aboard the boat. Thanks for coming and we hope to see you again soon!