Monday on the Prince of Whales- Newburyport

Humpback whale, Solas

Today was another busy day on the Ledge and in the harbor!
We started by seeing a couple of harbor seals in the river as we were leaving the Merrimac.

As we arrived near Jeffreys Ledge, we came into an area with several finback whales, and one sleeping humpback whale. The humpback went down, and we didn't see it again. The finbacks were spread out and traveling, so we didn't get too close to them.

On the Ledge, we found at least 15 humpback whales! We have identified 10 of them so far. It was a very busy area, with sport fishing boats, tuna fishing boats, a whale research boat and some other whale watching boats all in the same small area where the activity was. So many boats in one area can be a problem for the whales- especially when the fishing activity (towed tuna lures) has a very good chance of snagging a whale! For a whale conservationist like myself, this was a very stressful day, constantly hoping the whales were ok. The boating activity on Jeffreys is rarely this congested which is why we love coming out here.

One of the whales we spent some time with was Solas, an 8 year old whale. Solas was actively feeding: charging the surface without even taking a breath, then flicking its tail, blowing a ring of bubbles and finally surfacing with its mouth wide open! I love seeing the different feeding behaviors of the individuals. They all seem to have a slightly different approach to fishing!

Solas' bubble net, and mouth open

Solas' mouth, close up

We also spent some time watching 2 pairs of whales, Valley and Tripod (2 adult females), and Raccoon and Fracture (presumably males).

Raccoon

Fracture

Raccoon and Fracture were seemingly buddies but each would take turns flicking its tail while they were swimming near the surface. Not sure what that was all about! Perhaps a spat? Or were they trying to shoo away the small shark we saw in the area near them??!!

Also in the distance were a few other humpbacks that we didn't have time to spend with but we managed to snap a few ID shots. The whale below is Churn, another new visitor to the Ledge!

Today was a great way to beat the heat. Thanks to everyone who visited with us. We hope to see you again soon!



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