Not only were my parents on board today, but it was also their anniversary so you know the sightings had to be phenomenal! Between the humpbacks feeding, breaching (2 at a time!) and sleeping, along with the shy harbor porpoises and frisky white sided dolphins, I'm not sure what the highlight was!
Filament was feeding in her unique way again- lifting her tail very high and flicking it as she entered the water.
Then two humpbacks were feeding together using a bubble cloud to concentrate their lunch.
Oh wait, make that three humpbacks feeding together!
Tigris was also lunge-feeding and was spending time with Valley and Newton for a bit before the ladies went off on their own.
Valley (note the v-shaped notch in her upper right fluke)
Newton- her tail reminded researchers of Sir Issac Newton sitting under an apple tree, about to discover the law of gravity!The breaches that are posted above are of Sword who is a male. Mudskipper, who is likely a male as well, was also breaching just before Sword. Tornado, a female who calved last year, was in the area too. Perhaps this breaching was a dominance or courtship display??
As we were thinking about heading back to Newburyport, we got a report from our friends on the Granite State of a group of Atlantic white sided dolphins not far away. We motored toward them and saw several whales in the area with the dolphins! Finbacks and humpbacks were spread out through the area. The dolphins were much more social than the shy porpoises we saw at the beginning of the trip. The dolphins were feeding and racing all around. We got some very nice looks as they were all around the boat.
I think one of the best parts about today's trip was the location of the activity. The whales and dolphins were about 12 miles closer to Newburyport than they were the day before! Less travel time means more whale watching time! On the way in, a reporter asked me why I thought the whale sightings were so good this year. I mentioned the herring and how the mid-water herring fishery was banned in this area a couple years ago and the the herring stocks seemed to be rebounding. This may be true, but I think the real reason is that my parents have been out multiple times this summer!
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5 comments:
It was a great trip! I have been on at several whale watches in the past 15 years, and this one was the most varied.
Good job, crew.
What a magical day. The whales and dolphins at one point were everywhere!
Each time we go on a whale watch it is better than the previous trip. We've seen it all this season - from frisky little harbor porpoises and dolphins to giant breaching humpbacks.
The Prince of Whales is the boat to be on. The crew finds the whales and the passengers are great. Everyone is in awe over the wildlife out there.
I am so glad you got to see the humpbacks breaching! I saw that Clipper's calf was breaching the other day and that was awesome!
I wish I was there every day with you!
What a fabulous trip! The crew did a great job, but the whales, porpoises, and dolphins definitely were the stars of the show. We've been on whale watches before, but never one where we saw so many at once or such diversity. I have a photo of Sword breaching as my desktop wallpaper now, and I got a good one of Mudskipper too (he's vertical!).
Thanks for a great and a very informative trip.
Kara, Jerry & Sam
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