previous whale sightings reports:
May 15, 2008 (photographs as promised...)
JUNE 1, 2008
total sightings from today's whale watch:
20-25 HUMPBACK WHALES, 11 FIN WHALES, and 2 MINKE WHALES
We started our whale watch this afternoon on the northwest corner of
Stellwagen Bank where we sighted 7 FINBACK WHALES. Most of these
whales were traveling alone which is typical for large baleen whale
species. There was, however, one group of 3 Fin Whales traveling
together.
To
see this number of Fin Whales together is not exceedingly rare, but what
makes this trio unusual is that they have been together for over a week
now. Long-lasting bonds such as this amongst this species of whale
is very unusual. Normally only mother and calf pairs form these
types of stable bonds. This trio gives us a rare opportunity to see Fin
Whales, which are normally a difficult species to get close looks at,
up close and I hope that this special event is not lost on the people
lucky enough to have gone whale watching out of Gloucester over the past
week. Many whale watches often overlook this species (the second
largest animal on Earth at 65+ feet!) but seasoned whale enthusiasts will
tell you that Fin Whales are amongst the most elegant and beautiful of all
whales and appreciate the rare opportunity to see them so well.
After getting a few great looks at the Fin Whales we traveled south along Stellwagen Bank's western edge and before long started sighting the spouts of HUMPBACK WHALES. We first came across 3 Humpbacks (a pair and a single animal) all of which were feeding. We slowed our whale watching boat and prepared to watch these whales for a bit but then we noticed many more spouts and thousands of birds a few more miles to the south and decided to keep heading in that direction...and we were glad we did! What we found was a massive feeding group of 15-20 Humpback Whales and 5-6 more Fin Whales. All around the boat were clouds of bubbles being blown by the whales as they fed. Humpbacks often employ a system of "bubble nets" to coral and concentrate their prey making it easier for the whales to get more fish in each mouthful.
The first Humpback that surfaced along side us in this large aggregation of feeding whales was an old whale known as "Agassiz" (named after Louis Agassiz who first put forth the idea of ice ages and glaciations after examining boulder-strewn forests in Manchester, Massachusetts right next door to Gloucester by the way). Agassiz was just the latest in an ever-growing list of Humpback Whales that are returning to the Stellwagen Bank area this year. Other Humpback Whales sighted today included "Cardhu" and calf, "Peninsula", "Pepper" and calf, "Firefly" and calf (this was the calf that breached alongside the boat!), "Cajun" and calf, "Nile", and "Geometry".
In all it was a great whale watch. The totals I have given here are probably conservative given that we could see the spouts of more whales to the south and if we had kept heading further down the bank we would have undoubtedly seen many more Humpback and Fin whales (and Minke Whales for that matter.... two Minkes were seen on the northern end of the bank today). So it seems as if the abundance of Sand Lance (the small schooling fish that they whale primarily feed on in this region) is keeping the whales in the area at least for now. At times the whales are very concentrated and all feeding in one area, at other times they are more spread out which is probably a function of how tightly grouped their prey is. But with this many whales in the area we are having great sightings on every trip and we hope these great sightings will last for a good while....but you never can tell. If you have the opportunity to get out whale watching soon PLEASE DO! You won't regret it!
ALL PHOTOS TAKEN ON JUNE 1, 2008