Today the boats made their way through the packed harbor and headed to the Southwest corner of Stellwagen Bank. On our way to the bank, some of the boats spotted a couple different species of note. There was an elusive minke who took a quick dive and went out of sight. One group was lucky to find a pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins. The pod looked to consist of 10 to 20 individuals!

Nile feeding on Stellwagen

But the main event was Nile on Stellwagen Bank. This 26 year-old female humpback whale was doing short dives and showing her tail on almost every dive. We observed her doing subsurface bubble cloud feeding (which may work to scare the bait into a tighter bait ball) amongst laughing and herring gulls and many recreational boaters looking to escape the heat.

Nile’s very hooked dorsal fin, it’s almost as distinctive as her fluke

Nile's fluke

The holiday also meant some special events in Boston Harbor. Besides all the recreational boaters, some passengers also got a chance to see the USS Constitution coming into the harbor. The historic ship was making its yearly trip to Castle Island to celebrate Independence Day. The evening trip also enjoyed great looks at firework displays all up and down the coast of Massachusetts!

USS Constitution on its annual foray into Boston Harbor on July 4