We had an awesome day out on the southwest corner this morning! Just before crossing over onto Stellwagen Bank, we spotted a blow at our 9 o’clock position. We headed in that direction and found a humpback named Fulcrum.

The grand dame Salt close to the boat

Fulcrum has a very distinct dorsal fin (or lack thereof) because she endured a pretty nasty propeller scar at some point in her life. After spending a few minutes with Fulcrum, we decided to move ahead to the area where we had sightings yesterday. Once we arrived in this area, we saw groups of humpbacks all over the place! We recognized one whale right away and it was SALT! Throughout the trip we were able to ID Salt, Milkweed and calf, Midnight and calf, Baja and calf!

Salt and Midnight open-mouth feeding

We had great looks of Salt and Midnight bubble-net feeding together! Both of these whales had very significant scarring on their upper right lips. Bubble-nets were forming left and right, port and starboard for everyone to enjoy. We also saw Baja bubble-netting alone in the area. The calves were following alongside their feeding mothers, hopefully taking mental notes on their different feeding strategies. At one point Salt, the most famous whale on Stellwagen Bank, swam super close to us across the bow, fearless of the whale paparazzi. In the midst of the excitement we saw some tail breaching and at one point Salt flicked her tail right next to us!

Open-mouth feeding awesomeness!

It was so great to see a bubble-feeding bonanza this morning. Along with the whales, we saw a wide variety of birds! Everything from Northern Gannets and Herring Gulls to Canadian geese and Warblers!

Have a good one!

Annie