We traveled to the middle of the bank, north of the SEC to find a group of 7 that formed consisting of Venom and calf, Music and calf, Crisscross, Mend, and an unknown from last season. The great visibility allowed us to really appreciate the spiral blast pattern from the group (see photo above) – where usually one whale from the group makes the net and others corral prey as they all move upward. Venom would always surface first, doing a long bout of “dragging” (i.e. filtering water out of her mouth at the surface) followed by a head thrust (see photo). We would then watch as the other adults in the group would come up, some rolling around as they did.

The whale whoever that stole most of our attention was Venom’s 2016 calf – who was making bubble blasts of its own (see photo). It’s hard to interpret this type of behavior, but it could be a curious/milling behavior while the adults were down, or perhaps it was even practicing making bubbles, following the behavior of its feeding mother. 

What amused me was that Venom’s calf would make these bubbles usually right before the group’s net would appear – misleading us to where the adults would come up feeding.

Music and Venom’s calves were also pretty curious, approaching our boat a few times while the adults were down. What was also interesting about the calves was by the end of our trip, they seemed to be participating in the feeding net too.

Great day on the water! One of my favorites this season for sure!

— Laura Howes

Our first encounter with whales involved Cajun, a humongous humpback, taking a dive right under the boat! Cajun was spotted all over the place today, floating between different groups of whales all throughout the area. We spent some time with Crisscross, Mend, Mostaza and her 2016 calf, Venom and her 2016 calf. 

While the adults were busy feeding below the surface, Venom’s calf would stroll over to hang out with the excited passengers on board our vessel! This energetic calf even breached a couple times which is always surprising and exciting! This calf may be getting a reputation for being particularly loveable this season, because this whale continued to WOW us with close-up looks!

This afternoon on the Sanctuary with Captain Dave we headed out east to Mid-bank where we were treated to some pretty epic humpbacks! This morning the forecast threatened thunderstorms, but instead we were treated to clear skies and a load of awesome whales! We started off with a juvenile humpback who was tail-slapping up a storm!

Venom's calf's fluke

This whale tail slapped for many minutes, threw in a few tail throws and flipper slaps and then finally pooped! After the whale’s fecal plume dissipated, the whale took a dive and we decided to move on. We spotted Venom, Venom’s 16 Calf, Perseid, Cajun, Mostaza and Mostaza’s 16 Calf. After a little while, Venom’s very curious calf paid us a call and came over to check us out. The adults split up a bit leaving us with Perseid, Venom and Calf.

It didn’t take long for us to lose focus of the adults in the area because Venom’s calf and another calf decided to spend the last 15 minutes of our trip holding us hostage! Between intermittent breaches, the calves milled around on both sides of the boat, swimming around close to the pulpits, blowing snarge on the passengers. In the distance we noticed some surface activity from some of the adults in the area who congregated close together. Eventually the calves moved far enough away for us to, as Captain Dave put it “make a getaway.”

What a great day!

— Annie 

But first, our 11am trip was filled with mom’s and calves – our first sighting was of Tornado and her 2016 calf. This young calf started off our trip with a few tail breaches, while mom Tornado spent time below the surface. 

After some nice looks of this pair, we then decided to move to another pair we were observing in the distance. Our second mom/calf pair was Mars, a female veteran to the area, and her 2016 calf. Mars is known for her distinctive fluke – which unfortunately was deformed from a past entanglement in fishing gear.

On our 3pm trip, we headed out to a similar area, this time to find a lone humpback. As I often tell passengers, sometimes one humpback is all you need for a spectacular trip, and this whale didn’t disappoint! As we spotted some distance splashes from a humpback breaching, we arrived closer to find Boomerang’s 2012 calf, who treated us to a complete hour-plus of breaching activity! 

Today tops one of trips with the most breaching I’ve had in the past few years – which included multiple full spinning-head breaches, half breaches, chin slaps, lobtailing, belly-up lobtailing, tail breaches, and even a few flipper slaps! 

It was quite a splashy way for guests to enjoy the wonderful wildlife Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary has to offer!

— Laura Howes

Before long, the activity really ramped up, and we had kick feeding taking place in all directions, near and far. A favorite of mine,   Etch-a-Sketch and her calf were with us for a bit of time, as well as Scratch, Habenero, Lichen, and a few other unknowns. There were a few chin breaches, but one absolutely enormous breach from a whale. A complete hallmark humpback behavior and a sight I can still picture in my mind.

We returned to the dock and got right back out for the afternoon- from looking at the movements these whales have been making, it seems as though they are beginning to make their way south again, as today they were feasting on the sand eels of midbank. This afternoon left me completely stunned. Sometimes we get lucky enough to have a whale surface yards from the boat, or get curious, or kick feed super close- at one point we had all three happening at once! I checked back and passengers were literally standing in the middle of the third deck not knowing which direction to look.

The star of the day during both trips was Abrasion. Her method of kick feeding also incorporates a chin breach. She would launch herself out of the water, then as she submerged would smash her tail downward, making a splash that nearly engulfed her entire body (see series). I couldn’t get enough of her. We also had a few calves who became playful and curious while mom ate lunch. A few of the other whales we have identified so far include JT, Ganesh and her calf, Hancock, and Level. Today was absolutely unreal, and the passengers I talked to seemed to really appreciate the rarity and luck of today’s sightings!

— Laura

Today’s sightings did not have the multiple groups of kick feeding whales, instead today they were milling around in groups of 3-4, with at least two calves in the area. We watched Bolide, Bowline, and Whiplash, along with Twine and her calf. The calf even became a bit curious and spent much of its time waiting for mom to resurface just off our port side! In addition, we also had a curious young seal come to take a look at the passengers on board.

It was a great day, and so good to see the whales hanging around nearby!

— Laura

Once we arrived in the area, there were blows every which way and we had our pick of plenty of singles, duos and small groups of humpback whales. It was tricky for myself on the clipboard committee today to keep track of each and every sighting. Focusing on just one group of whales at a time was almost impossible! 

Of the many fluke-shots we got we recognized Ventisca and Lavalier travelling together, Pixar and Peninsula together, Jabiru, Cajun and Draco amongst a larger group of 4-5 whales as well as Glo and Wave with their calves respectively. We saw a little bit of everything today. No matter where you looked something exciting was happening whether it be breaching babies, flipper slapping adults, bubble-net feeding, kick feeding or the good-old fashioned fan-favorite fluke up dive, this trip had it all! 

The highlight of today’s trip for me was when a huge bubble-net was formed off the port side. A group of 5 whales emerged from the bubble-net and swam right alongside the boat! It was a blustery day on the water and we certainly noticed whenever we were downwind of whale breath because it had quite the odor!

Fantastic whales today!

— Annie and Rich

On both our morning and afternoon trips on board the Aurora with Captain Earl we headed through the bank WAY out past the SE Corner. This long voyage built up the suspense and excitement of our passengers, but once we arrived on the bank we were graced with the presence of copious amounts of kick-feeding humpback whales! 

After yesterday’s sparse sightings, I was completely surprised to find that there were so many whales actively feeding in the area today. It’s amazing how things can change so dramatically overnight! Throughout both trips we spotted Echo and her 2016 calf, Timberline, Apex, Landslide, Apostrophe, Tau and so many more that I still need to ID! 

We enjoyed viewing the varying kick-feeding strategies exhibited by the different humpback whales in the area today. One whale would kick things off with a speedy chin-slap and subsequent arch of the back which was always very dramatic. Others focused more on their tail flicks, but each bout of kicking and thrashing always had the end result of wide open mouths and plenty of baleen! The food of choice today appeared to be sandlance and it was just about everywhere!

Can’t wait for tomorrow!

— Annie

Next we moved about 1 mile south and found 2 unassociated humpbacks. It was Hancock and Shuffleboard! First we spent time with Hancock, who repeatedly blew big bubble nets and surfaced with a mouthful of fish. 

Next we saw Shuffleboard, who was also bubble net feeding. She was a bit more curious of us and briefly approached the boat once to check us out. Many passengers were able to achieve the difficult task of the Whale Selfie during today’s trip, as Shuffleboard stretched her big flipper out of the water close off our port side. 

Overall, it was a fantastic trip on Stellwagen Bank!!

— Hannah

Out east we found not one but TWO fin whales making some white water and enjoying the bounty of fish in the area.  They did a couple of bouts of feeding, turning on their sides so we could see their flukes (see photo!) and generally charging very forcefully through the water.  

At one point we were right alongside both of these whales as they swam very purposefully toward another area teaming with fish, birds, and at least one other whale.  While we were waiting for them to come back from their dives, our intern Taylor spotted a dorsal fin in the water of what turned out to be a huge basking shark!  This shark stayed up alongside us at the surface for about ten to fifteen minutes, at one point right alongside the boat so everyone could get some fantastic looks at this incredible animal.  We also had the shark and both whales right off the bow together!

For our second trip we headed toward mid bank hoping to pick up Shuffleboard as reported by the 12 PM trip.  We stopped for a few minutes on another fin whale that was being very low profile in the water and even displaying what might have been logging or resting behavior.  This whale also proved to be taking longer dives and coming up farther away, so we pressed on and were able to locate Shuffleboard, who helped us out by displaying some behavior that caused lots of whitewater (maybe a breach?).  When we caught up with her she was doing some awesome bubble net feeding and we even got a couple glimpses of her open mouth, and she graciously showed us her fluke once when she went down for a dive.  She also at one point breached to our right, perhaps because of the building seas. We were luckily able to get some great looks at her before the wind really picked up and the sea conditions deteriorated quickly. A big thanks to Captain Earl for getting us home safely, our crew for helping out, and our hardy passengers for sticking out those wishy-washy seas!

— Heidi and Taylor

***

Today aboard the Cetacea was an unusual experience. Captain Jim and I agreed to start upon Midbank along an excursion that would eventually bring us just north of Provincetown. A large belch of bubbles ascended across our bow, causing us to halt and observe massive bait balls throughout the vicinity.

Minke breach

We cautiously accelerated and a minke suddenly breached at a distance of 500’! This individual breached four more times and then vanished in an instant, typical for this meek baleen species.










We continued on a lengthy eastern journey and covered the Southwest Corner without a blow in sight. As we passed north of Provincetown three powerful blows were thrust skyward, and we were pleased to observe a fin whale informally dubbed 16BP18 as it plowed the surface with an unknown accomplice!

Fin whale

16PB18

The duo huddled in synchronicity while a third dove without any further sighting. After mighty close looks our conglomerate headed west for a lengthy return home, and the waters were teaming with brown shoals of visible sandlance! The air was primed with anticipation as this was a prime opportunity for any apex predator to feed.

Basking shark

Our wheelhouse noticed two brown spades of cartilage pass through the surf, and found ourselves upon a basking shark 20-25’ in length! A large scar of alabaster color decorated the creature between the dorsal and caudal fins; clearly this was a survivor of a boat strike or other significant trauma. This was a fine finale of unexpected grandeur, and we left the peaceful behemoth amongst thousands of fishy cousins.

Our travels far and wide yielded no humpbacks, but this strange Atlantic behavior will forever make roost in my memories!

— Rich