THE PELAGIC PILGRIMAGE

Good Evening Cetacean Savants,

This afternoon on the 12pm expedition we engaged the Southwest Corner under the charge of Captain Tom and his hearty Asteria crew. The awakened seas spurred us to look for blows that would soon dissipate into the Atlantic winds, and after several moments of intent searching we discovered the humpback whale named Nile! This sizable female was embarking on non-fluking dives of roughly five minutes, and she was recognized by her dorsal as she was reluctant to reveal her famous fluke pattern. Nile continued on an easterly heading as we made our way north, beckoned by excitement over the radio concerning whale activity at Midbank.

We soon happened upon a humpback whale of unknown origin, but this mountain of mysticete has been sighted recently by other naturalists on Stellwagen Bank. This colossus had a fluke of yellow coloration, perhaps due to the concentration of diatoms visible on the vast swaths of white tissue. Several other whales made themselves known with a sudden barrage of blows and fluking dives, and we gleefully identified Echo and Ventisca in this oceanic uproar. We ended this first expedition with a close glance of a mother-and-calf pair that was actively tail breaching amongst 10-13 humpbacks milling under the ocean swell.

Our 5pm trip was initiated aboard the Cetacea with Captain Bill and his sect of seadogs. We made the decision to explore the deep of the Northwest Corner, and spent a moment with an unrecognized humpback that was taking dives of several minutes in waters of 280’. We soon made for the south, only to glimpse another whale embarking on lengthy dives off the edge of the bank. The fires that burned bright in the hearts of our passengers were slowly extinguished by this sparsity of surface activity, and we soon crossed Midbank with no fortune.

This sudden change in surface activity is characteristic of whale watching, and the evening expedition became a true hunt; linear in nature to the cetacean search practiced by our ancestors under a much different intent. Our fruitless search was suddenly ceased as Miranda, our NEAQ intern, sighted an eruption of white water on our southward heading. We were ecstatic to see a humpback whale ABOVE the ocean, and this leviathan continued to breach upon our arrival. We recognized this cetacean as Galactic, and we bore witness to a marathon of spinning breaches and pectoral flipper slaps of a deafening caliber. Galactic appeared to have a penchant for regalement, as this theater continued long after we departed for the mainland.

Today’s surprises held true to the romance of whale watching on the capricious ocean blue, and such trials and tribulations are a small price to pay in furthering our understanding of the ocean’s secrets.

Peace and Love,

Rich