Good Evening Pod People,
Today on the Soutwest Corner we joined Captain Adam to peer through the pelagic window into the lives of humpback whales. Our first encounter on our 10am voyage was with an unknown humpback sighted earlier this season, whose dorsal fin was easily recognized by a missing chunk delineated by orca dentition scars. This whale was in a deep slumber as it surfaced within a body length of our boat with no warning or previous sighting! It remained just under the surface as we made for Cajun and Jabiru with their growing calves.
Jabiru and her calf made for their own travels upon our arrival, leaving Cajun and her youngling to the
Sanctuary amidst dives of four minutes. Captain Adam maneuvered the vessel to make this pair accessible to all passengers, and the whales offered intimate observation. Cajun’s 2015 Calf would emit a cloud of bubbles just before surfacing as the mother would let loose trumpeting blows that sent vibrations through the surface around the rostrum!
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| Cajun's 2015 Calf between mother and boat. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist |
Humpback whales may emit trumpeting blows as means of acoustic communication, but water vibration is also observed in the behavior of other aquatic animals. Male alligators floating on the water’s surface garnish attention from females with “chumpfs”, infrasonic purrs lower than 20 hertz that cause similar vibrations in the water. Reptiles and mammals are undoubtedly different in many ways, but similarities in their surface activity result in linear behaviors. The strange hydrodynamics of a trumpeting blow are usually not fully realized, but Cajun abided with her close proximity to our vessel.
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| Cajun sending vibrations across the water. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist |
On our 2pm return to the Southwest Corner we voyaged far east across Stellwagen Bank, passing a platoon of six whale watching boats that were observing four humpbacks. The glassy swells were unbroken but for our lone boat, but the seas were soon shattered by bombing plunges of hungry northern gannets. After a peaceful voyage and a single minke whale sighting we located Pele, who betrayed a week long association with Cajun and Jabiru to seek the company of Canopy!
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| Canopy's recognizable flukes. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist |
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| Fluke pattern of T4 seen later that evening. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist |
Our bewilderment of the fickleness of humpback whale relationships was forgotten when an enormous humpback breached in the distance. We dusted our way through hundreds of seabirds to view this whale as it surfaced alongside another of its kind, but both fluke patterns remain unknown to our team of naturalists…for now!
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| One of many northern gannets on the Southeast Corner. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist |
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| Juvenile northern gannet searches for a meal. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist |
Peace and Love,
Rich
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