Greetings Sisterhood of the Traveling Whales,
Yesterday we formed an allegiance with Captain Matt and the Cetacea crew in our mission to explore the Southwest Corner of Stellwagen Bank. Our 9am expedition can be summarized as a game of cat(amaran) and mouse, as we sighted an elusive humpback whale east of the bank. The mysticete was logging at the surface on our arrival, but after a flourish of its flippers it began diving for six minutes at a time. The wheelhouse radio clamored with a chorus of reported sightings further east, but the allure of identifying this whale took precedent. It would emerge at the surface with a single blow, only to disappear again without fluking. As this humpback headed east it finally gifted us with a highly prized fluke pattern, but a search through three different fluke catalogues yielded no victory of identification.
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| Unknown T3 fluke pattern. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist |
Our morning trip was concluded with a brief glimpse of an active humpback whale that was splashing about the ocean's surface. It was equipped with a radical dorsal fin that appeared weathered into a stump! A shallow fluking dive yielded no identification, thus completing the circle of anonymity encompassing this early voyage. Passengers can vouch for the magnificence of encountering these leviathans that spend 95% of their lives hidden under the sea.
Update: This whale's dorsal fin is that of Mostaza's 2014 Calf! |
| Unique dorsal fin of Mostaza's 2014 Calf. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist |
The mission of our 2pm voyage was to explore the strange world of the Southeast Corner to discover new humpback life and cetacean civilizations. What we encountered was a realm of minke whales, humpback whales, and pelagic seabirds who hunted in waters brimming with fish. An association of humpbacks Venom and Echo was located four miles from Provincetown, and both cetaceans traveled side-by-
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| Venom mere miles from Provincetown. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist |
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| Two marine avians on the hunt. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist |
A neighboring humpback whale was deploying bubblenets reservedly, enabling us to count each bubble popping at the surface! The recreational vessel Squidward ventured into the epicenter of one bubblenet, but was denied a close encounter as the whale reemerged amongst an aggressive cloud of green water on our starboard flank. A fluke pattern of white was unfurled for my camera, and this whale will surely be identified in the days to come. Our reluctant return for land brought us amongst coordinates from our 9am trip, and we witnessed again the two whales seen in the morning.
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| Lobster fishing vessel "USS Unicorn". The captain sported a barbecue apron. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist |
Peace and Love,
Rich
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