Good Evening Atlantic Armada,
Saturday's exciting adventures on southern Stellwagen Bank were made reality through the collaboration of Captains Adam and Tim, two astute shellbacks with senses finely attuned to whale behavior. Captain Adam commanded the Sanctuary for our 10am quest on the Southwest Corner, and we found ourselves in a cornucopia of feeding humpback whales amounting to 26 individuals! Our first three sightings were of whales who yielded no fluking dives or captivating behavior, but upon encountering an association of three humpbacks we were treated to flipper slapping and rolling from the unknown runt of the group!
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| Unknown juvenile rolling. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist |
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| Young humpback sprawling out. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist |
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| Possible barnacle scars on rostrum. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist |
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| Ventral display of gender features. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist |
We were soon drawn to the bubble clouds of four surface feeding humpbacks that consisted of Banyan and a juvenile who spyhopped within five feet of our starboard decks! My attention to the calf was hewn by a surfacing adult humpback who exercised its baleen whilst under siege by deafening seagulls, a theatre not witnessed by these eyes since the second week of July! The bold calf passed our bow close enough for a pat on the head (which we forbade in respect to the Marine Mammal Protection Act), just as our feeding whale dove amidst a sea brimming of minke whales.
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| Unidentified humpback whale feeding amidst bubble cloud. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist |
The zenith of our trip was affirmed with a mighty breach from our larger, hungry mysticete, turning this opera into a veritable discotheque! The surface activity was gradually subdued, but even so we identified Twinkle amongst the fluking dives from afar. The humpback whales parted ways and the clamor of terns and seagulls was muted. A cease fire between the whales and their prey was declared, permitting a moment of silence for the thousands of sand lance lost to the ruthless maws of the humpback whales.
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| The only breach of the trip beyond our bow. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist |
Captain Tim took the helm for the 2pm expedition as he brought us amongst Owl and her 2015 calf and they dove in the company of a third whale, a two year old humpback born to Echo last year! We were soon drawn to a mighty breach in the east, but the promise of theatrics was snuffed when this humpback mocked us with a lengthy dive. The Sanctuary made for a caravan to the Southeast Corner, where many a minke whale bobbed in glassy swells. We soon returned to the west with a sighting of the humpback whale Twinkle, as well as an anonymous mother and calf pair who were silhouetted by the setting sun.
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| Echo's 2014 Calf returns! Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist |
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| Mother and calf in the sun. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist |
Todays encounters were monumental in scale and emotion, made accessible to passengers and scientists by the valiant teamwork of captains and crew of the BHC fleet. We can aspire for more righteous encounters on this Labor Day weekend!
Peace and Love,
Rich
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