Greetings Planktonic Platoon,

Today on our 10am expedition to the southwest corner of Stellwagen Bank, Captain Jeff brought us across calm seas to witness the righteous power of cetaceans in their natural habitat.  We found early fortune as we were able to spot three blows from several miles off Provincetown!  The whales garnished attention prior our arrival, as the BHC vessel Cetacea had already joined the 110’ whale watching boat Tails of the Sea.  We waited for the Cetacea to head back for Central Wharf before encroaching on one humpback known as Wizard's 2014 Calf, and we were greeted with a lively tail breach!

We remained with the juvenile who would thrust her tail valiantly out of the water to commemorate the start of each surface interval!  After being duly satisfied with this whale theatre, we slowly approached a pair of humpbacks who were traveling in close unison.  These whales dove for a short moment, and one of the duo resurfaced with a tail breach of her own!  This mammal is known to the maritime community as the world-famous Nile!  A plump harbor seal joined in our audience, and remained as the lone sentry when we regrettably departed for dry land.

These creatures are marvels that renew our appreciation for the sea with every sighting, and I anticipate my next adventure on Stellwagen Bank!

Peace and Love,

Rich

Wizard's 2014 Calf tail breaching on return from dive. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist 

Nile (back) and Pitcher (front). Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist

Pitcher (left) and Nile (right). Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist 

Wizard's 2014 Calf exhaling at 300mph. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist

Pitcher fluking. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist 

Wizard's 2014 Calf dragging fluke. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist

Good Day Pelagic Pilgrims,

On this morning of fog and heavy swell, Master and Commander Adam brought us across the bay to the Southern expanse of Stellwagen Bank.  We sighted a pair of humpback whales that eventually parted ways on our arrival.  These fickle whales remained hidden under the ocean for several minutes, but we were made aware of some nearby blows by our NEAQ intern, Jason.  These spouts emanated from two finback whales who were circling and lunge feeding with gusto! 

These Atlantic aquanauts wore anthropogenic souvenirs; scars that were a result of unsavory introductions to the propellers of human watercraft.  Our captain managed several close looks of these speedy cetaceans through an aquatic ballet of hide and seek, but we eventually bid adieu in search of humpback whales.  During our second chapter of our voyage we passed the Auk, the NOAA vessel currently tasked with placing critter-cams upon humpbacks.  The boat was towing a tagging vessel as well as our lead naturalist, Laura Howes, who gave us an enthusiastic wave.

Our vessel eventually happened upon two different whales; Ouija and Music!  Both creatures were actively partaking in sounding dives, but we managed a couple of photographs for our own scientific intentions.  We were also joined by several harbor seals during the trip who were surely baffled as we drove around in circles to search for their cetacean brethren.

As always, it was a stupendous outing today, and I am enthused to join Adam again on Thursday!

Peace and Love,

Rich

Bronze coloration of finback whale No.1. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist      

Chevron patch of finback No.1. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist

 No. 2 (back) & No.1 (front) in circular travel. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist

Two probable propeller scars on finback No.1. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist

Auk towing tagging vessel. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist

Partial fluke of Music on a shallow dive. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist

Good Afternoon Cetacean Nation,

This morning aboard the Cetacea we ventured to our Stellwagen stomping grounds, the Southwest Corner.  We joined Jim, captain of land, air, and most relevant, sea.  We found a cacophony of humpbacks, who were widely dispersed and thwarted many an effort to capture ID photographs.  We managed images of two different whales, and were aghast to note them both as unknowns!  One of our naturalists, Tegan, phoned in our first humpback as unknown #18, while our second creature was unknown #16.  Overall, there were between 7-12 humpback whales that surfaced too far from our boat for identification.  There were also three minke whales who made short cameo appearances to breathe the crisp Atlantic air.   The Southwest Corner has become the haunted house of Stellwagen Bank, visited by ghost-like cetaceans who appear and vanish within moments of discovery.

As always, it was a pleasure to collaborate with fellow naturalist Hannah, and to venture with New England Aquarium interns Ann and Mira.  I hope to rediscover these unknown humpback whales and partake in many a merry expedition!

Peace and Love,

Rich

Fluke of 15BH16. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist

Fluke of 15BH18, Rich Dolan BHC naturalist

Greetings Fluke Dukes,

The 2pm whale watch aboard the Cetacea brought our scientific minds into the wild Atlantic waters of the Southwest Corner.  Captain Bill was enthusiastic in his search for megafauna, and he laid claim to an elusive finback whale as the first sighting of the afternoon.   This turbulent titan partook in 4 minute dives of great distance, leaving us only with sparse photos that cannot summate the impressive velocities such a species can reach.  We soon grew restless in the mysticete marathon and opted to examine some blows further east across heavy seas.

We soon happened upon two humpback whales who were diving as a pair.  The smaller of two beasts revealed a fluke pattern recognized from the morning trip on the Cetacea, but unknown to us in the last season.  A third humpback in the area stirred excitement in my belly, as my last sighting of this curious character was nearly a month ago.  This chap has a dorsal fin that is unique for its scars, as the spacing and characteristics of the dentition marks suggests predation by orcas! 

The rough seas of Stellwagen Bank only spared few secrets today.  We will return again to gander at this battle-scarred humpback and its cetacean neighbors, in hopes of unfurling many a unique tale.

Peace and Love,

Rich Dolan

Coast Guard drill east of Boston Harbor. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist

Fluking dive from 15BH29. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist.

Unique dorsal of 15BH29. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist

Good Afternoon Planeteers,

Today aboard the 10am expedition aboard the Aurora, we collaborated with Captain Jeff in locating our cetacean brethren on the Southwest Corner of Stellwagen Bank.  The passengers were pleased to encounter calm seas and fantastic visibility.  We happened upon two groups of surface-active humpbacks who were proudly thrusting their flukes out of the water for us to photograph.  Their antics didn’t go unnoticed, as the SBNMS’s research vessel, the Auk, was in the immediate area, undoubtedly conducting exciting science!

The first group of humpback whales consisted of Jabiru, Perseid, Nile, and a smaller unknown whale.  They were taking short dives and presented whale enthusiasts with a bounty of great looks.  The second group of mystical mysticetes included Tornado, Milkweed, Owl, and Owl’s 2015 calf.  The vivacious calf championed fresh injuries from a probable entanglement.  Both groups kept to their own, but were generous to us throughout the entire trip.  As we reluctantly ventured from this whale-city, we took note of a fog cloud that held off until the very end.

These crazy eight made today a memorable experience for many, and we look forward to our next adventure.

Peace and Love,

Rich

Auk, NOAA research vessel. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist 

Thar she blows! Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist

Nile and Perseid fluking. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist

Entanglement injuries of Owl's 2014 calf. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist

Owl (right) and her calf (left). Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist

Crouching humans, hidden whale. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist

Good Evening Mammals,

This afternoon we returned to same region as we explored on our 9am trip on the Cetacea.  The sea conditions on the Southwest Corner came alive, and we were tasked with telling blows apart from whitecaps while our craft pitched and rolled like a rolling stone.  These elusive animals surfaced with brevity, only to have their shallow fluking dives cloaked in rough seas that obscured their fluke patterns.  We could also see a couple of humpback beasts breaching in the far distance. 

Passengers were rewarded for their perseverance with a great send-off by two humpbacks who made a beeline for our bow, only to swim single-file under our pulpits!  One of these whales had a T-3 fluke photographed earlier on our 9am trip, and as of now the answer to this whale’s identity is blowing in the wind.  An appropriate theme of intrigue for a whale watch on Bob Dylan’s birthday!  We estimate our sightings to be from 7-9 humpbacks, not including the numerous whale blows boiling from the distant seas along Provincetown.

Thank you for reading of our exploits and we hope you will partake in this fantastic holiday weather!

Peace and Love,

Rich & Laura Howes

Unknown fluke. Laura Howes, BHC lead naturalist

2nd sighted whale crossing bow. Laura Howes, BHC naturalist

1st sighted humpback diving. Laura Howes, BHC lead naturalist

Harbor seal. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist

Greetings Whale Whisperers,

For our 11AM trip aboard the Asteria, we joined Captain Deb in an enthusiastic search for whales on the Southwest corner of Stellwagen Bank.  The skies remained clear as they had for the past several whale watches, but the 2-3’ swells cast upon us by the ocean tested the mettle of our passengers.  As we were within sight of Provincetown, we could see a smattering of several blows straddling the horizon!  We made our way towards what appeared to be a breaching humpback in the distance, but that activity was short-lived.  We instead found ourselves on two individual finback whales that came close to our vessel!  The enormity of these megafauna was realized as one of them crossed our bow.  The other cetacean began side-lunge feeding to our starboard, briefly revealing part of a rarely seen finback fluke!  Passengers were gifted glimpses of chevron patterns unique to finback whales. 

Once the “finners” travelled away from the vessel we ventured toward a pair of humpback whales who were slowly surface feeding!  Their behavior was evident by the green clouds boiling the water’s surface, coupled with the tips of their rostrums peeking out of the ocean.  Deb brought us to a third humpback whale who was kind enough to show us a beautiful fluke.  This whale is known to us all as Trance, a repeated sighting for the season.  We also caught a look of a somewhat small humpback travelling slowly on the surface, and witnessed a brief head-breach from another humpback whale!  As we returned to Boston, there were still many blows further out in the east.

On our 5pm trip, we accompanied Captain Tim on our second excursion to the Southwest corner.  Our return to “Whale City” was triumphant, as the vast number of blows from humpbacks caused a near sensory overload!  Initially we watched Rapier and her calf gracefully milling around the surface of a calm sea.  Then we happened upon a trio of whales, two of which were a mother and calf pair!  Jabiru valiantly escorted the mother and her new calf around the boat as the calf curiously rose its head up out of the water!  The calf was especially vocal, and Laura justly compared the trumpeting blow of the juvenile to the vocalization of a baby elephant!  We soon found ourselves on a lone humpback whale that was recognizable from a sighting earlier this week for its orca rake scars on its dorsal fin.  We discovered at this point in the trip that we were being followed by harbor seals and grey seals, and we felt that their interest in us rivaled our interest in the whales!  We also managed to sight several separate humpbacks in the distance and captured a photo of yet another fluke!  These mammalian sightings brought an exciting conclusion to the day, and we have high hopes for the days to come.

We hope for everyone to have a euphoric weekend, and we look forward to sharing more of our maritime missions!

Love and Peace,

Rich and Laura C

Rapier (back) and calf (front). Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist 

15BH16 fluking. Rich Dolan, BHC naturalist