July 10th was bright and sunny — a welcome change from the previous days of rain. Less than an hour into the trip, we spotted a small group of Atlantic white-sided dolphins, some of which were porpoising, or propelling themselves partially out of the water. Dolphins and other cetaceans will sometimes do this when they are chasing a school of fish. Soon afterward, we found ourselves with 3 humpback whales: Firefly and her calf, as well as a whale named Bandit. Bandit is one of our favorite humpbacks due to his unique feeding style. Many humpbacks will use their tails to generate walls of bubbles which stun and confuse fish, but Bandit is especially energetic, and will wildly thrash his huge tail before lunging through the school.
More excitement occurred on the Dolphin VIII as a couple got engaged on the bow of the boat, just as the whales were surfacing and fluking. This couple will certainly have a unique story to tell at their wedding!
July 11th started out gray and foggy. Humpback whales could be seen intermittently, but in their long absences between surfacings, we suspected that they were deep feeding. By mid-afternoon, the skies had cleared, and we were able to relocate the group of humpbacks that has been dominating Southeastern Stellwagen Bank humpback sightings for the past two months. Alphorn, Pele, Milkweed, Percussion and Cajun appeared every 8-10 minutes to take a few breaths before embarking on another long, deep, dive, while Cajun’s playful calf breached and rolled at the surface. Soon, this calf will be learning how to feed on solid food, rather than its mother’s nutritious milk. For now, this little calf’s almost constant presence at the surface suggests that it is not quite ready for those deep foraging dives!
Cajun’s calf isn’t the only acrobatic calf in our midst. On July 12th our first stop was on a humpback named Rune and her calf. Rune is 30 years old and this is her 11th calf to date. Rune’s calf surprised all of the passengers on the mid-day Portuguese Princess II trip by leaping right out of the water in what we call a full spinning head breach!
In the morning, Cajun and her calf were surrounded by their usual entourage, but by afternoon, they appeared to have gone off on their own, and in their stead, another humpback named Draco had joined the pack. Draco is named for the dragon-shaped marking on the underside of its fluke. Draco is twelve years old and of an undetermined gender. There a few a ways that we can figure out if a whale is male or female: through genetic sampling, by observing or photographing the underside of its body, or by observing a female with a calf by her side. In the absence of such data, we cannot know the sex of an animal.
Draco
The morning trip aboard the Dolphin VII on July 13th was notable in that we saw 3 different species of baleen whale. By far, the humpbacks are the most prevalent sightings during our summertimes trips, but we also frequently see the Minke whale, and occasionally the fin whale. Today we saw all of them! The fin whale is the second largest animal on the planet, its length exceeded only by the blue whale. Although fin whales can be seen off of Cape Cod any month out of the year, there is still quite a bit that we don’t know about them. In an effort to gather comprehensive data on fin whales, efforts have been made to study the population by documenting individual animals. This has worked very well for humpbacks as the markings on the underside of their tails are a dead giveaway as to their identity.
In the case of fin whales, individual IDs are not so easy. For one, they rarely fluke, and even if they did, their flukes are not as strikingly distinct as the humpbacks. Instead, we must rely on subtle pigmentation patterns on their right side, as well as the size and shape of their dorsal fin. Because of their great speed and elusive nature, progress has been slow, but today we were able to identify a fin whale named Scorpion.
Later, aboard the Portuguese Princess II, we got an excellent look at Perseid and her calf. Perseid is a female humpback who was going on long, deep dives while her calf rested at the surface. Perseid’s calf is relatively independent and doesn’t stick to his or her mothers’ side like other humpback whale calves. Instead Perseid’s calf slowly approached the boat and floated off our port side. We have been concerned about Perseid’s calf because it seems to have sustained some injuries during the first few months of its life. Propeller scars line its back and its skin is gray and discolored, indicating poor health. We are hoping that it will recover enough that it is ready to go off on its own by the end of the year.
Perseid's calf
Draco the humpback was seen again on July 14th, and was seen joining and splitting from several different humpbacks throughout the day. While humpback whales will form small groups, these groups lack the cohesion and stability of the tight-knit pods favored by many of our toothed whale species. It is much more likely for humpback whale groups to merge and diffuse throughout the day, without any discernible logic. Certainly, the whales must have their reasons; however, those reasons are beyond what we can deduce with the scientific data at hand. One thing that we have noticed, however, is that the mysterious flipper slapping behavior does tend to precede a change in group dynamics. Today was a day when flipper slapping could be seen throughout the afternoon. Perhaps this had something to do with the rapid changes we were observing!
On July 15th the Dolphin VIII headed out to eastern Stellwagen Bank to find Pele, a male humpback born in 1997. For the past few weeks, Pele has been almost constantly in the company of Milkweed, Cajun and her calf. This morning, however, Pele was all by himself. And he was breaching! We don’t know why humpback whales breach here in the feeding ground (in the mating grounds the breaching is thought to be a territorial display). It would make sense that it would serve a communication purpose, however, and because sound travels well through water, the sound of a 40 ton animal landing on the water could send a message to many other humpbacks in the area.
Pele
By July 16th, Pele had calmed down and had rejoined Cajun and the calf, who were seen not far from the eastern edge of Stellwagen Bank. In addition to the humpbacks, we had fin whales and Minke whales. All of these species can be seen off the coast of Cape Cod throughout the summer and into the fall. These three species are all baleen whales, meaning that they use the bristle-fringed keratin plates in their mouth to strain fish from the water. They are also all rorqual whales, meaning that their ventral sides are lined with flexible pleats which expand when the whale gulps down a mouthful of food.
After getting great looks at all of these species, we wrapped up the trip with a surprise tail breach from Draco, a large male humpback. Tail breaches, like many of the behaviors in the humpback whale repertoire, are a behavior that we don’t have a very good explanation for, but it is is likely a form of communication.
On July 3rd we left Provincetown Harbor and headed northeast until we arrived in the “Triangle”, an area in the southeastern corner of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. We soon encountered our core group of humpbacks, iincluding Cajun and her calf, Milkweed, Pele, and Alphorn. For the past few weeks, Cajun and her calf have been accompanied by a rotating entourage of other humpbacks, both male and female, occasionally gathering a group of 8 to 9 animals! The adult humpbacks disappeared for dives lasting 8 to 10 minutes, but Cajun’s calf stayed at the surface, occasionally fluking and rolling. While we waited for the adults to return to the surface, we noticed that a small group of Atlantic white-sided dolphins had moved into the area. Stellwagen Bank is a highly productive marine ecosystem, and many animals will visit the area throughout the year because it tends to be an excellent place to find food. It is likely that whatever the humpbacks were feeding on below the surface had also attracted the attention of the dolphins!
On July 4 Dolphin Fleet vessels spent the day whale watching and the evening back in Provincetown Harbor for fireworks and sunset viewings. While town filled up with vacationers from all over the northeast, Stellwagen Bank provided a peaceful refuge for those of us wanting to avoid the hustle and bustle of town. Two new humpback mom/calf pairs included Ravine and her calf, as well as Circuit and her calf. As of the first week in July, at least 40 new mom calf pairs have been seen in the nutrient-rich waters of the Gulf of Maine. It sometimes takes mothers and their young a little bit longer than the rest of the population to leave the breeding grounds in the Caribbean and West Indies, so it is not unusual to get our first peeks this late in the season. Once they get here, moms have to work hard to find food. During the process of giving birth and nursing, they may have lost up to 1/3 of their body weights!
Milkweed flukes off the bow
When we returned to the harbor to watch the fireworks, we were treated to one of the most beautiful sunsets of the season. Thanks to our galley crew member, Hristina, for her photo contribution of Provincetown’s fiery sky!
On July 6th, a number of humpbacks were documented during the evening trip, and the naturalists suspected that there was quite a bit of subsurface feeding going on. Naturalists and passengers alike observed large clouds of bubbles rising to the surface. This is indicative of humpback feeding behavior because humpbacks use these clouds of bubbles to corral and confuse sand lance before lunging through the school of fish. Humpbacks have a more generalized diet than many other species of baleen whales and can feed on many different species of small schooling fish, as well as the occasional krill patch. Humpbacks seem to be able to alter their feeding behavior depending on the prey they are after. When they go after herring, for example, they can be very noisy, using clicks and whistles to confuse their prey. For sand lance, however, bubbles seem to be the way to go!
Because we don’t rely on advanced technology like radar or sonar to find whales, our first trip of the day can sometimes be an exercise in patience as we track down the humpbacks that may have moved to different locations overnight. Luckily, our crew consists of expert whale spotters who can locate a spout from miles away using only binoculars and the naked eye! On July 7th, we were able to locate our first group of humpbacks approximately an hour from the dock. We initially spotted a group of five humpbacks consisting of Perseid, Firefly and their respective calves, as well as a large male named Alphorn.
Firefly
Soon, our group of five was joined by six more humpbacks. There is a great deal of fluidity in humpback whale social groupings, and we have a hard time predicting when groups will come together or break apart. Soon, a group of 11 humpbacks, including three different calves, were surfacing in unison, and fluking one after another. While the adults disappeared on a long deep dive, we watched as the three calves remained at the surface, wriggling and rolling, waiting for their moms to reappear.
As it came time to head back to shore, we lingered for another minute to watch a harbor seal which had lifted its head out of the water in a behavior called “bottle-nosing”. We recognized this as a harbor seal because of its smaller size and dog-like face. Harbor seals are approximately 5 feet long as adults, much smaller than gray seals, which also inhabit the waters off of Cape Cod. Gray seals can be distinguished by their larger size (up to 8 feet) and horse head-like profile.
Harbor seal
Gray seal
In the photos above, see if you can distinguish between the profiles of these two pinnipeds or “fin-footed” marine mammals. And for more information on current seal research on Cape Cod, see the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies’ website.
Meanwhile, on the Dolphin VI, there was high drama at sea when an explosion on a small pleasure craft near the whale watch boat prompted a rescue effort from the crew of the Dolphin VI. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and we were very proud of our crew for their prompt and professional response. Go here to read the full story.
July 8th was a truly remarkable in that throughout the day, four different species of large whale were seen breaching! It is not known exactly why whales breach, but it tends to happen more frequently as the wind picks up. Today, relief from the stagnant heat was broken by a moderate breeze, and the whales seemed to notice as well. Humpback whales are, of all of the large whales seen in the area, the most likely to breach. In the afternoon, an unidentified humpback was observed breaching repeatedly.
As the breeze continued throughout the afternoon, more and more species seemed to be riled up by the change in the weather. The normally elusive Minke whale also made an appearance and leaped straight out of the water, flippers at its side, only to belly-flop down and start all over again. Even though there are many Minke whales in the area, their speed and elusive behavior makes them hard to see. When they breach, we finally can get a good look at the entire animal.
On one of the afternoon trips, our naturalist peered into the distance following a huge splash several miles away. It didn’t look like the typical profile of a humpback, but instead looked long and lean, like a fin whale. As we continued to look, we concluded that it was either a fin whale or a sei whale. Fin whales are the second largest animal on the planet and are rarely seen breaching. Sei whales resemble the fin whales, but are not quite as large, and lack the distinct, bright white pigmentation on the right jaw.
The true finale of the day was on the 5:30 trip when we saw a breaching mother and calf North Atlantic right whale. It is always a surprise to see a right whale at this time of year because most of our right whales congregate in Cape Cod Bay in March and April, only to head off to the Great South Channel, east of Nantucket for the early part of the summer. As they migrate northward to the Bay of Fundy for the later part of the summer, some of them will tend to stop by their winter feeding ground, so it is not entirely unheard of to catch sight of a few passing through on their journey northward. Truly, any sighting of a right whale is a treat as there are only about 400 of them left on the entire planet! It is against federal law to approach a right whale within 500 yards, so we were not close enough to get pictures, but we were able to identify the species by their bulbous black bodies lacking a dorsal fin.
July 9th was another gorgeous day and we couldn’t wait to leave the dock to escape the blazing heat on land. The afternoon trip aboard the Portuguese Princess II began with a breaching display by Cajun’s calf. Cajun’s calf has been one of our favorites during this season because of her energy and acrobatics. She frequently will breach and flipper slap while her mother is down on deep dives. Maybe she is trying to get her mom’s attention!
We left Cajun and her calf and moved over to Apostrophe and her calf, who were joined by another humpback named Charger. Apostrophe and her calf soon left the area, leaving us with a very curious Charger. Charger swam back and forth under the boat, alerting us to his presence with a thin stream of bubbles that would burst at the surface about 30 seconds before Charger would emerge. Passengers rushed back and forth between the port and starboard side of the boat, trying to guess where Charger would pop up next. Finally, in a final burst of curiosity, Charger emerged from the water in a half spyhop, half breach, perhaps in an attempt to get a better look at our boat. Eventually, we had to leave Charger behind and head back to shore, wrapping up a beautiful week out on Stellwagen Bank.
The first half of July has offered good birdwatching conditions. It has been relatively clear and calm for most of the time. Birders taking part in Wednesday birding discussions have brought a fair amount of seabirding experience with them and this always makes for a better experience on the water. The more eyes looking the more we find. This is important as the seabirds we watched were often scattered over distances though large tight flocks were occasionally seen between Race Point Canal and the area off the southeastern corner of Stellwagen Bank.
We had several occasions where Wilson’s Storm-Petrels were seen by the hundreds. When watching these storm-petrels look low over the water and look carefully as these small brownish-black with a white rump-patch birds can be tough to spot in the distance. Watch for them flitting back and forth or patting the water’s surface to stir up copepods. These flocks have generally been in the whalewatching areas to the southeast of Stellwagen.
Shearwaters are regularly spotted, at least as groups, in the Race Point Canal area to the north of Peaked Hill. As with most years Greater and Sooty Shearwaters are the vast majority. We’ve had some Manx Shearwaters as well but those are never seen in large numbers like the Greaters and Sootys. My first good looks at a Cory’s Shearwater came on July 7th. We have yet to see any big groups of these though there are many years that we see Cory’s infrequently at all. They generally stay a bit farther south and offshore. That we are seeing them at all is good!!!
A greater shearwater takes off
Watch for the jaegers as well. My first good looks at a Pomarine Jaeger came on July 11th as we cruised north of Peaked Hill. The larger size, more stocky appearance, and more fluid wing-beats will distinguish the Pomarines from the Parasitic Jaegers. The jaegers should be here throughout the remainder of the season.
Certainly the best sight of these two weeks was a South Polar Skua on July 15th as we waited for some humpback whales to surface. GREAT but quick looks though not great photos. At 21 inches with a 52 inch wingspan these skuas are noticeably larger and a pound heavier than Pomarines. We would generally get juvenile migrants as the adults spend their non-breeding season much closer to their Antarctic breeding grounds. They are a cold and light to medium gray color with striking white bars on the outer wings. Great Skuas, not usually seen for another month, would be a more noticeable reddish brown. Several primaries were missing on this bird as South Polar Skuas molt larger numbers of primaries at once. This is often considered a reliable field identifier.
This South Polar Skua flew quite close to the boat and some 30 feet above the water’s surface. It circled once and then flew off in a southerly direction. Though less adept at kleptoparasitism than other skuas or jaegers South Polar Skuas will occasionally go after gulls or shearwaters. They prefer plunge diving for fish (or krill in the Southern Ocean).
Making this sighting particularly noteworthy are two considerations. First, except for Arctic Terns, South Polar Skuas (at least the juveniles) have the longest migration of any birds. Those that we see here migrate from the Antarctic Peninsula up the east coast of the Americas to southeastern and southwestern Greenland. Then they move on toward west central Africa and then back to Antarctica. Second, those South Polar Skuas migrating into the Atlantic may number as few as 660 pairs. With these considerations ANY sight of a South Polar Skua here is a blessing!!!
