On October 17th we found Rune and Glo slowly working their way to the southeast.   Pleasant breezes between 11 and 16 knots kept a nice bounce on the water, while sunny skies made our two trips today quite enjoyable.   As the days get shorter, we are seeing fewer and fewer humpback whales, as many of them prepare to make their way down south to their winter home in the West Indies and the Caribbean.  Their departure from the Gulf of Maine can be as early as October and as late as December, with some juveniles sticking it out for the winter, saving precious energy and occasionally finding a patch of food here in the winter.

Once humpbacks have set forth on their migratory route, they are thought to head straight for their wintering grounds, rather than meandering or stopping along the way.  Scientists studying humpback migrations in the southern hemisphere recently found that individual humpbacks will maintain a constant course over 200km , sometimes not stopping for several days!

Despite the calm seas and great visibility on October 18th, we weren’t able to find whales until the afternoon, when we finally located Salt and Nile to the north of the BE Buoy.   The BE Buoy is one of the buoys marking the shipping lanes into Boston harbor.  The entrance to the shipping lane is designated as BA, with the letters moving sequentially through the alphabet approaching the harbor.  The shipping lanes were recently shifted northward in order to accommodate a seasonal “hotspot” of cetaceans in Stellwagen Bank, and this shift will hopefully reduce the number of shipstrikes that threaten our already fragile population of large whales.

Near the base of Nile’s dorsal fin, we could just barely see a scar left behind by a tagging study done earlier this summer.  The tag has long since fallen off, but that fact in and of itself has provided scientists with important information.  The tagging study this summer was carried out by scientists from Australian Antarctic Division, Cascadia Research Collective, The Marine Mammal Center, the National Marine Mammal Laboratory, and the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies as part of a pilot project to test the longevity and impact of a new tagging technology.  Nile’s tag transmitted data for 28 consecutive days!  More information on the project and a map containing information on all of the tagged whales can be found here.

After a few days of wind, we were eager to head back offshore on October 22nd.   As we left the harbor, we watched the double crested cormorants on the breakwater drying their wings between dives, and noticed that there was a larger, lighter bird among the black-winged waterfowl we are so used to seeing perched on the rocks.  We grabbed our binoculars and saw that it was a great blue heron sitting atop the rock wall!

After not having much luck with whales on our morning’s trip, we headed to the north, rather than to the east on our afternoon trip.   We headed so far offshore that land was barely visible, and finally found Salt, the true grande dame of Stellwagen Bank.  Salt was surfacing reliably every 12 minutes, and at one point she even surfaced right under the bow!

We had another long ride on October 23rd, but this time had a bit more luck.  We ended up 22 miles to the northeast of Race Point with calm seas on our side, and here we found four humpback whales as well as one sei whale.   Sei whales, like the North Atlantic right whales so common in our waters in the spring, feed largely on copepods and another types of zooplankton.  Being low on the food web, copepods are rich in usable energy and contain an oil rich sac that is orange in color.  A late-stage Calanus finmarchicus is only slightly smaller than a grain of rice, and is about two calories.

Among the humpbacks spotted today was Follicle.  Follicle is a female first seen in 1998.  She had her first known calf in 2009.  To date, this calf is without a name.

On October 24th, mostly cloudy skies and flat seas accompanied us out nearly as far out as Wildcat Knoll, to the east of Stellwagen Bank.  Here, the passengers were treated to sightings of a single humpback, and at least 25 feeding sei whales!  These quick, sleek, mysticetes were lunging on their sides through huge swarms of krill, almost resembling a tadpole as they rolled to their sides,  ventral pleats bulging.

The waters were soon red with krill, as well as with the defecation from a few of the feeding whales.  Krill are about an inch long, resemble shrimp, and are often bright red in color, making them easily distinguishable at the surface.

Especially compared to the well-studied humpback whale, little is known about the range and migratory patterns of the sei whale.  Much of what we know about these animals comes from whaling records, and as such, there is no good estimate of their population in the North Atlantic.

The seas picked up dramatically overnight and on October 25th, we only attempted one trip in the afternoon.  Despite the rough seas, we managed to get a few great looks at the two Minke whales that have been reliably hanging around in Cape Cod Bay, just off of Wood End Lighthouse.  Our initial course was towards the southwest corner of Stellwagen Bank, as battling the east wind to go back to Wildcat Knoll would have made for quite an unpleasant trip.  Luckily, our keen-eyed captain Todd was able to spot a fin whale from three miles away.  This is quite a feat considering that these elusive animals often keep a very low profile!  Although we only got a quick look, it surfaced right under the bow, giving all of our passengers a great look at this gigantic animal!

Also keeping our attention during our wait for the whale were the dozens of diving gannets plunging into the ocean all around the boat.  These pelagic birds have wing spans of around 6 feet, and dive headfirst into the water — creating a great splash — whenever they spot a fish.

It rained overnight, but cleared up by October 26th, and we anticipated another long ride offshore.  Luckily, the seas were calm, and we were prepared.  We were also lucky that we had one of our best whale spotters on board.   Our first mate, Lacey, spotted spouts from miles away, and when we arrived on scene, we found over 13 humpback whales lunging and gulp feeding away!

There were many Great shearwaters with the whales.  These birds feed on the same small fish that the whales are after, and like the whales, spend the summer bulking up for their long migration south.  These birds travel even farther than the humpbacks, nesting and breeding in the southern hemisphere.  These gull-sized birds could be seen swooping and diving beneath the bubbles that the whales were generating to aggregate the fish.

We were especially excited to see Thalassa and Habenero in this mix.  These two whales are the offspring of two female humpbacks, Salt and Pepper, respectively, who were often seen associating with one another in the mid 1970s!  They still return to the waters of the Gulf of Maine to feed.

On October 27th, the gray skies and rain couldn’t mask the raucous bird activity happening both near shore and out towards the triangle.   Mature and immature gannets, double-crested cormorants, common terns, several species of shearwaters and gulls, and even a northern fulmar, were all competing for schooling fish.  The high winds and big seas also didn’t stop us from seeing two huge humpbacks breaching in the distance.  The action didn’t stop as the Dolphin VIII approached these two active humpback whales.  Upon our arrival, they expressed curiosity about our vessel, approaching and then diving under the bow.

Today, we marked the close of the 37th season.  The cold winds of fall make it increasingly difficult to get good whale watching trips in, and so we’re closing up shop until the spring.  This season included an incredible spring, with dozens of right whales and sei whales feeding in the bay, followed by a summer of feeding humpbacks, amazing sightings of humpbacks and minkes, followed by a blue whale and even some long-finned pilot whales in the fall.  We can’t wait to see what 2012 has in store for us!  See you then!

On October 8th we kicked off an unseasonably balmy Columbus Day weekend with some exciting trips offshore!  On our morning trip, the highlight was a very close look at a sei whale.  Sei whales have been showing up periodically over the past few weeks, most likely attracted to the krill patches that have been common throughout the region this fall.  Sei whales are frequently spotted in small groups, but it is not unheard of to spot them by themselves, especially while they are foraging for food.

Later, we encountered a larger cousin of the sei whale — a fin whale.  These animals are much more likely to be seen by themselves, and today was no exception.  Fin whales and sei whales are frequently mistaken for one another due to their similar size and shape.  This fin whale was easily distinguishable by the bright white patch on its lower right jaw, a characteristic shared with all members of the species.

Throughout the day we were able to locate more and more of a third species —  the humpback.  Amongst the eight individuals we saw on the afternoon’s trip, one of them was Basin, a whale first seen in 2009.

Another humpback was one that we couldn’t identify, but we did take note of the dramatic scarring pattern on the dorsal flukes.  This whale’s tail was covered in rake marks, the more common name for scars from the teeth of sharks or orcas.  These whales have no natural predators as adults, but as calves they are sometimes hunted by these large predators of the sea.  Some have even hypothesized that one reason for the humpback’s long migration south is to give birth to their calves outside the habitats of the voracious orcas.

Aboard the Dolphin IX, after viewing feeding humpbacks and getting spectacular views of a pair of fin whales, 10-year old passenger Milo Cress reminded passengers about one major threat to the health of our oceans — marine debris, in particular, the plastic straw.  Milo’s website, Be Straw Free urges restaurant-goers to reduce their impact on the environment by forgoing plastic straws.  Plastics are a major threat to our oceans due to their ability to adsorb toxins, their lack of biodegradability, and their tendency to choke or collect in the stomachs of marine animal’s.  Hat’s off to Milo for doing great work to promote an important cause!

The gorgeous weather continued into October 9th and we had another jaunt to the northeast.  On the morning’s trip, we had 3-4 humpback whales lunge feeding, as well as 3 sei whales skim feeding.  Marsh, who was Filament’s calf in 2007, was a member of the feeding group, and easily distinguished by the reedy marking on the underside of the fluke resembling marsh grass.

Even though they are feeding on the same prey, these two species make use of different feeding strategies, with the humpbacks energetically bursting through patches of food while the sei whales open their mouths and slowly graze down any prey collected at the surface.

In the afternoon, more humpbacks had joined the lunge feeding party, including one with a truly hideous prop scar.  This smallest whale was obviously the victim of a ship-strike at some point during its life.  Both large and small boats can injure, or even kill large whales, and in fact, ship strikes are a leading cause of death among humpbacks.  We’re happy to see that this humpback survived, but its scar is a sad reminder of the risks these whales still face despite our efforts to protect them..

Finally, our last trip of the day was distinguished by a relatively unusual sighting — a group of pilot whales!  While we normally see mostly baleen whales on our trip, pilot whales are one of the few species of toothed whales that we are able to see off the shores of Cape Cod, particularly in the fall.   These whales can reach lengths of 16-20 feet, and they feed largely on squid.  In this group of 10 – 15 animals, we noticed that there were even some mother and calf pairs.

Pilot whales are infamous in the region for mass strandings, and this weekend there were two sad cases of pilot whale strandings in Cape Cod Bay.  One pilot whale came ashore and died on a Truro beach, while another very sick pilot whale came ashore in Plymouth and died later at the New England Aquarium.  Click here for the full story.

On October 10th, warm air and bright sunshine ended a gorgeous holiday weekend, as numerous humpback whales dove and fluked high, their tails looking dark and shadowy against the glittering diamond glare of the sun.  Our morning’s trip was characterized by very active humpback whales, one of whom spent most of the morning flippering and tail breaching to the east of Stellwagen Bank.

We also had some exciting views of birds, both from afar and at very close range.  In additional to a rare seasonal glance at a Northern Fulmar on both the morning and afternoon’s trip, the surprise of the day was when a white-throated sparrow perched on the bow of the Dolphin VIII and then proceeded to land on a passengers’ head.  Terrestrial birds like the sparrows sometimes find themselves offshore, especially during windy weather, and will sometimes land on the boat to rest before making their way back to land!

Beautiful weather continued into October 11th, though we found ourselves traveling fairly far to find whales — 18 miles to the northeast of Race Point, to be exact!  But find them we did, We came across two extremely crowd-pleasing little humpbacks who were lunging their little hearts out at the surface.  One of them was Liner’s 2010 calf.  Now that we’ve seen that this whale has returned to Stellwagen Bank following its first year at its mother’s side, it will now get an official name, most likely based on markings on its flukes, next spring.

There was no sign of any bait at the surface, so we guessed that these humpbacks may have found a plankton patch that we couldn’t see from the boat.  Humpbacks have long pectoral flippers that allow them a little bit more flexibility than other baleen whales in terms of their ability to corral prey.  Due to the dexterity that these flippers lend them, they may feed on various types of small schooling fish, as krill and other plankton, depending on what is available.

After watching these two juvenile humpbacks for a while, we moved onto a single fin whale, who also lunged several times near the bow of the boat.  After pursuing what looked like a tail breaching humpback in the distance, we found yet another lunge feeder!  After a day filled with exciting surface behavior, we enjoyed fair winds on our return to shore.

October 12 was filled with another long search for whales.  After spotting a large gray seal in the harbor, we traveled a total of 19.6 miles to the northeast of Race Point.  The Dolphin IX came across Falcon, named for the bird silhouette on the left fluke.  Falcon was first seen in 1998, and in all the years it has been seen off of Cape Cod, its sex has never been determined, either through a photo or genetic analysis!

Meanwhile, the Dolphin VIII found two fin whales and a small humpback who never showed us its flukes, making it very difficult to figure out its identity.  This small whale tail breached several times, making our long journey offshore worth the trip!

Our trip out to the whales gave us ample time to watch for birds, and we still managed to see a lot.  The jaegers between Long Point and Race Point continue to be great — it is possible to see both parasitic and pomerine species feeding not too far from shore.  We are also seeing more and more Northern Gannets (over 120 just today!)  Large flocks of Eider ducks continue to show up, and are mostly visible in the harbor.  We also had two Sabine’s gulls between Long Point and Wood End, and we even had a look at a Common Murre further offshore.  Keen eyes are spotting the occasional group of Scoters, and if we listen closely, we can often hear some Common Loons.  Even though we expect to see them leave the area pretty soon, we are still regularly seeing Great Shearwaters and Manx Shearwaters.  These pelagic birds will soon begin their migrations across hemispheres to breed before returning here next summer. On our long trip back to shore, we were delighted to have some entertainment from one of our passengers who brought his bagpipe aboard!

It was a blustery week out there and there were only a few days when we were able to get out on the water, but on October 1st we headed way offshore — 21 miles from Race Point — to find 10-12 humpbacks lunging near the surface.   The patchy fog that had plagued the morning’s trip had cleared and we found ourselves looking at a group of 10-12 humpbacks, including Laridae and Gladiator, both feeding near the surface.  We suspected that the layer of food must have been right below the surface because these whales would dive down and then pop right back up again with a mouthful of food!

At one point, Downsweep took a break from feeding to execute a huge breach right off the bow of the Dolphin IX!  Downsweep is named for the distinct marking on the lower right fluke.

Amidst the feeding whales were a few great bird sightings.  One Pomerine jaeger, flew alongside the side of the Dolphin VIII before swooping back towards the rest of the feeding birds.  A Northern fulmar was also spotted among the gulls.  Both of these birds are gull-sized, and sometimes hard to pick out from a big group of birds; however, they can be distinguished by their stockier builds and distinct coloring.

High winds and rain kept us tied to the pier until October 4.  It was still choppy, but at the very least sunny skies kept us warm as we ventured far offshore.  It wasn’t until we were north of the old BE buoy when we picked up a fin whale.  We had a few looks at this whale whose distinct scars were suggestive of a prior shipstrike.

In between one of this whales’ long dives we saw a splash off in the distance.  It turned out to be a small unidentified humpback.  It tail breached once, rolled on its side and slapped its flipper once, and by that time we had to head back to shore!

Interesting bird sightings continued throughout the day.  Despite the dropping temperatures, there are still a few Great Shearwaters hanging around, as more typically fall sightings become more common.  Each trip has been lucky enough to spot a Northern fulmar or two, and mature gannets, distinguishable by their 6 foot wing span, yellow heads, and black wing tips are starting to appear in number as well.

Winds picked up throughout the day and maneuverability became difficult by the afternoon’s trip, and once again we were stuck on shore.  We finally made it out again on October 7th, and had one of the more exciting trips in a long time.   On our 11:30 trip we heard from the Dolphin IX that there were three humpback whales in the Northwest corner of Stellwagen Bank, so we ventured in that direction.  we found one small humpback whose long, deep dives left us searching for other whales.  We saw a spout in the distance which we assumed was a fin whale, but we noticed that it was acting differently than the typical fin whales we see in the area.  When we arrived on the scene, we noticed that we couldn’t see the bright white patch on the lower jaw either.  Something about this fin whale looked different.  The next time it surfaced, we figured out why.  We were looking at a blue whale!

Blue whales are the largest animals on earth, and can exceed lengths of 100 feet.  We estimated that this one was at least 75 feet long.  Dr. Carole Carlson, director of the research and education department on the Dolphin Fleet noted that this is the second blue whale she has seen in this area in over 30 years!

With all the krill that we’ve been seeing over the past few weeks, we can guess why it is that this whale journeyed down to our neck of the woods.  It’s more common for these whales to be farther to the North in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.  In fact, when we sent our photos away to Dr. Richard Sears, a marine ecologist who studies whales in that region, he was able to identify this whale as a female who was first seen in 2003, and who was last seen off the Gaspe Peninsula!

In the afternoon, we headed up north to see the blue whale again.  We were so far north that we could see the skyline of Boston and the shores of Gloucester!  We found that there were at least six humpbacks feeding on krill in the vicinity of the blue whale.  They were bursting to the surface with huge mouthfuls of food stretching out the rorqual pleats on the undersides of their jaw.  A few fin whales zoomed into the area, probably after the same patch of shrimp-like crustaceans.

We were lucky enough to get another incredible look at the blue whale, and a short distance away we found a group of four sei whales skim feeding in calm seas.   Like right whales, who enjoy a similar diet, sei whales will often open their mouths wide and plow through patches of food at the surface, grazing down their prey like a lawn mower.

This feeding frenzy means that food is depleted fast, and whales will often leave the area once the food resource is depleted.  We were amazed by how far the whales had moved in between trips!   The season is winding down, but we’re still having exciting trips.  As this week shows us, you never know what you might see out there, so join us for a whale watch in the next few weeks before we close down for the season.