Whale Sightings 10/17/22 to 10/23/22 Please find the Naturalist Notes for the week of 10/17/22 to 10/23/22 from the onboard team of naturalists for our New England Whale Watching tour in partnership with the New England Aquarium.
10-17-22
10am Whale Watch Sightings
Happy Monday Whale Watchers,
This morning, the Sanctuary made its way to Stellwagen Bank in search of some whales. As we arrived, we quickly spotted a pair of Humpback Whales, a mother and calf pair! It was Cosmos and her calf. While Cosmos was down on some longer dives, her curious calf made its way over to our boat, popping up right next to us over and over again. It seems as though this calf was just as curious about us as we were about it! We sat still in the water as this calf popped up on one side, dove slightly, and popped up on the other side, with some occasional bubbles letting us know where the calf was headed. It was incredible to see! Cosmos herself surfaced close to us after one of her dives, before mom and calf dove together. Once they were safely accounted for, we made our way past some diving Northern Gannets and some scattered Minke Whales. Past them was a single Humpback Whale, which seemed to be feeding. As we arrived, it surfaced again with a mouth full of water and (hopefully) fish! This was a whale named Striation! This whale surfaced with a full mouth again, giving us a fantastic look! With time running out we said goodbye to Striation and had to make our way back towards Boston. On the way back, we saw several pods of Harbor Porpoises around us, making for a perfect end to our day on the water!
Until Next Time!
David and Chelsea
10-19-22
10am Whale Watch Sightings
Good afternoon!
With a hearty group of passengers and blustery seas, the 10am whale watch headed out on the Asteria towards the southern section of Stellwagen Bank. Meeting heavy winds, we were ecstatic to find multiple blows and splashes from 11-12 humpbacks. We were alerted to the group’s presence by two surface active calves – one breaching/lobtailing and the other flipper-slapping. We identified the flipper slapping calf as Milkweed’s 22 Calf, who soon joined a group of Milkweed, Lollipop, and a third adult. In the distance, we also saw a group of six humpbacks, which included Ganesh 14-Calf, A-Plus, and Jabiru. This group was busy feeding, and we got to see some kick feeding and lunging in the distance! As the wind intensified, we got our last looks at our humpbacks before returning back to Boston.
Kate, Olivia, and Emily
10-20-22
10am Whale Watch Sightings
Hello all,
Today aboard the Asteria, the 10am whale watch made its way towards the southern part of Stellwagen Bank in search of whales and other marine life. After some searching, we noticed some blows and splashing in the distance. We came across a group of about 10 different humpback whales! Most of the group were taking short dives and were not moving far. One of the individuals, however, was continously flipper slapping! This whale flipper slapped most of the trip not far from the boat, so everyone got some great looks at this phenomenal sight. Some of the individuals we were able to identify include Venom and her 2022 calf, Milkweed and her 2022 calf, Spell and her 2022 calf, Jabiru, and A-Plus. After some amazing close approaches by our large group, we had to head back to Boston. It was a really amazing day out on Stellwagen!
Until next time,
Colin and Olivia
10-21-22
10am Whale Watch Sightings
Good afternoon,
Under sunny skies and beautiful seas, the Asteria headed out on the 10am whale watch towards the southern section of Stellwagen Bank. We saw multiple scattered blows from 6-7 humpbacks in the area and first spent time with Ganesh 14 Calf. We then moved on to two other single whales – 3.14 and Spell. At first, all three adults were moving very quickly in a northern direction. Then, before our eyes, we saw all three join together in an association. Once these whales grouped up, we got to enjoy watching them feed! We were able to watch the whales blow bubbles along our vessel, before popping up right next to our boat. These whales seemed to be using the sides of the Asteria to feed and potentially corral fish. We got some utterly fantastic views of these animals and even got a mouthful of whale breathe! As we were leaving, we saw Spell 22 Calf, who had been traveling in the distance, reconnect with mom! What a great way to end the trip.
Kate and Chelsea
10-21-22
12pm Whale Watch Sightings
Hello all,
Today aboard the Salacia, the 12pm whale watch headed out towards the southern portion of Stellwagen Bank. After some searching, we spotted several blows on the horizon. In total we had at least 9 humpbacks in this area. We first started on a group consisting of Ganesh 14 Calf, 3.14, and Spell with her calf. These whales were traveling close to the boat so we got some great looks at them. All of sudden, Sprinkles the humpback whale popped up right next to the boat! Sprinkles was very curious of our boat popping up on either side! Sprinkles continued to be curious of us the entire trip. Shortly after Sprinkles went on a dive, another group of humpbacks joined our initial group. These newcomers included Venom and her calf, and Milkweed and her calf. Our large group of whales popped up several times right next to the boat allowing us to get some even more great looks at them. As Sprinkles continued to be curious, the calves even became curious of us! Sprinkles and all three calves began circling the boat checking us out, It was a really incredible sight to see! Venom’s calf then began to roll around, and the calf even flipper slapped a few times! After some cool close approaches (and of course some beautiful fluking dives) we had to make our way back to Boston. It was an amazing day out on the water!
Until next time,
Colin
10-22-22
10am & 2:30pm Whale Watch Sightings
Good evening whale enthusiasts!
The Asteria headed North today in search of whales, but first spent some time with diving Northern Gannets and many pods of harbor porpoise. We got some brief looks at these elusive animals, and estimated we saw 3 pods totaling to 30-45 porpoise! We continued our odontocete sightings with a pod of 75-100 Atlantic white sided dolphins who seemed to be busy feeding and were also accompanied by many Gannets. We then encountered 5-7 humpback whales. We spent some time with Partition and Orion, before moving on to see a naturalist favorite: Dross! We got some final looks at Dross before continuing our journey home.
The 2:30 pm headed back North and started our trip with Orion and Partition. We noticed that unfortunately Partition was sporting some relatively fresh injuries and used this opportunity to talk about some of the major threats to whales. We were surprised by a breach from 1 of this pair behind us and turned around to see a short bout of surface activity from this duo! We then spent some more quality time with Dross, when she was suddenly joined by Spoon and Sword! We got some great looks at these 3, and as we got ready to head home one surprised us with another tail breach. With these last incredible looks, we continued home to Boston.
Overall, a fantastic day for whale watching!
Sydney and Olivia
10-22-22
12pm Whale Watch Sightings
Dear Baleen Buddies,
Today the Aurora went to the Northwest Corner of Stellwagen Bank. We saw six good humpbacks. First was a trio including Spoon and Jabiru. Then we went to watch a pair made up of Partition and Orion. They were going on long dives, so we returned to the trio which had magically become a group of four. Dross had joined up. We got some great fluking dives, and it was a fantastic day on the water. Satisfied and sunburnt (in spite of it being October), we returned to Boston.
Be yoU!
Mira and Maddie
10-23-22
10am Whale Watch Sightings
Hello,
Yesterday on the 10am whale watch, we had a wonderful morning on the NW corner of Stellwagen Bank, spotting 5-7 humpback whales. Our first whale we found was a veteran male humpback Sword. We then found Jabiru and Trimmer, who were taking some longer feeding dives together before the pair split apart. Our passengers even spotted a gray seal sighting for us as well! Lots of northern gannets, both adults and juveniles were flying about. We wrapped up our trip with Dross and Orion, who stole the show by treating us to a close to boat approach!
Cheers,
Laura, Maddie, & Emily
10-23-22
2:30pm Whale Watch Sightings
Good evening,
We were lucky start to finish on this afternoon’s trip, with the morning swells laying down slightly and the rain holding off aside from a light sprinkle. Hooks racking the northwest corner within the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, we found five humpbacks killing around. One pair displayed a brief bit of surface activity before quieting down and we watched Jabiru and Trimmer as they zigged and zagged slowly through the area. Another pair eventually swam into the area and the next thing we knew, we had a group of four humpbacks together, with one, Spoon, raising her flipper high above the others. we observed some more interesting social dynamics as we watched the whales maneuver and adjust into formations with one whale hanging back behind the others. Trimmer rounded out the afternoon with a bit more flipper slapping and we said goodbye to the whales, northern gannets, and northern fulmars, quite satisfied with the day.
Laura L., Maddie, and Emily
More Images from This Week
Boston Whale Watching: Naturalist Notes – 10/17/22 to 10/23/22