Oct. 30, 2007
While our whale watch season is winding down, we are also just now starting the fifth year of a fall/winter project to survey Jeffreys Ledge for North Atlantic right whales. Right whales are among the most endangered mammals on earth, numbering less than 400 individuals after over 70 years of official protection from whaling. They still face threats from ship strikes, entanglements, lack of genetic diversity, and perhaps even diminished prey. Until only recently, their distribution in the fall and winter was almost entirely unknown. In the late 1990's, we published a paper using various opportunistic data sources to propose that Jeffreys Ledge, north of Cape Ann, MA, may be an important fall habitat for them. From 2003-2005, the National Marine Fisheries Service funded us to undertake dedicated surveys for right whales. In 2006-7, cutbacks in government funding have taken this support from us, but thanks to private funding we have been able to continue this work (see survey article from newsletter last winter). This year, we are surveying from October 15 through mid-December.
 Our 2007 sightings on these surveys have been very exciting. So far we have seen right whales on every survey we have undertaken. On one survey, we were stunned to find almost 20 right whales in a single "surface active group." These groups appear to be mating groups, but they take place year round, and whether they are mating groups or have some social bonding function remains unknown. For thirty minutes we watched as the whales were all rolling around next to and on top of each other, laid flippers and flukes on each others backs, and had three and four animals lifting their heads into the air at the same time. Later that week we saw 2-3 right whale mother-calf pairs on a single day as well. Our plankton tows to assess how much food there is for right whales indicate that there is a rich prey base (right whales feed almost exclusively on a type of plankton called "copepods"), so we are hoping they will stay for a while.
 In addition to right whales, we have seen many sei whales, scattered humpbacks (including a number of animals not seen at any other time this year), and fin whales. We were also startled on one survey to sight a blue whale, the largest animal ever to live (see image here and below). Blue whales are rare in the Gulf of Maine, and while we had heard that one had been sighted the previous week, being right next to an animal of this size was a thrill for all of us.
Whales are still quite abundant on Stellwagen Bank. It seems like most fin whales have headed out of the area for the time being, but the humpback whales are continuing to eat before they head south for the winter. Follicle (first seen in 1998) displayed some great bubble cloud feeding and a full spinning head breach on one foggy trip. A lot of the juveniles have continued to filter feed west of the bank and Canine (Siphon 2004 calf) and Etch-a-sketch (Thalassa 1998 calf) surprised us one trip when they seemed to be combining multiple feeding behaviors including bubble cloud feeding, kick feeding, filter feeding, and open mouth feeding.
There are still a few of the "regular" mother and calf pairs still hanging around Stellwagen, such as Nile and calf (her third calf), Lavalier and calf (first calf), and Fulcrum and calf (first calf). Valley and calf (seventh calf) as well as Tulip and calf (fifth calf) stopped by Stellwagen for a short visit this month; and Fan was sighted without her calf (sixth calf) about a week ago. It is about that time of year when mothers and calves start to separate, so we hope that Fan's calf is doing well on its own and we hope to see it back on Stellwagen Bank next summer.
We have also been lucky to see a lot of white-sided dolphins this month. Pod size has ranged from 20-30 individuals to a few hundred individuals. Sometimes the dolphins were spotted feeding or traveling on their own, but occasionally they were seen feeding in the same area as humpback whales. Even though these two species are competing for the same food, they don't seem to bother each other except for an occasional trumpeting from a humpback that could signal annoyance or just excitement. There have also been quite a few harbor porpoise spotted further off shore on the bank. For the most part they are solitary or travel in small groups of 2 or 3, but we've been seeing them in larger groups with up to 25 -30 individuals. It is always exciting when you come across a pod of dolphins or porpoise.
October 5, 2007
 Fall has come, although our summer-like weather wouldn't have you thinking so! But the behavior of whales is suggestive of fall. In the past seven year, fall has been a time where younger juvenile whales seem to be able to find sufficient prey in the deep water to the west of Stellwagen Bank. Unlike most of the feeding we see, though, the behavior of these whale suggests that plankton is the prey. We often see them coming up slowly, with their mouths filled with water and prey, filtering water through their baleen plates. Dives are typically short (less than three minutes, often less than 1 minute), and movement between surfacings is fairly limited. The behavior is much slower and more methodical than it is when whales are feeding on highly mobile fish schools. These feeding bouts can offer some great views of whales in the feeding process. We have been seeing a number of our new young juvenile humpbacks engaging in this behavior, and some of rarely seen individuals have appeared as well.
Many people are also wondering if the humpbacks are getting ready to migrate south at this point. While actually migrate later than most people think, and they still have several months left on the feeding grounds. However, we have also seen evidence that breeding hormones are starting to be produced. We have had several observations of what appear to be "practice" breeding ground competition between males. In the breeding grounds, males cluster around breeding females. They try to compete for the spot next to the female in order to gain breeding opportunities. They will display by charging forward, lunging, blowing bubbles (an aggressive sign in such groups), and at times will strike at each other. We have seen several such groups already this fall. A number of them have involved the whale Soot, who seems to be a very over-eager competitor!
We also continue to see mother-calf pairs. Fulcrum and her calf, Lavalier and her calf, and Isthmus and her calf have all made recent appearances. It was also interesting to see Trident's calf from last year rejoin its other after being independent all season; they spent a week feeding together near the end of September.
While we haven't seen it, there is big news of a sighting of a large blue whale on Jeffreys Ledge (north of Gloucester) from our colleagues at the Blue Ocean Society. Unlike the rare past sightings in our area, where the whale has been sighted for only one or two days, this animal remained in the area feeding for at least 10 days. They also reported other plankton feeding whales, including sei whales and even a North Atlantic right whale, in the area shortly before the blue whale sighting.
Sept. 27, 2007
 As the summer starts to come to a close, the whales continue to be abundant on Stellwagen Bank. This beautiful late summer weather has allowed us to head out on our research vessel as well as continue to collect data from the whale watching boats. There was a little pause in activity for a few days on the Northwest corner, but it looks like an on slot of juvenile humpback whales have headed into the area and started to feed in the mid-water area. Each day more and more of these whales are gathering. Most of these juveniles are new this year to Stellwagen and therefore will receive a name in the spring, but until then they have a four digit number that represents the first year they were seen (07) and which new whale they are (01). For example, 0701 is the first new whale that we saw in 2007, whereas 0734 is the 34th new whale we saw in 2007. Some of the juveniles that have moved into the area include 0703, 0709, 0718, 0720, 0737; as well as Trident's 2006 calf, Firefly's 2005 calf, Soya (Salt's 2006 calf), Pinpoint (Horizon's 2004 calf), Gavel (first seen in 2006), and Circus (Zipper's 2005 calf). It is always impressive to see these whales coming up to the surface with their pleats fully expanded after they have just taken a huge mouthful of water and plankton.
In addition to the feeding on Stellwagen Bank, it looks like there is also a good amount of food on Jeffreys Ledge, which is located north of Cape Ann. This is a great sign, because during the fall months the Whale Center does North Atlantic Right Whale surveys on Jeffreys to see which species of whales are in the area and how many individuals are there, as well as which individual Right Whales are there and what they are doing there (feeding, traveling, socializing, etc.). Over the past month other research organizations have reported sightings of Sei whales, Fin whales, a few Humpback whales, a Right whale, and even a Blue whale. We are looking forward to starting our field season on Jeffreys this fall and adding to the conservation efforts to protect the North Atlantic Right Whale.
Sept. 10, 2007
 Working out on the water everyday as a naturalist is a pretty good deal. You get to see interesting whale behavior, educate the public, and add the research/ conservation effort in the Gulf of Maine. Some days can be a little tough out there- especially in the wind, rain, and heavy fog; but even on days like that you never know what you are going to see. Laura Ganley, one of our returning naturalists, recalls her best trip this summer:
 “All of the whales on Stellwagen Bank had begun to spread out, and the heavy fog made for poor conditions at best for spotting whales. There was one day in particular when the conditions were particularly bad, and we knew that finding whales was not going to be easy. We began on southern Stellwagen with a single humpback that was soon lost in the fog; and I began to worry that this was going to foreshadow what would happen on the rest of the whale watch. As a result, we decided to take our chances of leaving this whale completely and moving northward a little. On our way north you could faintly see some splashing at the surface through the thick fog. As we approached the area it became apparent that there were a number of whales all open mouth feeding! It appeared that we had struck the whale jack pot. One particular set of whales that were continually feeding together in the same bubble cloud included Salt (female, first seen in 1976), Right Bar (female, first seen in 1981), Buzzard (male, 2000 calf of Reflection), and Dusky (female, first seen in 1988). It was amazing to see these four whales coming up through the same bubble cloud right next to the boat! As the feeding chaos continued the fog began to break and we started to see more and more humpbacks, making us realize exactly what a large number of whales we had come across that day. We were also treated to seeing Rapier (1989 calf of Ase) and her 2006 calf, Anvil (female, first seen in 1985), and Level (first seen in 2001), just to name a few more of the humpbacks that were present. As the sun began to break through the clouds, and the water was continuously green with feeding bubbles I realized that I could spend the entire day and more out on Stellwagen Bank. It ended up being the best day I had this season, and quite possibly the best day during my time with the Whale Center!”
August 20, 2007
It's been a busy season, with lots of great sightings. Throughout the summer, we have had abundant whales on Stellwagen Bank. At times, the concentrations have been spectacular - there have been times when we have identified over 50 humpback whales in a single day. Whales seem to move in and out, and up and down the bank quite a bit. Surface feeding has been seen in streaks at times, and at other times whales seem to spend several straight days feeding on deeper prey. We have seen numerous animals with scuffed jaws, which is an indication to us that the whales are scraping their jaws in the sandy bottom, catching sand lance that are resting or trying to avoid predators while they are down there.
Mother-calf pairs have been seen regularly throughout the period. In particular, Nile and calf (who seems to stay unusually close to mom, and has been seen flipper slapping on top of her snout!), Lavalier and calf, and Pepper and calf have been seen frequently. The calves are entering a very playful stage, and they can often be seen laying while the mother is feeding, breaching, flipper slapping, lobtailing, and engaging in other play activities. They are growing more and more independent in most cases, and can often wander far away from the mother when the mother is feeding.
In addition to all of the whales on Stellwagen, last week several researchers from the Whale Center had the opportunity to join staff from the Coastal Research and Education Society of Long Island (CRESLI, for short) on a 3-day cruise to the Great South Channel that departed from Montauk, NY. They were able to identify almost 30 humpback whales, including many that had not been seen this year of Stellwagen. They were able to get photos of at least six mother-calf pairs that we had not yet seen, including two females (Pogo and Citation) that had not had any previous calves! Our thanks to CRESLI for allowing us this important opportunity.
Tagging Trip: July 15 - July 21, 2007
For the past four years, The Whale Center of New England has participated in a collaborative effort to learn more about the humpback whales that feed off the coast of Massachusetts, specifically Stellwagen Bank. This year, scientists from The Whale Center partnered with researchers from The Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary (SBNMS), The University of New Hampshire, Duke University, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and various other organizations to place D-tags on whales to learn more about underwater behavior and social interactions.
 D-tags record specific information regarding the whale's pitch, roll, heading, and depth. In addition, the tag contains a small hydrophone that records sounds produced by the whale and/or sounds that the whale may detect in the water. The important advantage of the D-tag is that it is a non-invasive tag - it is placed on the whale using suction cups.
 The tags can be placed on the whale for extended periods of time, allowing scientists to record detailed information about a specific whale. While the tagged whale(s) is tracked, information is gathered about the type, density and location of the prey. Acoustic equipment referred to as 'pingers' are also employed to produce a more accurate location for the whale below the surface. Once the tags are retrieved, the many pieces of information are downloaded to a program that provides a 4D image of the whale and its environment.
Although fog and rain hindered a few of the scheduled tag days, a majority of the week proved perfect weather for the project. In total, ten tags were placed on various whales - another successful year for the project. Many familiar humpback whales were in the area and those tagged included: Ampersand (first seen in 1986), Anvil (first seen in 1985), Exclaim (first seen in 1997), Freckles (first seen in 1988) and calf, Fulcrum (1997 calf of Chimney) and calf, Geometry (1997 calf of Star), and Grackle (1997 calf of Zebra).
Fulcrum, who was photographed with her first calf this year, is a well-known individual in this area. She has overcome some incredible obstacles in her short life. She received severe damage to her dorsal (back) fin during a ship strike that occurred earlier in her life. She may have also suffered minor damage due to fishing gear that was caught on her healed wounds in 2005. Fulcrum is also well-known to scientists who participate in the tagging cruise; she was tagged last year while she was pregnant. We are interested in seeing if her foraging strategies and/or behaviors are significantly different between the two years.
The information gathered on each tagging cruise is combined to give scientists an over-all understanding of whale behavior both above and below the water. This type of information is essential for trying to reduce the number of vessel and fishing gear interactions reported each year. If we can start to understand how whales behave and what type of information they receive near vessels, in the vicinity of fishing gear and in the presence of other animals, we can further understand the changes necessary to reduce injury and loss and to protect this endangered species.
July 8, 2007
 There are still plenty of whales around and most of them have been in the area of the northwest corner of Stellwagen Bank. It appears that a lot of the humpback whales have been feeding below the surface of the water, a behavior we call deep feeding. From the surface it looks like the whales are going on longer dives and then popping up to the surface with water pouring out of the corners of their mouth. Under the surface, the whale are actually diving down to the bottom of the bank (only about 100 ft on Stellwagen), turning sideways and opening their mouth to engulf a school of fish. Some of the whales are even known to scratch along the sand bottom in order to scare the sand eel, the fish they are feeding on, out of the sand. These whales can come back up to the surface with some fresh cuts along their jaw line.
On a side note, on July 1st the Boston Shipping lanes were moved 4 miles to the North in order to hopefully decrease the amount of ship strikes that occur on Stellwagen. Previously the shipping lanes crossed over two portions of the bank that were shallow and had a sandy bottom, which is prim habitat for sand eel; therefore whales were usually in the area.
The new shipping lanes cross over a deeper section of the Bank with a rocky/muddy bottom which is not a good habitat for sand eel. We have already lost 3 whales to ship-strikes this season on Stellwagen Bank: an unknown juvenile humpback, Tofu (Isthmus 2005 calf), and a sei whale. We are hoping that the new shipping lanes will decrease the number of whales that are struck in the future.
June 25, 2007
 The month of June is ended with some great sightings. The Boston and Gloucester whale watching boats were able to watch Sirius (1982 calf of Fringe) and Dash-Dot (1989 calf of Double-O) breach and flipper slap for over thirty minutes!! Sirius is pretty easy to recognize because he has an unusual coloration for a North Atlantic humpback whale. Most of the North Atlantic humpbacks have white coloration on the top of their pectoral flippers, where as Pacific humpback whales have black coloration on the top of their pectoral flippers. Sirius is one of only a handful of whales in our population that have black pectoral flippers. You can tell in the photo which whale is Sirius and which one is Dash-Dot by the color of their flippers.
 On a positive note, there are at least 31 new mother and calf pairs so far this year in the Gulf of Maine. We have been seeing about 14 of those pairs pretty steadily on Stellwagen bank, including Nile and calf, Pepper and calf, Loon and calf, Photon and calf, and Lavalier and calf. We have also seen about 30 new whales in the Gulf of Maine that we have never seen before. Some of them are pretty little, so most likely they are whales that spent the first year or two of their lives on other feeding grounds. Other unknowns are large adults that are probably seen regularly on other feeding grounds. We will have to wait until the 2007 calves return to Stellwagen bank without their mothers in the next few years before we can give them names, but the other unknowns will receive names in the spring of 2008.
June 1, 2007
 It looks like things are starting to spread out a little more on Stellwagen Bank, but there are still 15-20 whales up on the Northwest Corner. Glo-stick (born in 1997), Garland (first seen in 1988), and Bilbo (first seen in 1977) were seen today kick-feeding near a school of bait (and some striped bass were also in the area). Etch-a-Sketch (born in 1998), Grommet (born in 1997), Underline (first seen in 1994), Prongs (first seen in 2002), and Pinch (first seen in 1999) have been seen kick-feeding and blowing bubble-nets the past few days.
 In addition to feeding, the whales have also been pretty active. One lucky whale watch got to see Doric (born in 2001, see fluke shot), breach twice next to the boat and then lobtail for about 10 minutes while another boat watched multiple breaches from Regulus, one of our adopt-a-whales.
On a more somber note, we had a report that one of our whales, Spring, was sighted dead in the Great South Channel. Spring was sighted for the first time in the spring of 2007 and received the name 'Spring' at the 2007 whale naming parting because the pattern on its fluke looked like growing grass and rain or 'spring showers.' We do not know the cause of death yet, but it is a reminder that even though we get to enjoy these magnificent creatures, there are many threats that the whales face on a daily basis.
May 25, 2007
 Humpback whales have become a regular sighting on Stellwagen Bank. During the early portion of June, most of the humpback whales were feeding just south of Stellwagen Bank, in some cases, a distance of thirty-five or more miles from Gloucester! Even with the added travel time, passengers and Whale Center staff members were treated to excellent sightings, including numerous mother/calf pairs. Two of the new mothers photographed this year and sighted in the area include Cardhu (first seen in 1980) and Rapier (1989 calf of Ase).
 While these females fed on abundant sand lance (the primary food source for humpback whales on Stellwagen Bank), their calves delighted all on board with various behaviors. Both calves were born during the winter months in the Caribbean breading grounds. Because they are only 5-7 months old at this time, they are still nursing from their mothers and will not begin feeding on fish for several more months. Therefore, the calves use this time to strengthen their muscles and expend extra energy by flipper slapping, lob-tailing and breaching (see photo). These humpback whales can also spend time investigating objects in their environment. During a particular trip in early June, Rapier's calf spent time swimming around one of the whale watch vessels. The calf often rolled belly-up at the surface, lifting both pectorals flippers out of the water and swam underneath the vessel numerous times.
 The spring has continued to have great whale sightings. The Earth Day Whale Watch was a success with whale spread out up and down the Bank. There was a steady feeding congregation down on Southern Stellwagen consisting of 30 or so humpback whales, lunge-feeding fin whales and pods of white-sided dolphins.
A week later more humpback whales starting feeding on Northern Stellwagen, including Bilbo (first seen in '77), Trident (Adopt-a-whale), Mural (first seen in '80), Regulus (Adopt-a-whale), Dusky (first seen in '88), Pina (first seen in '90), and Monster (first seen in '94).
In addition to all of this feeding going on, we also have quite a few new additions to our humpback whale population. We have 13 new mother and calf pairs!! Photon, Scratch, Reflection, Lavalier, Loon, Nile, Pepper, and Molson are some of the new mom's this year! Perseid is another new mom and her calf is a 4th generation whale! The new calf is the '07 calf of Persied who is the '98 calf of Pallette who is the '89 calf a Compass. So Compass (who's also been seen this year) is the great-great grandmother of Perseid's 2007 calf.
April 24, 2007
 The 2007 field season is off to a great start! During the second week in April we headed out on Silver II for our first research trip of the year and were pleasantly surprised to find many different species of whales and all within about 10 miles of Gloucester. There were Minke whales and Fin whales throughout the day as well as 4-5 North Atlantic right whales skim feeding and taking part in surface active groups. At one point we were completely surrounded by about 400-700 Atlantic white-sided dolphins with various spouts mixed in as far as the eye could see. We were able to identify 15 humpback whales, but there were many more flukes in the distance and blows on the horizon. There were a handful of adult whales including Cardhu and Tornado (both Adopt-a-Whales), W, Ivee, and Basmati in addition to Leonid (born in 2003) and Peajack, who is usually seen on Northern feeding grounds. The rest of the humpbacks were juveniles that we had not seen before, probably the first time they have been on Stellwagen and possibly heading to northern feeding grounds.
Whale Watching season has also started here in Gloucester and Boston. The whales seem to be spread out throughout the bank and enjoying the large amount of bait fish out there. Some of our regular whales from last year are already back on Stellwagen including: Mostaza, Doric, Habenero, Glo-stick, Tongs, Grackle, Giraffe, Measles, and Teapot. We've also seen Tofu, who was born in 2005 and just received its name on April 7th at this year's Whale Naming Party. As we get ready for our Earth Day Whale on May 6th and the whale watching boats continue to head out we look forward to adding to our list of whales and seeing the first calf of the year.
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Humpbacks Seen
Abrasion
Alpha
Alphorn
Ampersand
Amulet
Anchor
Anvil
Apostrophe
Aswan
Baja
Bandit
Banyan
Banjo
Barb
Basmati
Bilbo
Bisou
Blackhole & calf
Boat hook
Bolide
Buckshot
Bullet & calf
Buzzard
Cajun
Canine
Cardhu
Cardhu '06 calf
Centipede
Circus
Citation
Columbia
Colt
Compass
Conflux
Cross country
Crown
Crystal
Dash-Dot
Division
Doric
Draco
Dusky
Echo
Eden
Ember
Entropy
Epee
Eruption
Etch-a-sketch
Falcon
Fan
Feckles & calf
Fern & calf
Filament & calf
Firefly 2005 calf
Firefly & calf
Flounder
Follicle
Fracture
Fulcrum & calf
Ganesh & calf
Garland
Gavel
Geometry
Giraffe
Glo-stick
Grackle
Grommet
Habenero
Inchworm
Iris
Isosceles
Isthmus
Ivee
Jabiru
Kilter
Lace
Lascaux
Lavalier & calf
Leonid
Leukos
Level
Loon & calf
Measles
Meteor
Midnight
Milkweed
Mirror
Molson & calf
Monster
Montaza
Mural
Mustache
Nile and calf
Nimbus
Nuages
Nudibranch
Octave
Onyx
Owl
Parens
Pasta
Peajack
Pele
Peninsula
Pepper and calf
Percussion
Perseid and calf
Photon and calf
Pina
Pinch
Pinpoint
Pipette
Pogo
Pregunta
Prongs
Putter
Qaala
Raccoon
Rapier
Rapier 2006 calf
Ravine
Reaper & calf
Reflection and calf
Regulus
Right Bar
Rocker
Roswell and calf
Sabre
Salt
Scratch and calf
Scylla
Shark & calf
Shockwave
Signature
Sirius
Sloop
Slugger
Sockeye
Soot
Soya
Splice
Springboard
Staff & calf
Sundog
Swan
Sweep
Swimmer
Sword
Teapot
Tear
Terrace
Tectonic
Tigris
Timberline
Thread
Tofu
Tongs
Tornado
Tornado 2006 calf
Trident
Trident 2006 calf
Tulip & calf
Tunguska
Underline
Valley & calf
Ventisca
Venom
W
Wave
Weave
Whisk
Wizard
Wizard 2006 calf
Wyoming
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