| Friday, December 4, 1998
Special December Trip: Whales Abundant In Early December!
On December 4, WCNE staff had the opportunity to do a late season survey, thanks to the generosity of the owners of Salem Whale Watch. Taking advantage of the unseasonally warm weather, we were fortunate to sight up to thirty humpbacks still feeding on northern Stellwagen. While we were not able to get to every whale to identify, we were able to identify some animals that had been around for much of the season (e.g.,. Sparta, Stellar, Voltage, Whisk and calf, Zeppelin), and some that we had seen rarely if at all during the year (Bayonet and Division).
Consistent with what we had seen during the year, many of the whales were in groups of 3-6 animals, and there appeared to be a lot of sub-surface feeding going on. The echo-sounder on board showed scattered, but sometimes very dense, schools of sand eels or herring in the top 20-30 feet of the water column.
It is not unusual for whales to still be on their feeding grounds this late in the year. Most whales do not migrate out of New England until mid- to late December. However, it IS unusual to have this number of whales on northern Stellwagen Bank this late in the year. What is more unusual is that the frequency of large groups of whales, so rare in most years, continues to be common this year.
During our day at sea, we were fortunate to see a wide variety of whale behaviors, including breaching, flipper slapping, mother/calf resting behavior, and apparent sub-surface feeding. Some of the photos captured that day are presented here for your enjoyment.
Monday, November 16, 1998
Weather is severely limiting our time at sea these days, but on the days we can get out there are still many whales around. On Saturday, we had about 30 humpbacks aggregated in one area around northern Stellwagen Bank.
The groups of 6-8 animals we had been seeing together have been reduced to groups of 3-4, but whales are still piled on top of whales! ID's included: Mothers: Valley, Tornado, and Echo; Others included Zeppelin, Tiara, Trunnel, Teapot, Kilter, Sparta, Voltage, Stellar, Tear, Tiara, Icarus, Bolide, and several unidentified animals.
We are also seeing right whales regularly, and even had one just outside of Boston Harbor!
Wednesday, November 11, 1998
 The humpback whale named Bankshot was found dead outside of Boston Harbor yesterday by New England Aquarium staff. A necropsy is planned for later this week.
Bankshot was first photographed by the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown in the fall of 1996. He was seen several times last fall and again this spring on Stellwagen Bank. While we had not confirmed sightings of him from this fall, it is clear he returned to the area before he died. We do not know the cause of death yet.
There are no obvious signs of entanglement or ship strike. The animal has been dead for at least several days; the photos show the tongue is very bloated (and probably about to explode) from the gases of decomposition. We hope that further examination will be able to tell us why this animal died.
Friday, November 5, 1998
We've had some very interesting sightings recently, and photos to prove it!
We saw Tiara in mid-October, and we had a chance to get a close look at Tiara's badly damaged tail. Tiara's fluke is twisted almost 90 degrees so that it is primarily vertical, rather than horizontal (as it is in most whales).
Tiara's flukes rotated after a prolonged period when it carried fishing line around the base of his tail. Born in 1983, we had not seen Tiara since 1993 (the first year his tail was twisted), and we had feared the worst. We will probably never know where Tiara has been for the past five years.
We also saw a young albino pilot whale calf, on a single day. We don't know if this young calf is a true albino - we didn't see its eyes to determine if they were pink. The animal appeared healthy, and was traveling with approximately 45-60 pilot whales around the area. Pilot whales are the second largest members of the dolphin family.
Friday, October 30, 1998
The end of whale watch season is upon us, and the wind in the past few days has made it tought to get out this week. In the earlier part of the week we still had many whales around - on Silver II on Tuesday we had almost 50 humpbacks in the area.
Humpback whales are still in large groups deep feeding on sand eels - charging around all over the area. Some whales we have not seen in quite a while have returned - Flamingo, seen primarily in April and May, is back, as is Tear (last sighted in August). Tiara is still around, and still investigating boats! Other whales seen include Lacuna, Infinity, Zeppelin, Oculi, Chairlift, Tear, Peninsula, Taper, Icarus, Fragment, Epee, Batcave, Venom, Sparta, Tribble, and many others.
Several mother-calf pairs being seen regularly - mothers include Whisk, Echo, Tornado, Wizard, Salt, and Nile.
Thursday, October 22, 1998
Many people think that whales will be migrating away from their feeding grounds around now - nothing could be further from the truth! The whales still have at least a month to go before they start their journey to the West Indies, and many stay north longer than that.
It is not too surprising, then, that we are still loaded with whales! Although high winds are making it tougher to get days on the water, we have been seeing 25-35 humpbacks per day. Salt, Echo, Tornado, and Nile are still around with their calves; none have weaned yet. Notable sightings include Tiara for the first time since 1993; this is especially notable for an injury which has caused Tiara's tail flukes to rotate so that they are vertical rather than horizontal. This occurred several years after Tiara shed a rope entanglement around the base of his tail which he carried from 1986-1989. We had feared the animal had succumbed to this injury, but are encouraged to see him return!
Also notable are Kilter, with a number of fresh entanglement scars, and repeated sightings of Springboard, who WCNE assisted in disentangling in July of this year. Other whales around include Venom, Sparta, Vader, Bolide, Stellar, Fragment, Epee, Plateau (who has now split from Titanic!!), Hale Bopp, Chairlift, Peninsula, Taper and numerous others.
Tuesday, October 6, 1998
Fall is definitely here weather-wise, but you would never know there was any change whale-wise. We went through a slight lull (down to about 20 humpbacks) for a week or so, but whales are moving back in in large numbers once again.
Despite rough seas today, we were able to identify over 30 humpback whales, most still in large groups doing sub-surface feeding. Titanic and Plateau are still together; now almost 3 months!
Mothers seen recently include Salt, Tornado, Echo, and Nile. Other whales observed include Voltage, Lacuna, Oculi, Zeppelin, Infinity, Stellar, Chairlift, Meerkat, Icarus, Teapot, Hale Bopp, Batcave, Fragment, Coral, Peninsula, Taper, Sparta, Venom, Tunguska, Titanic, Plateau.
Tuesday, October 6, 1998
Fall is definitely here weather-wise, but you would never know there was any change whale-wise. We went through a slight lull (down to about 20 humpbacks) for a week or so, but whales are moving back in in large numbers once again.
Despite rough seas today, we were able to identify over 30 humpback whales, most still in large groups doing sub-surface feeding. Titanic and Plateau are still together; now almost 3 months!
Mothers seen recently include Salt, Tornado, Echo, and Nile. Other whales observed include Voltage, Lacuna, Oculi, Zeppelin, Infinity, Stellar, Chairlift, Meerkat, Icarus, Teapot, Hale Bopp, Batcave, Fragment, Coral, Peninsula, Taper, Sparta, Venom, Tunguska, Titanic, Plateau.
Tuesday, September 22, 1998
A foggy day where we were limited to a few whales, but there have been many around. The big groups of predominantly juveniles and mother-calf pairs are still rushing around everywhere, and a few new whales are starting to move into our study area as well.
Penninsula (1985 Silver calf), Icarus, Sting Ray, and Rapier and calf were seen here for the first time in months over the past week. Also still around the area: Mothers-Tornado, Nile, Fan, Pepper; non-mothers include Sparta, Venom, Bolide, Tunguska, Alphorn, Meerkat, Citation, Fragment, Chairlift, Vader, Titanic and Plateau (together for over 2 months now), Wyoming, and many others.
Wednesday, September 9, 1998
The amazing season continues, though we are seeing something of a shift in which whales are here. Many of the adults seem to have moved out, while several mother-calf pairs and juveniles are still around. The big groups continue; over the past several days we have had 2-5 groups of up to 7 animals each within a half a mile of each other. This makes data collection a mess, but its impressive stuff to see!
Whales seen include: Mothers: Fan, Nile, Owl, Palette, Reaper, Loon; Other whales: Zeppelin, Colt, Alphorn, Venom, Titanic-Perimeter (still together after 8 weeks!), Fragment, Chairlift, Citation, Coral, Exclaim, Sparta, Bolide, Occuli, Stellar, and many others.
Friday, August 28, 1998
Whales continue to be amazing. At this point we are all starting to agree that this is one of our best years ever. Surface feeding still not all that common, and lots of large groups of whales around - leading us to suspect that many of the whales are feeding on mackerel rather than the usual sand eel diet. One long term association ongoing, between two juvenile whales (Titanic, the 1996 calf of Dyad, and Pinnacle, an animal we suspect is 2 years old).
Mothers seen recently include Whisk, Tornado, Cascade, Pepper, Salt, Echo, and Cardhu; other whales include (among many others) Bolide, Venom, Deuce, Fragment, Titanic, Pinnacle, Sundog, Ember, Exclaim, Colt, and Zeppelin.
Tuesday, August 11, 1998
Whales continue to be abundant, with most of the whales now back to feeding on sand lance. In a full day survey yesterday we identified 48 humpback whales, and didn't even get to all! Several mothers we haven't seen in a while - Fan, Salt, and Dome - are around.
There were several instances of sporadic surface feeding, all on unusually small sand eels. Among the whales seen: Mothers: Trident, Salt, Fan, Verga, Loon, Reaper, Cascade, Tornado, Valley, among others; other whales include Sockeye, Icarus, Sirius, Thread, Fringe, Molson, Alphorn, Parens, Lacuna, Colt, Compass, Vader, Churn, Titanic, Garland, Gibralter, Strike.
Update: We are glad to report that Zenith has been sighted on August 10 on southern Stellwagen by researchers at the Center for Coastal Studies. The wound is still (and will always be) present on the animal, but its survival for over a week after being struck is a very positive sign. We are awaiting more details.
Sunday, August 2, 1998
A humpback whale was struck by a whale watch boat on Stellwagen Bank. The vessel was just starting its trip back to port, leaving several whales, when a whale suddenly surfaced in front of the vessel. The Captain immediately threw the boat out of gear, but its forward momentum brought it into the animal's back. Despite searching the area, the whale was not resighted. However, WCNE observers did see the whale approximately 45 minutes later, swimming quickly to the east.
The animal had a large red wound, approximately one foot across, on its flanks and back halfway between the blowholes and dorsal fin. The animal appeared to be bleeding from its left side. Subsequent photo analysis indiactes the whale is likely Zenith, the 1996 male calf of Pepper. The fate of this animal is unknown at this point; all observers are alerted to report any sightings immediately. It appeared to be swimming and surfacing normally, perhaps a bot more rapidly than usual. We will update any knowledge of the fate of this whale on the web site as soon as we know it.
Friday, July 31, 1998
Another amazing week of whales with close to 80 humpbacks in our area. Unusual activity in the past several weeks - whales forming groups of 4-7 animals, often including 1-2 mother calf pairs, and rushing around on the surface but not feeding. We think these whales may be feeding on mackerel below the surface, and are forming these groups to corral the elusive prey species.
Lots of mother calf pairs around - we're over 30 so far. A lot of juvenile whales around as well - today we sighted last year's calf of Giraffe, named Okapi, who was badly scarred by killer whales before we first saw it! Among the whales around: Mothers include Tornado, Whisk, Cascade, Pepper, Nile, Echo, Wizard, Valley, and several others; among the whales we have seen: Ember, Colt, Zeppelin (back on the bank for the first time since '94!), Buckshot, Molson, Walrus, Web, Scratch, Bolide, Tear, Thread, Compass, Touchdown, Calderas, Lacuna, Pebble, Foxfire, Voltage, Twister, and many, many more.
Monday, July 13, 1998
Sorry for the gap in sightings reports, friends - so many things going on, its been hard to get the time to report in.
Whales have been amazing through the entire period. They have been abundant, and very active - lots of days with breaching, open mouth feeding, mother/calf pairs everywhere! Sometimes whales have been quite close to shore... yesterday afternoon we had Fringe and Polaris only one mile outside Gloucester Harbor. Whales seem to be split into two groups - one inshore, and another out by Stellwagen Bank. The inshore group is in a strange, deep water area where we rarely see humpbacks in any numbers.
Adopt-A-Whale individuals have also been quite common. In the past several days we have seen Cardhu and her calf, Cascade and her calf, Colt and Ember (the latter two even traveling together on two days!). Only Regulus and Zeppelin have not shown up yet, but it is just a matter of time.
We continue to have entanglement problems - just Friday our research vessel, Silver II, aided the Center for Coastal Studies in an attempt to cut fishing-line free from Springboard, one of our juvenile humpbacks. The whale was not very cooperative, heading SE at speeds of up to 8 miles per hour. While they were able to get some of the line off, the whale still has rope around the base of its flukes. We are hoping for more sightings for another attempt.
A long list of whales seen recently; in random order, include: Loon and calf, Bullet and calf, Isthmus and calf, Cardhu and calf, Milky Way and calf, Zipper and calf, Echo and calf, Garland, Sirius, Fringe, Agassiz, Molson, Bandit, Walrus, Compass, Giraffe, Sabre, Relampago (first sighting on Stellwagen since 1991!), Splice, Calderas, Cascade and calf, Nimbus and calf, Foxfire, Nucleus, Tear, Colt, Ember, Bilbo and calf, and many, many others. It's a great time to be a whale researcher!
Friday, June 19, 1998
A week of thick fog, but we must have many whales around since we are consistently finding several on our trips despite the lack of visibility.
We have had a mixture of older juveniles and cow/calf pairs; we had our first sighting of the (now adult) female Calderas on Stellwagen Bank in several years! We also had recent sightings of Strike (who is usually around in the fall), Cascade and calf, Echo and calf, Pepper and Calf, Nile and calf, and numerous others humpbacks.
If only the fog would clear so we could really see who is here!
Thursday, June 11, 1998
Whales are still very abundant of Stellwagen, although most of the adults have moved out of our area and younger whales have moved in.
We are seeing 2-3 mother-calf pairs per day; new mothers include Rapier, Reaper, Square Fin, Nimbus among others. Echo and her calf have been seen frequently. Other whales sighted include Touchdown, Filament, Bandit, Fracture, Nuages, Tribble, Pylon, Pele, Pogo, Nucleus, and many others.
Not a lot of surface feeding yet, as we might expect with young whales around, but we have had some amazing close approaches to boats, and plenty of aerial activity.
Thursday June 4, 1998
 How quickly things can change! We are now absolutely piled with whales - had about 40-50 humpbacks in our field effort today. Several new mother-calf pairs - Trident, Loon, and a report of Cascade, all with a calf! Colt has reappeared, as have Echo/calf, Mural, Equator, Firefly, Peninsula, Patchwork, Flamingo, and many many more.
Lots of aerial activity (lob-tailing, breaching, and flipper slapping) over the past few days, especially from the calves, and we have reports of early morning surface feeding aggregations. A great time to be out there!
Thursday, May 28, 1998
A few whales and bait have shown up closer to home. Bilbo and her fifth calf, a little female, arrived on Monday, and we have seen them every day since.
There are still whales on the southern end of Stellwagen, where we have been going on some of our trips; these have been a combination of well known whales (Salt and calf, Apostrophe) and unfamiliar whales.
Interesting sighting last Sunday as Salt's calf was seen lunge feeding on sand eels - the earliest we have ever seen a calf feeding on its own! Fishermen in our area report a lot of bait appearing in the past several days, and we feel we may have more whales moving in soon; we’ll see soon enough.
Tuesday, May 19, 1998
After a long period of bad weather, we are now faced with few whales on Stellwagen Bank. There are a few humpbacks near the southern end of the Bank, but not the numbers of even one week ago. Otherwise, whales have just been passing through the area looking for prey.
We had the good fortune to be on southern Stellwagen Bank last Friday when a humpback whale we have yet to identify swam into a fixed fishing net, called a gill net, and became badly entangled. Because we were there at the time, we were able to assess the animal's health and the entanglement, and notify the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown regarding the problem.
Working late into the evening, they were able to free the whale. Had we not been there at the time, we don't know what the animal's fate might have been.
Whales seen include Sundog and Chimney (today), Fan with a calf, Salt and her calf Tabasco, Tunguska (last year's calf of Leukos), and Ash.
Monday, May 4, 1998
Third straight foggy day here, but it has been clearing up in late morning, allowing us to see great whale activity. Whales are on the southern end of Stellwagen - a little further than we might like, but there are a lot there. On yesterday's all day benefit Earth Day whale watch, we had 34 humpbacks. Mother calf pairs are starting to show up - Owl, Echo, Pepper, and Zipper have all returned with calves. Lots of last year's new whales also still around, many giving nice close approaches to whale watch boats. Whales seen include Jedi, Toothbrush, Exclaim, Lacuna, Orator, Tear, Compass, Thread, and Quote, among others.
Thursday, April 23, 1998
 Minor boat problems have kept us in for most of the week, but we did get out several times late last week and last weekend. After our initial banner day, things quieted quickly several days later. For the better part of a week, we only had a few whales in our area, but still saw abundant prey (bait fish).
Last weekend things picked up quite a bit again, and we had several animals doing more lunge feeding. Still many finback whales feeding in the area, and numerous sightings of white-sided dolphins. Individual humpback whales seen include Quote, Flamingo, Zebra, Stellar, Sparta, and several other young animals we have not yet identified.
Thursday, April 9, 1998
After the standard week of bad weather once we get our research vessel, Silver II, in the water on April first, we finally made it to sea yesterday. What an opening day we had! Whales were everywhere, feeding on large surface schools of sand lance. We identified close to twenty humpback whales, including adults like Fringe, Wyoming, Zebra, Sabre, and Skewer; saw last year's calves of Right Bar, Anvil, and possibly Star on their own; and had many of the new juveniles from last year still in the area. We also found and identified an adult northern right whale, the rarest of the whales, feeding on surface plankton swarms; approximately twenty fin whales; and close to 500 white-sided dolphins, with one white-beaked dolphin in the group. Certainly this is the most whales we have seen this early in the year in a long time, if ever. The abundant bait is a good sign for the coming year!
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