Sun July 28 – Whale Watching
Bottlenose dolphins to start with humpback to end
We had a long trip today with a sold out boat. We escaped the heat right away as we turned east at the jetty. We found 2 small groups of Bottlenose dolphins and a small ocean sunfish just west of the lighthouse. We searched nearshore and offshore, didn’t find much else until we began to head back toward Montauk. At 6:30 we saw something flash off in the distance and the blow of a humpback about 2 miles ahead of us. It was doing inverted lob-tailing, partial breaching, tails throws, etc. and as we got closer a small fishing boat ran super-fast right to the whale, stopped way too close. The whale reacted by diving and tail-throwing once – then took off to the southwest, with 5-6 minute down times and just surfacing a few blows each time and heading away. Had that vessel not harassed the whale, it would have continued its behaviors. It was spectacular to see this active whale, but to see it chased down by the small boat was upsetting to all. All-in-all, a long but successful trip. Even though we got back at 8:10 PM, people loved it. BOATERS, REMEMBER TO NEVER CHASE DOWN WHALES! GIVE WHALES THEIR SPACE!
Photos available at https://drartiek-cresli.smugmug.com/CRESLI-2019-Whale-Watches/2019-07-28-Montauk-Whale-Watch/
Arthur H. Kopelman, Ph.D.
President, Coastal Research and Education Society of Long Island
631-319-6003
https://drartiek-cresli.smugmug.com/
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