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Wed Sept 2 – Whale Watching

Breaching, lob-tailing, flipper slapping humpback and more!

Our 9th trip of 2020 was difficult at first, but ultimately it did not disappoint. Just as in the past few trips, a small humpback would blow and dive, with dive times over 10 minutes long. We stayed with this whale and a few inshore bottlenose dolphins but decided to head off and search elsewhere. It took a bit but just before 4PM in the distance (2 nautical miles) we saw a humpback lob-tailing (slamming its tail on the water) over and over again. We reached it and it continued lob-tailing, the whale eventually rolling onto its back and began flipper slapping, also repeatedly. In a short while, it began to breach repeatedly, interspersed with flipper slapping and logging (resting). Wow, what a wonderfully array of humpback behaviors to see. This whale in MTK.2019.07.31-01, a whale we saw on 7/31/19 1.34 nm ESE of where we saw it today.

  • 2 humpbacks
  • 15 NW Atlantic Norther Migratory (AKA inshore) Common bottlenose dolphins
  • 1 Great Shearwater

PHOTOS from the 9/02/2020 trip available to view

Image may contain: ocean, water and outdoor
Image may contain: ocean, water and outdoor, text that says 'Dr. Artie Kopelman for CRESLI'
Image may contain: ocean, water and outdoor, text that says '© Dr. Artie Kopelman for CRESLI'
Image may contain: ocean, water, outdoor and nature, text that says 'Dr. Artie kopeiman for CRESLI'