Sat Aug 21 – Whale Watching Sat Aug 21 – Whale Watching
Minke whale and ~100-120 short-beaked common dolphins!
So, what do you do on the day before a hurricane is supposed to hit? Go looking for whales and dolphins, of course! The visibility was good, albeit the clouds and sky were gray, while the long, rolling 5’ ground swell was very comfortable. Once again we found our first whale, another minke (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), right near Montauk Lighthouse. We also saw a blow from a humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae) ½ mile away, but that whale didn’t show up again. We headed somewhat offshore to stay in deeper calmer waters. We found no other baleen whales, but were able to spend at least on hour with a large aggregation of about 100 short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis). The dolphins were amazing, with lots of mom and calf pairs, lots of porpoising, and jumping. These were an aggregation of several social groups, and often some would come over to try and ride of bow. We made no attempts to encourage this behavior, but even when moving slowly, the dolphins came to try and catch a lift in our bow wake. The lucky people along the bow were able to hear these animals vocalize and communicate with one another. What an amazing experience to undergo.
We hope that you weather the storm well and hope to see you out there with us on future trips.
- 1 minke whale
- 100-120 short-beaked common dolphins
- 30 Cory’s shearwaters
- 5 Great shearwaters, 1 Sooty shearwater
- 20 Wilson’s storm petrels
