Wed July 5 – Whale Watching

Long trip – but we found our 1st baleen whale!

Our second whale watch of the 2023 season is in the books! Before leaving the dock, passengers were treated to sightings of two gray seals feeding in the harbor. Once departed, we swapped out the heat of land in exchange for cool, offshore breezes as we searched for more marine mammals. Our first encounter was with several small groups of inshore bottlenose dolphins, including a few mother/calf pairs. We watched as the dolphins fed, chasing their prey in circular patterns and at one point, nearly surrounding our vessel. After spending time with them, we went off in search of larger cetaceans, stopping a few times along the way to observe additional small groups of bottlenose dolphins. While encountering another mom/calf dolphin pair, a blow was spotted far off in the distance. We traveled toward the area, coming upon a juvenile humpback whale which was searching for and/or feeding on bait detected along the bottom. After enjoying a few surface intervals and dives, it was time to return to port, accompanied by numerous shearwaters and an additional dolphin sighting along the way. We got back late, but nobody complained!

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2 gray seals
80-100 inshore bottlenose dolphins
1 humpback whale
~80 Cory’s shearwaters
4 Manx shearwaters
~170 Great shearwaters
2 possible Sooty shearwaters
15 Wilson storm petrels

Photos available at https://drartiek-cresli.smugmug.com/CRESLI-2023-Whale-Watches/2023-07-05-Montauk-Whale-Watch/