Wed July 19 – Whale Watching

Expectations Exceeded!

After Wednesday’s incredible encounters and a weather-cancelled trip on Sunday, we headed offshore with high hopes that the whales observed last week would still be around for today’s cruise. That plan was quickly interrupted by two humpbacks appearing halfway into our transit, feeding and moving closely in association with one another. Upon further observation, we were thrilled to find a familiar whale within the pair: Hasselback! Hasselback is a whale that we first encountered as a calf (to Scylla) in 2016 in the Great South Channel. In 2018, the then-unnamed humpback was observed off Montauk again before appearing in 2021 with horrific propeller-blade scarring from a boat strike. Despite his injury, Hasselback was sighted again in 2022 feeding and doing well. A few weeks ago, CRESLI had the distinct honor of announcing his Gulf of Maine Humpback Catalogue name (maintained by the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies) to the public. As we spent time with the duo, several pods of inshore bottlenose dolphins appeared, also feeding on the abundant prey beneath the surface. A third humpback was spotted and, after everyone onboard got excellent views of the dolphins, we eventually sailed off into deeper water. There, we encountered three more humpbacks, including a mother and calf pair, our first of the season! Traveling onward a bit more, we encountered six more humpbacks, all cooperatively feeding and straining the prey through their baleen at the surface. We spent some time with them before heading home, thrilled from being immersed in cetaceans throughout the cruise.

3 Atlantic gray seals

200 inshore bottlenose dolphins

12 humpback whales (including a cow/calf pair)

45 Great shearwaters

20 Cory’s shearwaters

2 Manx shearwaters

5 Wilson’s storm petrels

1 Parasitic jaeger