Wed Aug 23 – Whale Watching
Another multi-species day!
It was a beautiful day on the water, with unlimited visibility, and calm seas. We had reports of dolphins and whales near Montauk and found both within a short time after passing Montauk Point Lighthouse. Groups of Inshore bottlenose dolphins were spread out around us, perhaps a total of 45 individuals were busy chasing prey and feeding. In a short while we moved a bit further away and found a humpback whale, MTK.2022.09.04-03, who we’d also seen on July 19, 2023, 1 nautical mile further south.
After watching these cetaceans for a while, we decided to hear eastward towards where we’d been seeing 20-30 whales for about 2 weeks. To our disappointment, the prey and the whales were gone, they’d traveled well to the east, beyond our range. We headed back and off in the distance saw a humpback breach several times, and as we approached , we realized that this was the same whale we’d left a few hours earlier. Were we elated, and this whale was joined by about 60 inshore bottlenose, chasing surface prey with even more activity than earlier. We return ed to the dock with lots of happy passengers and crew.
105 Inshore bottlenose dolphins
1 Humpback whale
84 Cory’s shearwaters
47 Great shearwaters
20 Wilson’s storm petrels
1 Parasitic jaeger
5 red-necked phalaropes
We still have some trips left! Join us!
Photos available soon at https://drartiek-cresli.
