Mon Aug 26 – Whale Watching- STAR

The whales are still around!

We headed out on a sunny morning to seek  whales, dolphins, and other marine life. We were not disappointed! Early in the trip we encountered a an ocean sunfish (Mola mola), the largest of the boney fish.  Shortly later we found a group of 30-50 Tamanend’s’ bottlenose dolphins, including calves that were young enough to have not lost their fetal folds. Shortly after that, we found a scalloped hammerhead shark (Sphyrna lewini).

It took a few hours more to reach the whale grounds. Ultimately, we encountered 15-22 humpback whales including adults and calves. 15 have been identified (the others are ‘a work in progress). We saw associated pairs, trios, quadruplets, as well as groups of 5-7 individuals form and reform repeatedly. Calves and adults were breaching, flipper slapping and lob-tailing (forms of non-vocal communication). Ankh, a humpback who’s been around for the past few 6 weeks was lob-tailing often.  We countered over 120 lob-tails, interspersed with a few short-rest periods.  It was exhausting to watch, but also amazing. As we were thinking about leaving the whales began a series of close approaches us in groups of 3-7. Several times they were just within a few feet of us. Look at the videos and photos. Wild and breath-taking.

Another successful trip!

• 30-50 Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops erebennus)
• 15-22 humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae)
  • Angus
  • Ankh
  • Bombay
  • Bridger
  • Jupiter
  • Leonid
  • Masai
  • MTK.2024.08.11-08 (2024 CALF
  • MTK.2024.08.26-01d
  • MTK.2024.08.26-02d
  • Nightmare
  • NYC0067
  • several unknown 2024 calves
• 1 Ocean sunfish (Mola mola)
• 1 Scalloped hammerhead shark (Sphyrna Lewin)
• 1 Parasitic jaeger (Stercorarius parasiticus)
• 1 Great shearwater
• 1 Cory’s shearwater
• 5 Sooty shearwater
• 60 Wilson’s storm petrels

Photos and videos available  at https://drartiek-cresli.smugmug.com/CRESLI-2024-Whale-Watches/2024-08-26-Montauk-Whale-Watch