Wed Aug 28- Whale Watching- Starship

Whales are still around, a bit spread out

We heard of some humpback whales close to shore and decided to look for a bit before heading further out where we’ve been seeing them for weeks. Near shore we did find a group of about 30-40 Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins. Offshore we headed into the waves and some cooling winds, Ultimately we find whales right where we expected. In associated groups of 2 or 3, as well as lone individuals, we saw at least 12 around un with a radius of ½ nautical mile. We were able to photo-identify 5 individuals, but encounters were short and elusive. It was not until we were ready to leave that a trio of humpbacks  made a close-approach just a few feet away right under our bow and along the starboard side (look for the video). Amazingly, a large humpback  breached directly in front of us several times and made the  perfect ending exclamation point before our 2 hour ride back to the dock.

• 30-40 Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins
• 5-7 humpback whales
  • Ankh
  • Candlepin
  • Four
  • Habanero
  • MTK.2024.08.28-02d
  • and those yet to be ID’d
• 5 Great shearwaters
• 2 Cory’s shearwaters
• 12 Wilson’s storm petrels

Photos at https://drartiek-cresli.smugmug.com/CRESLI-2024-Whale-Watches/2024-08-28-Montauk-Whale-Watch