Whale Sightings 5/13/22 to 5/15/22 Please find the Naturalist Notes for the weekend of 5/13/22 to 5/15/22 from the onboard team of naturalists for our New England Whale Watching tour in partnership with the New England Aquarium.
05-13-22
10:00 Whale Watch Sightings
The thick fog presented a challenge in finding whales today, but we were up for it and eventually came across a mom and calf humpback pair. Mom remained quiet throughout the duration of our time with them, with her dorsal fin barely breaking the surface and not a single fluking dive. While we have a hunch as to who this mom could be, we’ll hold off until we can be more sure by comparing photos to be taken in the coming days or weeks. The calf was just the opposite- quite active! Lots of rolling, tail breaching, and a bit of flipper slapping with a few spyhops sprinkled in. We also came across a lunging fin whale and a minke whale on the ride back to Boston, with the fog
Laura L.
05-14-22
10am and 230pm Whale Watch Sightings
Today aboard the Asteria, the 10am whale watch headed out towards Stellwagen Bank in search of whales and other marine life. We started out on a very awesome fin whale who was only taking 3-5 minute dives and even came up next to the boat a few times! After some great looks at this fin whale we decided to go for a little bit of a ride. After a little while searching we spotted some blows in the distance. It turned out to be a mom and calf humpback whale pair consisting of Photon and her 2022 calf! The calf was rolling around at the surface and both kept popping up right next to the boat! After some amazing looks we had to head back to Boston.
The 230pm whale watch started with a brief fin whale encounter before we made our way towards where we found the humpback pair. After a little searching we found Photon and her calf again. They were still really curious of our boat, popping up right next to us almost every time! The calf was still rolling around and it even breached! Everyone was amazed at how playful this calf was. After spending an hour with these two, and a beautiful fluking dive from Photon, we had to head back to Boston. It was a really great day out on Stellwagen!
Colin, David, and Maddie
05-15-22
2:30pm Whale Watch Sightings
The 2:30 pm trip headed back to Stellwagen bank, hopeful that the fog might lift, and we would be able to locate whales. We were excited to find a pair of humpback whales who turned put to be Photon and her 2022 Calf! Photons calf was incredibly curious today, coming in for close approaches frequently throughout the trip and mugging the boat, while also displaying a flurry of surface activity! This young whale was rolling, lobtailing, backwards lobtailing, and tail breaching the entire trip, making for quite an exciting whale watch. Photon herself even greeted us with a close approach with her calf in tow, treating passengers on the bow to a lovely whiff of whale breath as she passed. We unfortunately had to leave this mom and calf behind and reluctantly headed back to Boston as Photons calf continued to lobtail behind us.
Overall, a truly incredible day on Stellwagen Bank!
Sydney, Kate, and Laura
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