Whale Watch Sightings 8/09/21 through 08/15/21

Please find the Naturalist Notes for the week of 8-9-21 to 8-15-21 from the onboard team of naturalists for our New England Whale Watching tour in partnership with the New England Aquarium. 

8-09-21

10:00am Whale Watch Sightings

This morning the Asteria headed out to the middle of Stellwagen Bank and were not disappointed by the abundance of marine life we found! Our sightings started before we even reached the bank, with a blue shark! This blue shark surprised us on our port side, and we were lucky to get a few quick looks of this shark as it travelled near the surface before it disappeared beneath the waves. We continued on and found two humpback whales, who turned out to be Pitcher and Music! These whales slowly travelled just below the surface and gave passenger some fantastic looks as they moved parallel to our boat. We decided to continue our search, and quickly saw some large splashing in the distance. We made our way over and found a trio of humpbacks! This trio consisted of Dyad and her calf, and another adult we have yet to identify. Dyad and her Calf gave us some amazing looks at some synchronized fluking dives and began to travel very quickly in the direction we had come from! They split off from the third whale, and we followed these two back to where we started, and we are very happy we did! The area had drastically changed, now filled with Atlantic white sided dolphins, and it seemed that Music had woken up a bit, as she was now flipper slapping! We were suddenly surrounded, with Music, Pitcher, 50-75 Atlantic white sided dolphins, and a few other scattered blows from humpbacks all around us! We got some stunning last looks at Music as she showed off her flippers and pleats as she rolled and slapped at the surface, before we reluctantly made our way back to Boston.

Overall, an absolutely fantastic day on the bank!

Sydney and Allie

 

11:00am Whale Watch Sightings

Today aboard the Aurora, the 11am whale watch made its way out towards the middle of Stellwagen Bank in search of whales and other marine life.  We spotted some blows in the distance and decided to investigate them.  It turned out to be a pair of humpback whales consisting of Music and Pitcher!  These two were spending a good amount of time at the surface so we were able to get some great looks at them.  Music started flipper slapping several times which was very exciting to see!  While these two were on a dive, we noticed some small splashes up ahead.  This splashing turned out to be a pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins!  The pod seemed to be chasing fish, so they were moving through the area very quickly.  However, they swam right past the boat which was very exciting!  We then spotted a very sleepy humpback whale who turned out to be Samara.  Samara woke up from their nap and proceeded to come check out our boat!  Samara hung out with us for several minutes before heading on a dive.  Samara ended up joining up with Music and Pitcher.  Right before we left, all three whales popped up right off our pulpit!  These three whales gave us some beautiful fluking dives before we had to head back to Boston.  It was a really fantastic day out on Stellwagen Bank!

Colin and Madeline

 

13:30 Uhr Walbeobachtungen

The Sanctuary made way for the middle of Stellwagen Bank on the 1:30 p.m. whale watch. It definitely felt like Deja vu, as before we arrived we encountered another pod of harbor porpoises almost exactly where we left them yesterday! A brief look was had, but we were eager for more sightings, and upon reaching our destination, were surrounded by blows! We counted about 8-10 humpback whales but spent the majority of our time with two old friends, Nile and Scylla! Scylla surprised us with some flipper slapping and brief tail lobbing but spent most of their time lounging at the surface. Another whale moved into the area, and we listened as Nile expressed her disapproval with some loud trumpeting blows, which the single whale quickly picked up on. We were allowed a few more awe inspiring looks at the pair, and as fog rolled in, we decided it was time to head back to Boston, satisfied with another day of successful sightings.

Flukes hoch!

Ashlyn

 

8-10-21

10:00am Whale Watch Sightings

The Asteria headed out to Stellwagen Bank in search of wildlife. As we approached the bank, a heavy fog set in around us, and with less than one mile of visibility, it seemed as though the odds were stacked against us. As we travel towards the middle of the bank, we were absolutely delighted to see a small but frequently surfacing group of harbor porpoises pass us on their way towards shore! It is always a treat to see these small and elusive cetaceans. Within minutes of this sighting, we saw a blow ahead of us! It was a humpback whale named Samara. She treated us to a beautiful fluking dive before we began to see more blows up ahead. As the fog slowly lifted, we found ourselves in the midst of three more humpbacks, who were staying at the surface and travelling very slowly. This gave us plenty of chances to get great looks at the trio. While none of the whales showed us their flukes, their dorsal fins gave them away. These mysterious three were none other than Dyad and her calf, as well as Diablo! After these three swam next to us for a while, we reluctantly had to head home to Boston. Against all odds, it was a fantastic afternoon on the bank!

Bis zum nächsten Mal!

David & Alexis

 

11:00am Whale Watch Sightings

This morning the Sanctuary headed out to the middle of Stellwagen Bank in search of whales, and quickly found a few blows in the distance. We started our trip with a single humpback who turned out to be Wizard! Wizard gave us a fantastic look at her fluke, and also showed off her role in the ecosystem by pooping at the surface! Wizard was taking lengthy dives, so we decided to move on, and found a trio of humpback whales who turned out to be Dyad and her 2021 Calf in the company of Diablo! These three whales treated us to multiple close approaches as they travelled through the area. It seemed that Diablo had split off from the mom and calf pair, but then all three resurfaced off of the right pulpit, this time quite forcefully and then began to charge forward! We got some last looks at these three as they continued on their travels, before we unfortunately had to head home to Boston. Overall, a great day on the bank!

Sydney

 

13:30 Uhr Walbeobachtungen

The afternoon whale watch embarked towards Jefferey’s Ledge after hearing rumors of whales in the area. We were not disappointed to find approximately 10-12 whales scattered around, most in groups of two. We started our trip with Valley and Jawa, both coming up often and close to our boat which allowed for fantastic looks at this duo before we moved on to another whale nearby. Owl was very lazily travelling, often stretching her tail stock out of the water and then sinking down before coming right back up. Our next sighting was probably my favorite of the day, Spoon and Chromosome have been frequently seen together and we enjoyed watching these two sleepy whales slowly drift around. Spoon kept napping, however Chromosome seemed to be awake and entertaining himself with a large floating pile of seaweed! He rolled a bit, and even lifted his rostrum out of the water, carefully balancing the seaweed on the tip of his head. After growing bored of the drifting weeds, Chromosome came over to briefly check us out. He made a few close approaches, and at one point even rolled to stare right up at us! As we were wrapping up our trip, we noticed a large pod of harbor porpoises cruising through the area, and a big breach from Pinball made for a perfect end to a really fun day on the water.

Bruna & Kate

 

8-11-21

10:00am Whale Watch Sightings

The 10am whale watch headed out on the Asteria in search of wildlife in the midbank region of Stellwagen Bank. We first spent time with Infinity, a humpback that we haven’t seen yet this season. Infinity was taking very long dives, so we moved to another area with multiple blows. We found ourselves between two mom and calf pairs, Dyad and Dyad 21 Calf and Dross and Dross 21 Calf, as well as the single humpback Diablo. These whales were traveling very fast through the area, but as the wind began to pick up this group of 5 became much more surface active. Diablo began to flipper slap, and this seemed to catch the attention of Dross’s calf. Dross’s calf began to go on an incredible bout of breaching, launching itself out of the water for over 20 minutes straight. We were also able to see the occasional chin breach and tail breach, this little whale was certainly putting on the show! All the breaching brought in Dyad and Calf, and for a few minutes it looked like a little calf playdate. As we were leaving Dross and Calf, Dyad’s calf seemingly wanted to join in the fun and started flipper slapping. It was so cute seeing this tiny whale’s flipper after Diablo’s flipper slapping!

On the way back, the Asteria and all its passengers got an amazing show. All the commotion near us seemed to have caught the attention of any other humpback in our vicinity. As we left Stellwagen Bank, no matter where we looked it seemed like there was an adult humpback whales breaching or flipper slapping. On the way back we couldn’t go more than a mile without seeing some large splash in the distance – a perfect example of how the whale watch never truly stops until you dock!

An amazing day!

Kate and Bruna

 

11:00am Whale Watch Sightings

This morning the Aurora and a hardy group of passengers ventured towards the middle of Stellwagen Bank in search of marine life, while braving rocky seas. I must say it was quite a fantastic day on the bank. We started off our trip with a single humpback named Samara, who treated passengers to close approaches and fluking dives right off of the left pulpits! We were also greeted by a few glimpses of a minke whale in the area. We began to see tons of blows around us, and we estimated between 10-15 whales in the area, and decided to continue our search to see who else we could find. We very quickly stumbled upon a pair of humpbacks, who turned out to be Mogul and Longboard! These two whales were clearly feasting below the waves, with multiple bubble clouds popping up around us, and these two also surprised us with a couple close approaches. We began to see splashing all around us in the distance, a sign of surface-active whales. We decided to head over to one of these large splashes and found a very surface-active humpback who turned out to be Doric! Doric flipper slapped right off of our pulpits for over 20 minutes! Every time we thought she would dive, she just flopped back onto her side to continue to flipper slap. This is one of my absolute favorite behaviors, so it really was a joy to see, and hear! The humpbacks around us provided evidence that these types of behaviors are likely for communication, as we started to see more humpbacks in the distance break out into the same behavior. Doric finally looked like she went down on a sounding dive, when she suddenly erupted into a huge breach on the port side! We were starting to move out of the area to head home, when we came across Dyad and her 2021 Calf! We got a few looks at these two as they slowly travelled at the surface, before we unfortunately had run out of time and had to start making our way home in the building seas.

Overall, a truly wonderful day out on Stellwagen Bank!

Sydney and Sulmaan

 

13:30 Uhr Walbeobachtungen

The building seas did not deter us as we made our way into the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, where passengers learned quickly that finding whales is easy when they are soaring out of the water. From a few miles away we could see as Doric and Ebony breached and flipper slapped to their hearts’ content. We caught a glimpse of another humpback splashing to the north as the two grew closer and closer together. Eventually, the surface activity stopped and the two surfaced side by side after dives lasting closer to seven minutes and our attention was then directed to another pair, Doric and Conflux. Doric flipper slapped and rolled onto her back while Conflux bobbed around until once again the activity calmed and we turned back for Boston.

Laura L. and Alexis

 

8-12-21

10:00am Whale Watch Sightings

There were lots of whales to be found to the west of Stellwagen Bank today! We spotted the blow from a whale that didn’t spend a great deal of time at the surface but then were soon distracted by a massive double breach a few miles away. While the surface activity didn’t return the action did allow us to spot a number of other humpbacks. We watched Bounce and Conflux as they logged while drifting to the south and took a few fluking dives before thinking we would end the day with another pair, Freckles and Ebony. After a few good looks we started for Boston but we quickly stopped again by an incredibly surface active pod of Atlantic white sided dolphins. The dolphins rolled, darted around, and leapt gracefully, but my favorite was the repeating belly flops (see photos). While watching the dolphins, Nile and Scylla appeared nearby but kept pretty quiet as they were also enjoying an afternoon snooze. It was a great reprieve from the oppressive heat to be found back onshore!

Laura L. and Heidi

 

11:00am Whale Watch Sightings

Today aboard the Aurora, the 11am whale watch made its way out towards Stellwagen Bank in search of whales and other marine life. We got a brief look at a pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphin before spotting a pair of blows in the distance. These blows belonged to a pair of humpback whales named Freckles and Ebony. This pair was spending a lot of time at the surface and they even gave us a few close approaches! After some great looks at these two, we decided to go for a little bit of a ride to see what else we could find. We ended up finding another pair of humpbacks who turned out to be Conflux and Bounce. These two were moving along the surface so were able to spend some quality time with these two. We also got some brief looks at another humpback who I am still working to identify. After some great final looks at Bounce and Conflux, we had to head back to Boston. It was a really great day out on Stellwagen!

Colin

 

13:30 Uhr Walbeobachtungen

What a whale of a day! We boarded the sweltering Sanctuary in hopes of catching a refreshing sea breeze on our way out to see some whales. We were not disappointed on either count, as we were immediately greeted by scattered blows! One whale came closer than the others and dove directly under our vessel before vanishing into the deep. This whale’s sudden appearance and disappearance leaves its identity shrouded in mystery for the time being.

We were not lacking for other sightings and turned our attention to a couple of blows nearby. But before we knew it a blue shark was swimming next to us just below the surface! After it disappeared, we found ourselves in the company of Dross and her calf! We got some incredibly looks at the pair while they swam alongside us. Baby spent a little time at the surface, giving us beautiful looks at the length of its body, but reminding us that we are not separate from this ecosystem. This little whale has scarring on its body from a monofilament line entanglement. It was tough to determine if the gear was still on the whale, but we were glad to see the calf keeping great pace with Dross! Dross gave us some final looks as she dove directly between our pulpits, giving us a moment to appreciate the awesome size of these animals.

As if in a final send off, we came across three flipper slapping whales amidst a pod of Atlantic White-Sided Dolphins! An incredible sight on our way back to Boston, and a perfect way to end such a spectacular, action packed day.

Bis zum nächsten Mal!

Linnea and Allie

 

8-13-21

10:00am Whale Watch Sightings

Today aboard the Asteria, the 10am whale watch made its way out towards Stellwagen Bank in search of whales and other marine life. We first started on a very large pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins. They gave us some great looks before we spotted a few blows in the distance. These blows turned out to be a trio of sleepy humpbacks consisting of Jabiru, Jabiru 21 calf, and Shuffleboard. While mom and escort were sleeping, the calf was rolling around, spy hopped, and flipper slapped! After some beautiful fluking dives from all three we went for a little bit of a ride. We came across another humpback named Samara who was blowing bubbles and actively kick feeding! After some great looks at her we had to head back to Boston. It was a really awesome day out on Stellwagen Bank!

Colin and Sulmaan

 

11:00am Whale Watch Sightings

The m/v Sanctuary headed towards the middle of Stellwagen for the 11am whale watch. Really calm, glassy sea conditions allowed us to spot anything around and today ended up being a great day to find other creatures besides our typical humpback whale friends. Our sightings started a few miles west of the bank with several pods of harbor porpoises breaking the surface of the water. Not long after spotting the first pod we saw a spout belonging to a much larger cetacean; Wizard was lazily traveling, staying almost stationary at the surface except for the occasional stretch. She made a few close approaches before going on a slightly longer fluking dive. As we were waiting for her to appear again, very sharp eyes spotted a loggerhead turtle swimming just under the surface! This reptile never broke the surface but swam close to the boat for several moments before diving deeper. We eventually moved on from wizard and made our way to Stellwagen, where we found Ebony and a blue shark! This little blue shark stayed at the surface for quite some time, and we had fantastic looks at this whale and shark before making our way back toward the city. Our trip was not over yet, though, as a mola mola was briefly spotted! While doubling back to catch a better look at this sunfish, another blue shark was spotted! Eventually we did make our way back towards Boston, but it was a really fun, multi species day!

Bruna & Sydney

 

13:30 Uhr Walbeobachtungen

What a beautiful, glassy day out on Stellwagen Bank! The 1:30pm whale watch headed toward the midbank region of Stellwagen Bank on the Aurora. We soon found “Chunk”, or 15BH29, a naturalist-favorite this year. Chunk was acting a little silly at the surface – and we were able to see some interesting angles of this whale as it lazily rolled right under the surface.

We then moved on to a sleepy humpback that we identified as Shuffleboard. With almost no wind, the calm water enabled us to see Shuffleboard’s entire body as she slowly swam and stretched under the water. Shuffleboard also gave us some great looks when she slowly popped the tip of her rostrum out of the water right next to our boat.

We made our way to the very edge of the bank and found ourselves with a third humpback. This whale has yet to be identified, but was also logging when we first approached this individual. Our mystery humpback soon woke up and was clearly subsurface feeding – evidenced by a few bubble clouds, a large defecation right next to the boat, and even a bait ball that formed right off our port side! The water was so clear that we could see the side of this individual’s jaw – easily seeing the white scrapes and fresh scars on right side of this humpback’s rostrum. This is likely evidence of a bottom-feeding technique when humpbacks target sand lance on the bottom of the ocean floor and repeatedly scrape their jaws on the seafloor.

The incredible viewing conditions enabled us to see more than large whales out on the bank! After our humpbacks – we were treated to two blue sharks and an incredible sighting of a mola mola, or ocean sunfish. This sunfish stayed close to the boat our entire sighting and gave passengers some great views of this strange looking fish. We were also able to see two small pods of harbor porpoises and a small pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins on our way back!

A truly special day on the water and a great way to escape the heat.

Kate and Anna

 

8-14-21

9:00am & 1:30pm Whale Watch Sightings

Today aboard the Sanctuary, the 9am whale watch headed out towards the southern part of Stellwagen Bank in search of whales and other marine life. After a brief sighting of a juvenile humpback, we spotted a few blows in the distance. There were at least six different humpbacks in the area. We spent a little time with a humpback named Ravine. She was taking short dives which allowed us to get some great looks at her. We spent a majority of our time with Dross and her 2021 Calf. These two were spending most of their time on the surface which allowed us to get some really awesome looks at the adorable pair! After a beautiful fluking dive from Dross, we had to head back to Boston.

The 130pm trip headed out towards the same area in hopes of similar success to the first trip. We were in luck when we spotted a blow, which turned out to be Wizard the humpback whale! Wizard was taking short dives and blowing bubble clouds, even lunging up through them a few times! She popped up several times right next to the boat giving us some really great looks at her. After some beautiful fluking dives from her, we moved on to see what else was in the area. We spent a little time with the sleepy pair of Dome and her 2021 calf before noticing a splash in the distance. We headed over there, and it was Ravine flipper slapping up a storm! She was rolling on her back double flipper slapping too. She did this for a few minutes before she decided to head back to traveling. After some great looks at Ravine, we had to head back to Boston. It was a really awesome day out on Stellwagen!

Colin and Sulmaan

 

10:00am & 2:30pm Whale Watch Sightings

The Asteria headed towards Jefferey’s ledge in search of marine wildlife. We started with Spoon and Chromosome; two familiar flukes often seen together this season. We had a sleepy start to our trip but enjoyed fantastic looks at these two as they napped at the surface. The activity all of a sudden picked up, though, when we noticed two very large splashes in the distance. These two surface active whales slowed down as we approached but the commotion seemed to work in getting the attention of all the other marine mammals in the area. The two surface active whales calmed down once a third joined the mix and we enjoyed watching Tripod, Pixar and Clamp swimming side by side. Spoon and Chromosome seemingly woke up and came towards this trio, and at some point, we were lucky to have three whales on our portside and the duo on our starboard! A pod of Atlantic white sided dolphins cruised through the area, and we eventually made our way back towards the city, excited to see what the afternoon would bring.

The afternoon trip embarked in a different direction, this time heading towards the southern corner of Stellwagen Bank. We encountered several spouts all around us, but our attention was immediately grabbed by a flipper slapping whale nearby. Ravine flipper slapped for several moments, at some point with both flippers out of the water as she did a whale version of a backstroke. Eventually we moved on to another humpback in the area who was busy feeding with bubble clouds. Bounce was surfacing often, clearly enjoying a smorgasbord of fish underwater. At some point we even saw a perfect bubble net forming right around our bow! The last sighting of the day was probably my favorite; Samara was alternating between bouts of kick feeding and surface lunges. These are two of the most exciting feeding behaviors to witness, as often feeding happens underwater where we only have our imagination to picture what is happening. Samara would powerfully slap her fluke on the water 3-4 times before coming up with an explosive lunge. We carefully made our way out of this area and headed towards the setting sun, it turned out to be a really fun day at sea!

Bruna & Alexis

 

11:00am & 3:30pm Whale Watch Sightings

This morning aboard the Aurora, we headed towards the Northwest Corner and Jefferies ledge in search of whales. After some searching, we found a trio of humpback whales, who turned out to be Tripod, Clamp, and Pixar! These three adult humpbacks were taking short dives, allowing passengers to get some great looks as the travelled near the surface. These three whales treated us to a few close approaches and gave passengers some fantastic looks at some beautiful fluking dives! One of these whales poked its rostrum out of the water for a moment, maybe stretching beneath the waves. We saw many blows in the area, and even saw a small gray seal in the distance! We started to watch the clock and got our last looks at a gorgeous fluking dive from Tripod and Pixar as we started to head home.

The afternoon trip aboard the Aurora decided to try another area, and we headed towards the Southwest Corner of Stellwagen Bank. We quickly found a pair of humpbacks, one of which was a whale I have personally seen a lot of this season, Wizard! Wizards companion never fluked, and their identity remains a mystery. We got some fantastic looks at Wizard as she showed off her beautiful fluke but decided to move on to some more blows we had seen in the distance. We found a single humpback, whose identity also remains unknown for now, as we were distracted by another pair of humpbacks who were heading right towards us! This pair of humpbacks turned out to be Pitcher and Music! These two have been seen together frequently over the last couple weeks so it was no surprise to find them together today. They travelled parallel to us and greeted passengers at the stern with a close approach. This pair fluked at our stern, and this was actually the first time I have ever seen Music’s fluke, so it was quite the treat to see a beautiful fluking dive from this individual! We got some last looks at these two before we had to head home.

Sydney and Anna

 

8-15-21

9:00am & 1:30pm Whale Watch Sightings

The crystal clear visibility really added to today’s spectacular sightings! In the morning, we found ourselves on the southwest corner of Stellwagen Bank in the company of three humpback whales. We rode the roller coaster of swells as we kept tabs on Freckles as she made quick movements to go after some fish as evidenced by the bubble clouds found at the surface. We could see the other two individuals nearby and enjoyed watching northern gannets diving for their own meals. Eventually we turned and made our way back to Boston, feeling satisfied with our successful trip.

By the afternoon, the winds had calmed greatly which allowed for the spotting of whales in all directions. Music and Pitcher drifted slowly toward the south in an afternoon snooze while passengers enjoyed seeing additional whales at all distances. We wrapped up our time with Dross and her calf as mom blew bubble clouds with the calf bobbing about nearby. There was even more bird activity to be seen and we had a nice, high fluke from the calf, who is recovering from another entanglement event (see photo) but seems to be doing well. If you’ve been thinking about going on a whale watch this summer, now is certainly the time!

Laura L. and Madeline

 

10:00am Whale Watch Sightings

We boarded the Aurora for the 10 a.m. whale watch and headed north toward Jeffery’s Ledge. With incredible visibility, we took in the sights of the coastline of Cape Ann and were able to see about a dozen scattered blows in the area! Much of our time was spent with Valley and Jawa who were spending ample time at the surface, allowing for some awesome looks. We briefly spotted Satula moving quickly through the area, and noticed he seemed to be sporting a fresh wound on his back. It’s difficult to tell how this wound may have come about, and although his behavior appeared normal, it’s certainly upsetting to see fresh injuries on these whales. After documenting this injury, we slowly made our way over to another pair of whales, Chromosome and Spoon! True to her nature, Spoon spent much of the time logging at the surface, before slowly drifting underneath the boat, giving us an incredible look at her sheer size. We considered this a beautiful end to our trip, and started to make our way back home, happening upon a mola mola on our journey! We were allowed a brief look before it dove out of sight, and we continued back to Boston across blue seas and under blue skies.

Flukes hoch!

Ashlyn and Mira

 

14:30 Uhr Walbeobachtungen

What an absolutely fantastic day with the whales! We started exploring Midbank and then headed down to the Southwest Corner of Stellwagen Bank. There we began our whale watching with a full breach from Music who was accompanied by a non-breaching Pitcher. We stayed with these two humpbacks for several dives before moving on to see Dross and her calf. The calf breached repeatedly giving us a wonderful show. Dross appeared to be feeding and released several bubble clouds. Our last view of the animals was fantastic! They both came right along the boat and the angle of the sun turned their blows into a rainbow! With that we headed back to Boston, stopping briefly to watch Samara with the Asteria.

Toodles

Mira and Ashlyn

 

11:00am & 3:30pm Whale Watch Sightings

The 11am whale watch headed out on the Asteria towards the southwest corner of Stellwagen Bank in search of wildlife. While we saw multiple blows in the area, our attention was drawn to Mogul. Mogul began to flipper slap and breach! At one point Mogul was entirely on his back and had both flippers out of the water – I love this behavior as it looks like the whale is doing a “back stroke.” Mogul continuously breached very close to the boat and gave us some fantastic looks!

The 3:30pm whale watch tried our luck again on the Southwest corner and were not disappointed!

We started out with watching Samara, who began to kickfeed and lunge! Kick-feeding is a unique type of feeding behavior out on the bank. Out of the 14 humpback populations in the entire world, our population in the Gulf of Maine is the only subpopulation to kick feed. It is certainly a very forceful feeding technique and was a treat to watch!

We then turned our attention to large splashing in the distance. We made our way to Dyad and Dyad 21 Calf, who were double breaching! This pair put on an incredible show for the Asteria. We were able to see tail breaches, chin breaches, full body breaches, tail lobs, flipper slapping, and rolling. The calf seemed to be mirroring mom – Dyad would breach and then a few seconds later we would watch the calf launch out of the water. We were able to see this mirroring behavior not only with breaching, but with flipper slaps, fluking dives, and tail lobs! This pair was very communicative in and out of the water and we heard a few trumpeting exchanges between mom and calf.

In all this spectacular surface activity we were able to witness a few unique moments! We got to see Dyad breach with water coming out of her rostrum and were able to see the little calf’s white tummy as it attempted a few backstrokes of its own!

I have included… a lot of photos of today’s two trips. While I may have gone a little overboard on the number of photos in this email, both trips were truly magical. I hope the inclusion of all these photos is able to capture some of the excitement of today’s trips!

Kate, Allie, and Heidi