Week ending June 26, 2005

What a great week! Great weather and great whales! A combination we always like to report about our whale watching trips! There were many whale watching trips where we observed up to 8 (or more) Humpback Whales, several Fin Whales and Minke Whales. All whales were feeding just below the surface. Most of the whale sightings were up on Jeffrey’s Ledge (just Northeast of Rockport, MA), which indicates the whales were either feeding on small mackerel – called “tinker” mackerel or possibly herring.

Humpback Whales identified include a mother/calf pair, Bungie and calf. Other Humpback Whales identified include Bullet, Reaper, Seal, Fulcrum, Rapier, Flask,Quote, Thalassa, Taborri and Hornbill. On Sunday afternoon, we also saw two Basking Sharks – which, similar to baleen whales such as Humpback Whales, are filter feeders that feed upon microscopic animals called zooplankton. Basking sharks can reach lengths of up to 40 feet! This is longer than Minke Whales! WOW!

Bird sightings were great from our whale watching trips, as well! Sooty Shearwaters and a few Greater Shearwaters were observed on each whale watching trip, as well as many Wilson’s Storm-petrels. There were also some juvenile Northern Gannets in the area. Inshore, the “regulars” like the Greater Black-backed Gulls, Herring Gulls, Ring-billed Gulls, Double-crested Cormorants and Egrets were observed from our whale watching trips. Additionally, Bonaparte’s Gulls and a resident flock of Common Eiders were seen in Gloucester Harbor.

Quoted from: www.yankeefleet.com