09/09/2026
Sat Sept 5 – Whale Watching
We headed out along the shore following
reports of nearshore cetaceans (whales and dolphins) from the previous day (including some
encountered on Friday’s trip). Cetaceans can travel incredible distances in a single day so we never know
what to expect and understand that every trip is different. This was evident as we sailed along the coast
where whales were spotted just one day earlier with no sign of the animals in sight. But we continued
on, and enjoyed sporadic pelagic bird sightings and occasional schools of fish making contact with the
surface as they were likely being hunted and chased by a predator from below. As we neared Napeague,
a blow was observed to our portside and investigated. Here we found a young humpback whale that
was feeding on bait detected just below the surface. The whale dove for 1.5-2 minutes at a time,
allowing excellent views as it surfaced within 100 feet of the vessel, with few exceptions. In only 35-40
feet of water, this whale exhibited low or no-fluking dives as there is no need to lift the tail flukes
entirely out of water (what we call a “high-fluking” dive) to achieve the thrust necessary for deep dives.
But then, on one of the surface intervals, the whale exhibited a high-fluking dive with water cascading
from its tail to the delight of passengers. At CRESLI, we are happy too, because photographs of flukes
allow us to identify and match whales to either our own or another regional catalog of humpbacks,
contributing to our knowledge of habitat usage and site fidelity in this species. With consistent surfacing,
we enjoyed this whale’s company, observing safely out of gear as the whale hunted around us. Then,
the young humpback surprised us all with an exhilarating kick-feed wherein the whale threw its tail
(along with the back end of the body) out of and onto the water to stun fish prior to capture. Eventually,
we headed back in search of other cetaceans but instead found multiple rainbows including one
complete rainbow that followed alongside us on our starboard side.
1 juvenile humpback whale
50-70 great shearwaters
25-35 Cory’s shearwaters
30-40 Wilson’s storm petrels
