Tag Archives: Whales

Whale Watching in February

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Watch out for the Whales

February is the highpoint of the whale season in Maui. The whale season is said to run from Mid December to Mid May but I can vouch for February. You can even watch the whales from shore! I love the whales. I think they are amazing animals and here you get to see the tiny babies as well as the adults. Of course “tiny” is relative. A 2 ton baby isn’t tiny by human standards but next to its mama, its just a bit of a thing.

Whales

What’s a Little Motion Sickness?

My dinner cruise price included a whale watch trip. I hadn’t planned on going whale watching this visit because I forgot to pack my motion sickness patches. The whale watches can get a little rough and I am prone to sea sickness. How many people do you know that can get sea sick while scuba diving? I did!  But that’s a story for another day! Anyway I had a whale watch coming to me so I decided to cross my fingers and take a chance.

Stock Photo

Whale Watching with Hawaii Ocean Project

The Whale watch boat was berthed in Lahaina Harbor, a very popular starting point for many whale watching companies. To pull out of the harbor everyone has to be seated. This is true for all of the cruises. The crew of our ship made all the proper announcements but they didn’t enforce them. Adults and children were still wandering the decks as we cast off. They went on to announce that serious photographers should be seated on the lower deck in the bow. I found my seat in the bow and prepared my camera. I shouldn’t have bothered.

Were there Whales?

just missed but got the splash

We saw whales. There was a lot of breaching and tail slapping. I can’t criticize the trip for that. But I will say I won’t go on this trip again. Getting shots of whales is hard enough without playing a dodge game with people holding their cell phones up in front of everyone. I was competing with heads, elbows and children being lifted on shoulders. This is not a trip for a serious photographer. There are other whale watching boats that have stadium seating so no one has an obstructed view. Or I’ll take one of the smaller rafting tours. All the seats on those are good and its very exciting. Let the families go out on this trip. I’ll find a different one next time.

Tail Slapping

What’s the Next Experience?

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Moulton Barn with Tetons in the backgroundEach Vacation is a New Experience.

Wyoming was quite the experience. From start to finish it had something new and different. It’s hard to beat the beautiful Teton Mountains, Yellowstone geysers and falls and all of the wild animals. But all good things must end and now I’m back home again.

 

 

Old Faithful Erupts

Next up on the vacation agenda

As you may have gathered from some of my posts I’m having a tough time with my back right now. It makes everything from hiking to swimming a challenge. I’m not one to sit on the beach when I go on vacation. I get bored on cruise ships but this mobility issue has defiantly put a cramp in my vacation style. Still I book my vacations way in advance so I have another one on the books.

Lets go to Maui Wowie againOn The Road To Hana

I do love Hawaii. The climate is as close to perfect as you can get. I have a Maui vacation just waiting for me in February.  The peak month for shark encounters off Maui is October and since my next excursion is February I’m probably ok with sharks. Besides, I’m not sure I’ll be cleared to swim or snorkel yet. It’s all pending doctor’s orders. Did you know that scuba divers are almost never shark attack victims? “They” think it might be the bubbles from the air tanks or possibly that they are often vertical in the water. In any case I probably won’t be scuba diving.

The Maui Experience

I’ve been to Maui several times now. I’ve taken a helicopter tour, traveled the Road to Hana, gone snorkeling and whale watching. I even took a ride on a submarine. So what’s left for someone who can’t get out there with a surfboard. Maybe I could try body surfing or using a “boogie board”. I still want to see Iao State park and the Iao Needle. That’s been closed due to mudslides every time I’ve been there but I think it’s open now. Since it is the height of whale watch season I’ll probably do that again. I can never get enough of those amazing animals.

Breaching baby Humpback

The Great White Sharks are Still Here

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Great White Sharks Hang out off Cape Cod

Great white shark swimmingThe sharks of Cape Cod aren’t leaving anytime soon. Our vacations may be over but according to Dr Greg Skomal of the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy August and September are active months for our Great Whites.

 It’s been A busy August

With a cool spring Shark season took its time ramping up but August was a busy month.

  • July 31: A Great White tried to snack on one of the research cameras.
  • On August 10: Chatham beach goers watch a real life “Jaws” as a Great White chomped a seal in half in clear view of the beaches.
  • August 11: Whale Watchers spotted 2 Great Whites feasting on a dead minke whale
  • August 12 : A fisherman had his catch stolen by a shark. The video became an internet sensation 
  • August 21 A Shark enjoyed a seal lunch as beach goes looked on
  • August 24 A shark tasted a paddle board off Marconi Beach.

Great White Shark

Staying Safe with Great White Sharks

There are a few things you can do to stay safe with these apex predators in the water. 

  1. Avoid swimming with the seals
  2. Swim or surf in groups
  3. Stay in Shallow water
  4. Don’t wear shiny jewelry

Great White SharkSurvey Says…..

The good news is that even with this shark activity the beach going public remains fascinated by the sharks. The Polls and surveys show that public opinion is against the politician’s ill advised suggestion that the sharks be culled. According to Chatham natives, at least some of the beaches may be monitored by balloons equipped with cameras to provide an early warning system.

 2 More Months

If the past is any indication we’re looking at 2 more months of Great White activity. The season winds down off Cape Cod at the end of October. I guess the Great Whites don’t like our winter weather any more than I do.

White Shark

 

 

 

 

 

Its Breaching Whales and Hungry Sharks

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The Whales are Breaching!

Breaching Whale off Cape Cod

Breaching Humpback Whale Stellwagen bank 2016

Last year was the first time I ever saw a whale breach here in New England. I’ve see lots of other behaviors but I always thought breaching was only in Maui, HI or Alaska. So with that in mind I went to Alaska but no breaching there. Finally last winter I spotted a breaching calf. A 2000 lb baby was leaping for joy. It was dawn and the day was still very gray. A good picture but not what I’ve been envisioning. My quest continues.

Breaching Humpback Calf

Breaching humpback calf in Maui, HI 2017

They were Breaching before my tour and after

I follow Captain John Boats on Facebook and all season I’ve been seeing posts about breaching whales on their tours. I finally got out on a tour last week but as you know from my last post, no breaching. In fact, right after my tour, there is was! Another post about a breaching whale. I know they aren’t trained performers but just the law of averages seem to favor my chances. How is it that I keep missing this amazing behavior?

Up the Stakes for a Trip that will be hard to top!

As I was sulking over my continued misses the Whale Watching trip to beat all whale watching trips hit my feed. How about whales and sharks? Yup, a recent trip delivered on the whales and then found a whale that had recently died from entanglement injuries. According to the news report it was a dead minke whale. Its always sad to see an animal that has died but nature is very harsh. But this time the passengers got to see how nature recycles. The death of one animal sustains another. What was being sustained this time? 2 Great White Sharks, that’s what!

Great White Shark

It’s Shark Week on Cape Cod

This is amazing. There is a tour company that advertises great white viewing but the folks on this whale watching trip never expected to to see a shark. This tour would be off the chart if you rated it. It delivered everything advertised and then dished up 2 great white sharks. What I would have given to be on that trip! Rating 10 +++++++ Way to go Captain John Boats!

Great White photo provided by Google Search

Captain John and the Whales

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Captain John’s Whale WatchingWhale Tail

Captain John Boats lives in Plymouth, MA and sails the seas of Massachusetts Bay and Stellwagen Banks. Why, Matey? What does the Captain John do on the bay? We be lookin’ for whales. Mostly humpback whales but also finbacks and minkes. So come on board and let me tell you a “tail” of the sea.

Whale Watching in Massachusetts

Summertime on the Massachusetts coast means whales. The evening news happily reports when the first whales of the season begin to arrive along Cape Cod. The first are usually the rare right whales. We watch them from the shore. We recognize them by their distinctive wide V-shaped blow. All the while we watch we also freeze in the early spring blustery cold.

Whale TailWith Warmer Weather come the Tours

As the weather warms the Right whales move out and the Humpbacks, Finbacks and Minkes take their place. I’ve followed the whales for 43 years through good years and bad. South of Boston there are 3 main tour companies, Boston’s New England Aquarium, Captain John Boats in Plymouth and the Dolphin Fleet out of Provincetown. It doesn’t seem to matter which one you take, they all seem to end up at Stellwagen Bank within sight of each other and the Pilgrim Tower in Provincetown.

A Whale of a Trip

Last Saturday I finally had a free afternoon. I usually prefer the morning trip out of Plymouth with Captain John. I seem to have better luck on those tours but this time I couldn’t get away until the 2 pm tour. We no sooner reached the feeding grounds of Stellwagen Banks than 3 humpbacks sounded right next to the boat. They stayed close for 3-4 dives before moving out.  We had several other humpbacks cruise along with the boat and then one tried to ride our bow! It was a very active trip and the passengers were really excited.

Riding a bow wave

Rate the Trip

If this was your first trip it was a definite 10. There were lots of whales and lots of activity. For a more experienced whale watcher it might have been a bit of a let down. There were no flipper slaps, bubble net or surface feeding, or breaches but some lovely flukes…a 5. I am so spoiled!

Gurnet Light

Gurnet Light