18 September 06: Whale Watching
The whale watch boat is out of
Yankee Whale Watching, very well run, and easy to get to from
Boston. I picked out just the best pictures of this trip. Click on the
thumbnail for the full size picture.
Karen shows off her new video camera, and I stand there, on the boat
ready to go.
Each one of these pilings had a single bird on it, some gulls, some
cormorants like this one.
Right in the middle, that's the Steersman statue on the Gloucester
waterfront, first time I've seen him from the sea.
Hammond Castle, and some other neat buildings, and the back of some
guy's head.
Once we got out to the banks, we found lots of whales. This boat
brings volunteer research spotters out to document the humpback
migration, around this time of year, and the students can identify
individuals from their markings, so they could tell us over the
intercom who was who.
First ones we met were Tornado and her calf. This is the calf -- the
babies have to breathe more often than the adult mothers do.
A few good shots of Tornado. Notice the long white flipper, which
humpbacks are famous for.
Tornado, or maybe her calf. The distinctive humped back is what you
see most often on these trips.
A little further out, we found Mild and her calf. Defying her name,
Mild was being very active when we arrived, waving that long white
flipper in the air and smacking the water, over and over, and also
lobtailing (slapping the water with flukes). Not sure why, but it's
possible she was warning the calf about the approaching boat.
Mild's flukes as she dives and slaps the water.
Mild feeding, a rare shot of the head emerging, with the huge jaws.
Having grabbed a mouthful of hundreds of gallons of water, she strains
it through the baleen in her mouth, emptying out the water while
keeping the things that are good to eat.
Calf breathes while Mild is just under the surface -- see the white
pectoral flipper, looking green under water.
Mother and calf together.
Someone else's back. We saw a total of maybe sixteen humpbacks,
mostly in groups of a few mother-calf pairs.
After that, we encountered a huge pod of dolphins, must have been
several hundred of them at least. Much more nimble than the whales,
the dolphins play in the wake of our boat, and pepper the water with
fins and splashes. I took a bunch of still pictures, but they don't
capture the way the water comes alive with dolphins -- we'll have to
wait for Karen's video.
Me, and Karen, against the lighthouse in the background.
A few mood shots coming into Gloucester Harbor. I like the
composition of the boats.
Drawbridge raising, and us passing underneath it, to get into the
marina.
A nice placid composition of white swans, across from the marina where
we've ended.
This page maintained by
Wil Howitt
Last updated 18 September 2006
