The Sunday prior to me leaving for Churchill, I went on one of the two semi annual all-day Marine Adventure cruises that the New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance runs. These trips are called Seabird & Whale Tales and are a fundraiser for the alliance. The trips offer a full day a wildlife viewing and education. There are guest naturalist onboard that help in identifying the birds, the whales and other wildlife that are observed.
The trips leave from Plymouth Harbor aboard the "Tales of the Sea", a 110 foot commercial whale-watching vessel operated by Capt. John Whale Watching and Fishing Tours.
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| Plymouth Beach in the fog |
We started the day out in fog and and rain, the rain cleared by 10 AM, but we had intermittent fog all day long. The seas initially were 3 to 5 feet, but later in the day when up to 10 feet plus. The captain kept the ride as smooth as possible, when we had to make a turn want to hold on and there were no injuries.
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| Fin Whale |
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| Fin Whale |
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| Gray Seal |
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| Great Shearwater |
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| Northern Gannet |
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| Sooty Shearwater |
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| Sooty Shearwater |
We observed fin whales, humpback whales, minke whales and both harbor and gray seals. Birds included all the shearwaters, northern gannets, many of the gulls and a South Polar Skua. I was not able to obtain a picture of the Skua since I was in the front of the boat and was hanging on during our multiple turns as the captain followed the bird so everybody could obtain a good view of it.
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| Humback Tail breach |
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| Humpback |
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| Humpback |
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| Humpback Dive |
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| Flipper Slap |
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| Fluke |
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| Feeding |
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| Head of Humpback you can see its eye |
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| Tail Breach |
As usual the humpback whales put on a great show with tail breaching, flipper slapping, feeding and other activities.
For those of you who are interested in the natural history of Cape Cod Bay and Stellwagon Bank Marine National Sanctuary, I would recommend that you sign up for one of the Seabird and Whale Tale trips. The next trip will be September 11. To find out more information click on the New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance website http://www.necwa.org/trips.html
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