Beautiful Day for a Whale Watch on Rocky Neck

Posted on by God's Morning

I have to say that the magic that is Rocky Neck never ceases to amaze.  I’ve never been on a whale watch or seen a whale up close and personal; but I did today in Smiths Cove on Rocky Neck.  This fellow cruised up and down Rocky Neck, obviously a little disoriented and not able to find his way back out again.  Debbie and Peter Schradieck were visiting Madfish Wharf and spotted him first and came to find me to come see him.  Wendie Demuth was there too so we all ran down to the Marine Railways and photographed him from the end of the railways pier.  Peter estimated his length to be between 25-30′ and that he was a fin whale.  I’ve also included a photo from the internet of a beached fin whale, which has the same bumpy head feature you can see on this whale, and the fin which you can see in the last photo of the series, although it could also be his tail.   Hopefully that won’t be the fate of this one.  Peter did call the Coast Guard and alert them of his presence in Smiths Cove.

The fin whale is the second largest animal in the world after the blue whale, the fastest swimming of all the large whales (sometimes called the greyhound of the seas) and the commonest of the large baleen whales.  This one certainly was fast, as he would come up in one spot on the cove and a minute later be coming up again at a spot a good distance away, so quickly that at first we thought there were two of them.  I hope he can find his way out, as he should be on his way to warmer waters now, and there won’t be any food for him in Smiths Cove.

E.J. Lefavour

www.khanstudiointernational.com

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Published by God's Morning

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28 thoughts on “Beautiful Day for a Whale Watch on Rocky Neck”

  3. Time to start selling publication rights to these photos – GDT, Boston Globe, North Shore magazines. And what realtor wouldn’t love to tout the benefits of buying a property here: “Watch the whales cavort from your living room and back yard!” And I bet many of the homeowners around Smith Cove would be interested in a print. You nailed it EJ.

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    1. Hi Terry, yes, that’s him. I hope he finds his way back to sea, but I have a feeling he may need some human assistance to get out of Smiths Cove and the Harbor. He couldn’t seem to figure out how to leave. He kept heading for the opening back into the Harbor but then would turn around and head back down to the Madfish and up and down and back and forth from one side of the cove to the other. Either he was just really enjoying Rocky Neck, or he was having some kind of problem.

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  9. Did you let the Whale Center of NE know? They’re just on Harbor Loop, and they’re the go to research org for sea mammals in distress in our area.
    Amazing pictures! Talk about being in the right place at the right time, EJ… not for the whale though 😦

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      1. Hi E.J –

        This is Laura Howes from the Whale Center of New England – thank you for your photos! I was looking for it last night after we received a call about it – and saw it briefly at 5:00 from the Fish Pier but was unable to get photos. Your photos however confirm that this looks to be a North Atlantic Right Whale! Its surfacings are quite indicative of its species, and they also have no dorsal fin. If you have any more photos feel free to send them to us at info@whalecenter.org and laura@whalecenter.org and I could take a closer look if you want. Thank you!

        -Laura

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  10. THIS SOUNDS LIKE A YOUNG CALF THAT JUST RECENTLY BROKE OFF FROM IT’S MOTHER . BORN AT AROUND 20 FOOT LONG AND NURSING FOR 6-7 MONTHS. iT MAY BE CONFUSSED BUT YOU HAVE TO KNOW THAT SHALLOW WATERS THIS TIME OF YEAR ARE LOADED WITH 1-2″ SQUID, HERRING AND OTHER SMALL FISH WHICH IT MAYBE FEEDING ON , HOPEFULL IT WILL LEAVE THE HARBOR FOR WARMER WATERS AND JOIN UP WITH A POD.

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  11. E.J. great pics and luck to see one this close in. This is also Shrimp season and I have seen many whales around our costal waters this time of year, and there is a large mass of shrimp right now.

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    1. Thanks Joe, that’s good to know. If he can at least find food to eat (I imagine something that big needs to eat alot), maybe he’ll be ok until he can get back to where he belongs.

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  13. Hi Everyone,
    Is the whale still there in the Cove? I work for a local television news station and would love to come get some footage to get the word out that this guy needs to get back in open waters!

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    2. Received this email from Laura Howes at the Whale Center of New England, which leads me to believe he has found his way to safety.

      Dear Ellen,
      Thank you so much for letting the Whale Center know about your GMG post
      and for posting the photos! I am a researcher at the Whale Center, and
      after responding to a report from the Coast Guard (Sounds like you were
      the one that reported it to them – thank you!). I began searching and
      finally spotted it briefly off of the Fish Pier around 5:00. I wasn’t
      able to get photos since it was such a brief look, but I’m glad your
      photos confirmed it was indeed a Right Whale. They are very tricky to
      spot and are quite elusive, so great work getting those shots!

      I posted earlier on the GMG site wondering if perhaps you wouldn’t mind
      sending along the photos to me at laura@whalecenter.org. I also saw that
      Phil Hamilton contacted you – which is great! The Right Whale research
      team will be very interested in finding out who that whale was if
      possible.

      We’ve had several responders checking the area this morning to look for
      the whale, luckily it has not been seen again so far – as that was quite
      a dangerous spot for it to be in! Judging by the size, that animal was
      most likely a juvenile. While it is quite unusual to see a right whale
      here (especially this time of year) – there have been many sightings of
      right whales in Cape Cod bay the past month, so this animal certainly
      could have strayed from that area.

      Thank you again!
      Laura Howes
      Intern Coordinator/Database Manager
      The Whale Center of New England

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  16. Received this email this morning from Philip Hamilton at the Right Whale Research Project at the NE Aquarium, which identifies him as a right whale, not a fin whale. I sent him my photos as well as a good one Deb Schradieck had gotten.
    Hi EJ,
    I saw the photographs you took of the whale yesterday on line. It is actually a right whale, not a fin whale. I work with the Right Whale Research Project at the New England Aquarium in Boston. We manage a catalog of all the right whales in the North Atlantic for a consortium of scientists. It would be great to get copies of your photos for our Catalog. We may be able to figure out which individual it is, in which case we likely will know its mother and a bunch of history. You can see the catalog on line at http://www.neaq.org/rwcatalog

    Would you be willing to contribute your photos to the catalog? If so, you can upload them here: https://backup.filesanywhere.com/Dropbox/db.aspx?v=896c678e5f66b7b670af.

    We will let you know any history of the little whale if we can identify it.

    Thanks,
    Philip

    Philip Hamilton

    Research Scientist

    New England Aquarium

    Central Wharf

    Boston, MA 02110

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  18. How can we help the whales and dolphins from getting stuck in small coves?
    I hate seeing them trapped at low tide. Underwater sonic devices?

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  19. I was hoping this story would have made the GDT today but,NOTHING !!! Why am I not surprised,only in Gloucester ! Let’s report all official non-news ! Nobody I told this about knew about it !!!

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