Tag: humpback

Great info from Iain Kerr from Ocean Alliance

Posted on by Donna Ardizzoni

Take a look at these awesome photos of the humpback whales ..  amazing.

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SnotBot DR Blog 3 – Everything we had hoped for!

 It gives me great pleasure to advise you that our last 3 days on the water have been fantastic, each day better than the previous. The weather has fallen into a typical trade wind scenario, calm in the early morning and picking up as the day goes on. We were on the boat this morning by 6:15 and had the pleasure of watching a sunrise at sea (with a whale of course).

 Today we had our 1st sample by 7:15 am and had our 9th sample by 9:00 am, by 12:30 (when the winds picked up) we had collected a total of 14 samples bringing our expedition total to 54. Our goal was 50 samples, so we are now ahead of the game with 3 days to go. As the sun rose we were with a mother, calf and escort, we collected two Snot samples from each whale so we could have comparable samples, then we collected another sample from each whale flying at a higher altitude than the first set so that we can try to determine what effect height might have on the success/productivity of the biological data (snot) that gets onto the dish.

Angie Sremba is here from Dr. Scott Bakers lab at Oregon State, Angie has been focusing on the DNA analysis. She brought us some exciting information with regards to how our biological data capabilities have (successfully) evolved over time. It is important to remember here that part of this whole process is developing the collection tools and protocols and while Dr. Bakers lab is developing the preservation and analysis protocols. In summary 2016 we had a 39% success rate with regards to sexing the animals from the DNA and a 55% success rate on the mitochondrial DNA. In 2018 we had a 92% success rate with regards to sexing the animals from the DNA and a 96% success rate with the mitochondrial DNA. This is clearly exciting as it demonstrates that we are learning and getting better on all fronts.

 Another exciting data point today was the collection of some whale feces, the whales here are not feeding so it is unusual to find feces in this location. I think this is another amazing benefit of using drones for whale research, the drone saw the whale defecation (look very carefully for the brown stain in the last photo) and Britta and Andy were ready to collect it. This will prove invaluable in trying to put into context the hormone levels that we collect in the blow.   We had a number of fun whale moments today but one of the best ones was a mother and calf lob tailing together (lifting their tails up and crashing them down onto the water). The mother would throw her tail down with an enormous crash and then the baby would do the same hardly making a splash. Andy caught one of these moments on camera (see attached photo).

Today we also did some sea trials with EarBot, after this expedition I will have four days at home and then Chris and I go to Cabo San Lucas with EarBot to work on a BBC special, so we need to make sure that EarBot is in tip top shape.

 Last but not least I am happy to report that this blog is supported by some amazing photos from Christian Miller and Andy Rogan.

  Best Fishes from the DR.

 Iain

 Iain Kerr

Cell: 978 760 1784

http://www.whale.org

 

 

Name that Humpback

Posted on by paultmorrison

We crossed whale watch off our “list of things that must be done even if we live here” this summer. I’m going through my photos and auto-awesome has strung some together and I post it in my Apple Sheeple forum and ten mintues later Phos has straightened out the horizon. Thanks Phos.

Looking at the animation I can see the white on the flukes of the tail that are the best way to identify humpbacks. People who study the humpbacks know them all by name and have seen the same ones over decades. I wrote the names down of the seven that we saw but lost my notes. But if you go to Coastal Studies page and under the photos click “download the latest version here” you will get a 72 page document with photos of a lot of whale tales.

whaletaleid
Seven Seas Whale Watch this summer. Seven Humpbacks all identified by the whale dude on board. This humpback has just cleared her pipes and is now sounding. She’ll be gone for 5 to 7 minutes as she cruises about in 130 foot deep water looking for stuff to eat, or hobnobbing with her friends Hippocampus and North Star.

Can you figure out the name of this whale? If you work with these whales you are saying, “of course that’s Suzie Cream Cheese”. But I made up that name.

They are ordered from very white to very black. It seems easy but I couldn’t do it. My daughter figured it out in five minutes. Can you? First three who name it correctly get a Pirate Rubber Duck autographed by RD herself. Clicking on the photo enlarges the animation. If it isn’t animated get a real computer or phone, Macintosh or iPhone 🙂

What the Fluke

Posted on by Nichole S.

I will swim with a humpback whale some day.

It’s at the top of my bucket list for sure.

I actually planned a vacation to Costa Rica several years ago for the opportunity to swim with the whales in Drake Bay, but sadly, no whales were in the area during my stay.

I have, however, had the opportunity to swim with wild dolphins, sea turtles, sea lions, rays, black tip reef sharks, and manatees.  Each of those experiences are kind of sacred to me.  All are moments that I will never forget.

While swimming with wild marine life may not be everyone’s cup of tea, if you haven’t been on at least one amazing whale watch, you are missing out.  We are incredibly fortunate to have whales not far off our coast for a good part of the year.  I, all kidding aside, sometimes find myself laying awake at night thinking, “I wonder what the whales are doing right now?” Freak meter rating high, I realize, but true nonetheless.

So, today, knowing that the whales have been plentiful for the past several days, we went for a trip with Cape Ann Whale Watch.  How do I know they’ve been plentiful you may ask?  I follow their blog.

I had the opportunity to speak with both long time owners, Nick Danikas and Jim Douglass, in the parking lot prior to the trip.  Both are great guys who are pretty passionate about offering trips that leave guests with memories to last a lifetime.

Likewise, the crew and the naturalists are phenomenal and beyond highly educated on the matter of whales and sea life indigenous to our waters. Their enthusiasm was contagious.  Even the captain, John Karvelas, was excitedly pointing out bubble clouds as they formed on the surface of the water.  Bubble clouds are a method that whales use to trap krill and sand eels in a tight school so that they can emerge, mouths open, and swallow up a giant meal.

Today’s trip was nothing short of amazing.  To begin, we only had to head 11 miles off the Dog Bar Breakwater, which was a treat in itself.  After a short steam, we were literally surrounded by humpback whales.  I’ve been on many whale watches.  Both on local whale watching boats and on smaller private boats. Today’s trip was one for the record books.

Click Here for more information about Cape Ann Whale Watch

Hear are some of my favorite photos from today’s trip.

 

Seven Seas Whale Watching Report from May 5th and 6th 2012

Posted on by capeannpainter

Seven Seas Whale Watching Report from May 5th and 6th 

From Jay Frontiero;
“After not being out on the water for a few days we were finally able to get off shore and look for some whales again this weekend. Our search took us to the southern edge of Stellwagen Bank… a little over 30 miles from Gloucester… but I think everyone onboard agreed that it was worth the extra time and effort to get there. The whales were spectacular!
On both May 5th and 6th we were treated to fantastic feeding displays from large groups of Humpback Whales.  Many of the whales we sighted were old friends. That is to say they are Humpback Whales that we see return to the Stellwagen Bank/southern Gulf of Maine region to feed nearly every year. We have therefor gotten to many many of these whales quite well and we are always happy to see them return in the spring and know they have made the long migration north from their breeding grounds in the Caribbean safely.
The individual Humpback Whales we were able to identify over the weekend were:

WIZARD  (who has one of the most beautiful tails of any whale)
CAJUN (a favorite whale of MANY whale watchers)
ABRASION and her new calf (our first mother/calf pair of the year!)
IOTA
LAVALIERE
FRACTURE
DIVISION
TUNGUSKA (one of my favorites)
FALCON
SCYLLA’S 2008 CALF (not yet named)
BLACK HOLE
This list will most likely grow as I still have a lot of photos to go through and try and identify.”
Click here for the rest of the Seven Seas Whale Watch Report