NECWA News Blog

From the Bridgewater State University website at http://www.bridgew.edu/Newslog/view_story.cfm?StoryID=1161 Kelsey Pinkham collects data on whales onboard the "Tails of the Sea" boat owned by Captain John's Whale Watching and Fishing Tours Intern at Sea Posted on July 30, 2012 -  One of the most interesting things senior  Kelsey Pinkham  is learning at her summer internship with the New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance is the individual markings and names of whales off the coast of Plymouth, where she travels with a local whale watch. A crowd favorite is Salt, a world-famous humpback. "Salt is a mother and grandmother, and was the first whale ever named," the Carver resident said during a trip out to sea with Captain John's Whale Watching and Fishing Tours. "We can keep track of her migration from the Caribbean to here. It's really amazing." Each summer, BSU students like Ms. Pinkham take an internship with NECWA and tra...

Katherine helping out at Maritime Days.  Brandon and Nick at the educational section of our tables.  NECWA was once again part of Plymouth's Maritime Days on Saturday, July 14th. We set up our tables under the large tent that is erected by the Harbor Masters building at the end of the Town Wharf. We had lots of fun activities for kids to do including make your own "Shark Tooth Necklace" and "Origami Whale." Brandon with the educational displays.  Nick helping with the educational displays. Krill had lots of help from our NECWA interns including Katherine McKenna, Kelsey Pinkham, Brandon Wheaton and Nick Schomburg. Brandon manned the origami activity and helped Nick out with the educational materials. Origami whales.  Katherine and Kelsey worked at the front of our booth and talked to folks about whale watching aboard the Captain John Boats. Donate a dollar and get a button to support NECWA. Krill and MacKenzie ( a new high school ...

I had a great time joining Captain John Boats naturalist Tammy Silva for an amazing afternoon whale watch. We had great looks at humpback whales, minke whales and Atlantic white-sided dolphins. The star of the show was a humpback whale named Loon who was breaching out of the water and doing other active behaviors. Check out the video from today's trip and enjoy!

Review of Aboriginal Whaling in the Caribbean. A must read. Reprinted from Caribbean News Now! caribbeannewsnow.com Letter: Humpback whaling in Bequia, and the IWC's failed responsibility Published on June 30, 2012 Dear Sir: Each year at around this time, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meets to decide on matters pertaining to the planet’s whale populations and to monitor activities and oversee the compliance of nations permitted to hunt whales under the IWC’s Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling (ASW) Regulations. This ASW facility was put in place to accommodate indigenous populations with a long tradition of whale hunting for subsistence needs. Aside from this the hunting of whales for commercial purposes is banned entirely by the IWC due to overhunting in the last century, which caused many species to become critically endangered. The more recently imposed threats to the survival of whales are the rapid decline in environmental co...

Check out this short video that reviews the recent research on humpback whales using the Dtag. http://www.sciencefriday.com/video/06/30/2011/how-humpbacks-hunt-with-bubbles.html

8 am Seabird & Whale Tales Excursion - New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance and Krill   This past Sunday the New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance (NECWA) in collaboration with Captain John Boats conducted their all day marine wildlife cruise as a benefit for NECWA. This is an all day affair where we have 8 hours to enjoy ourselves offshore. Having a longer period of time out on the water allows us to get further offshore than we can with a standard 4-hour whale watch. And this extra time allows us to be able to stay with the animals a little bit longer.  This Sunday, we headed south to the waters off Chatham for we heard reports of a large concentration of whales and seabirds feeding to the east of Chatham. As soon as we left the dock around 8 am, we headed right for Race Point and then worked our way down the backside of the Cape. It took us almost 3 hours of steaming and over 61 miles before we found what we were looking for. ...

Captain John Boats and NECWA joined forces to put together a two-day whale affair for the students and teachers at the Middleboro Memorial Early Childhood Center. Krill, Tammy, Leah, Tiffany, Mary, Brandon, Kate, Katherine and Lauren had a great time telling these amazing kids about Salt, the most famous humpback in the world! And a big thank to Mrs. Flauvell and Mrs. Levesque for arranging this annual event. And thank you to all our parent volunteers who helped teach and oversee the different hands-on activities that we offered. We sang, danced, watched video clips, inflated a humpback calf and did a lot of fun and neat hands-on activities, all focused on marine wildlife in New England. Over the course of the two days, we reached over 250 children and made many new friends. Many have promised to come visit us and the whales this season! Don't forget to say hello when you join us offsho...