First whale watching trip for the 2012 season!

-

On Friday, April 6th we had our first whale watch trip of the 2012 season. NECWA interns work aboard Captain John Whale Watching and Fishing Tours throughout the season. Captain John provides guest tickets to our interns allowing them to head offshore as research assistants. This is an incredible opportunity for these young adults as they start their careers in the field of marine biology.

Tammy and Georgia

Tammy Silva, one of our NECWA staff members, started with NECWA as in intern a few years ago. Now Tammy is a naturalist for Captain John and helps to train our new interns when offshore. Tammy joined us offshore as a guest as well and helped with our newest intern, Georgia, a high school student from Rockland High.

Tammy

When offshore, interns learn how to collect sighting data and photographs on all the marine animals that we observe. And they assist with educational outreach activities including manning our display table with neat whale artifacts like baleen, prey items and free educational materials.

Georgia

Georgia had never been on a whale watch and thoroughly enjoyed it. We in New England are spoiled for we are very accustomed to sightings of rare and endangered baleen whales right off our shores. We forget that most of the large baleen whales were hunted to to brink of extinction and are now very endangered. So to see just one finback whale is an amazing site. To see 15 charging all around the boat as they feed deep, is truly impressive.


Most of our time offshore was spent right off the beaches of Race Point. Here we had at least 10 to 15 finback whales and hundreds of Atlantic white-sided dolphins. We also saw hundreds of adult Northern gannets, the largest seabirds that commonly feed in our waters this time of the year. Northern gannets make incredible aerial displays as they plunge-dive into the water. The gannets, dolphins and finbacks were probably going after the same bait fish which was probably herring or sandlance.


On our ride home, we found a single North Atlantic right whale subsurface feeding just a few miles off the Gurnet. Since this species is critically endangered, we had to slowly move out of the area. But even at a distance, our passengers enjoyed a sighting of a lifetime given the fact that there are less than 450 right whales remaining in our waters.


We had an amazing trip in so many ways. So we hope you can join Captain John Boats and support them as a thank you for their support to NECWA.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Electric Torpedo Ray of New England

-
Image
The Shocking Ray of New England Blog by  Coleman Earner - December 21, 2020 Dead Torpedo Ray in Brewster, MA Torpedo Rays are a genus of rays that are part of the Order  Torpediniformes (electric rays). In reference to local sightings, the most commonly seen torpedo ray in the Cape Cod region is the Atlantic Torpedo ( Torpedo nobiliana ). They are cartilaginous fish (most similar to the structure of sharks and skates) with a flat and rounded disc-like structure. As suggested by their order, torpedo rays are most commonly known for their ability to discharge electricity of up to 220 volts from both pectoral fins (pectoral fins are flat and expanded and fused to the head area) as a self defense mechanism or as a means of capturing prey. Their feeding strategy consists of burying themselves under the sand and waiting for unsuspecting prey to wander by.  Dead Torpedo Ray on a Cape Cod Beach. Torpedo Rays feed mainly on benthic/pelagic fish such as flounders, damselfish, and other small fis
Read more

Ocean sunfish stranding at Linnell Landing - October 9, 2010

-
Image
This afternoon, Chris called about an ocean sunfish that stranded dead at the end of Linnell Landing in Brewster, MA. Krill Carson along with two NECWA interns, Nick Schomburg and Caitlyn Dionne, headed down or met at Linnell Landing in the late afternoon. When they arrived on the shores of Cape Cod Bay, a crowd was gathering around the ocean sunfish carcass that was just off the beach parking lot. This sunfish was almost 6 feet in length and some of the beachgoers indicated that it had come up on the beach around 2 pm that day. At first, it was difficult to look at the deep propellor scars that cut through the dorsal (top) surface of the sunfish and extended into its left flank. But sunset was quickly approaching so this team focused at the task at hand, that was collecting body measurements as well as tissues from this carcass. Nick and Krill conducted a Level A exam on the carcass and Caitlyn took pictures as well as recorded data. Krill was able to determine that this animal was
Read more

Wareham Classrooms have 2 Headstart Diamondback Terrapins

-
Image
Wareham Classrooms have 2 Headstart Diamondback Terrapins Terrapin Crush prior to this turtle's release.  NECWA was able to work with 2 Wareham Teachers this fall and winter as they participated in our Diamondback Terrapin Headstart program. One teacher, Lara Schofield, works at the high school and has previously participated in NECWA's head start program. The other teacher, Tanya Bungert, a middle school teacher, was new to the program this season.  Over the course of the school year, NECWA staff joined teachers and their students on numerous occasions, providing on-site guidance for caring and documenting the hatchlings. On two occasions , NECWA came into the High School to work with and present lessons on terrapins to the afterschool program run by teacher Lara Schofield. Working directly with students and their teachers is so important for these types of community  projects for it allows NECWA to see how successful our head start programs are.   NECWA would like to thank th
Read more