NECWA News Blog

Donation from two young children in Ithaca, NY Hand Drawn Donation Sign  A few days ago, NECWA received a letter in the mail from a family in Ithaca, New York. In the envelope was a note, a handwritten sign and a donation. The note indicated that the families young son and his friend Hazel set-up a table at their local food co-op to raise money for whales, dolphins, porpoises and sea turtles. These two young children raised $34 on NECWA's behalf. Wow, I am impressed!  A big thank you to the Venkat family and friends.  Here is one of their signs.  Makes me smile and renews my hope in mankind!

Here is my most recent post on the Captain John Naturalist Sightings Blog. Just wanted to share it with our NECWA members. We had a fantastic day offshore and we hope you can join Captain John soon for a whale watching trip. To be honest, we are spoiled in New England for we have many great days offshore filled with incredible sightings like the trip described below. Hard to remember that these are very rare and endangered marine mammals, so just to see one humpback whale is a sighting of a lifetime. But to see this, is truly amazing! We are blessed. Best to all, Krill Surface feeding by two humpback whales. 9 am Whale Watch - Krill We had an amazing day offshore this afternoon. Clear skies and incredible views of humpback whales surface feeding all around our vessle. Our captain, Capt. Jonny, did an amazing job of maneuvering around these animals as they were charging after the bait in every direction. Not easy predicting where and when a whale will surface, es...

Many wonderful things happen through chance encounters. A few weeks ago, I spoke with a delightful couple when working as the whale watch naturalist aboard Captain John Boats. Through this conversation, I learned that the gentleman was a coastal scientist who studies climate change and its impact to the Cape Cod area. Dr. Williams was kind enough to send me this wonderful summary and overview on climate change and I wanted to share it with all our members.   Best, Krill An example of Massachusetts’ future. Falmouth’s West Falmouth harbor dock and roadway are flooded by routine astronomical spring high tides as a result of sea level rise, an impact of our changing climate. Photograph taken on 5 November 2010, courtesy of Betsy Gladfelter. Climate Change and Impacts to the Massachusetts Coast S. Jeffress Williams, Coastal Scientist Cape Cod, the Islands, and much of the Massachusetts coast are landforms deposited from the massive glaciers that covered much of North Am...

We had an amazing day of whale watching aboard the Tails of the Sea, a commercial whale watching vessel owned and operated by Captain John Whale Watching and Fishing Tours out of Plymouth Harbor. Not only did we make the first sighting of Salt (the humpback whale) offshore, but we also had an amazing close approach by Scylla's 2008 calf and an unidentified whale. Watch these video and be prepared to be amazed. The beauty and majesty of these animals takes your breath away, every time. Please help in the fight to save our oceans and all that call the ocean their home. The ocean is truly the blue heart of our planet Earth. Scylla's 2008 calf and friend giving the Tails of the Sea a close approach: Salt and friend giving us a close approach. This is the first sighting of Salt this season!

April 21, 2012 - Krill, Patty and Carly Today Krill, Patty and Carly had a great time manning two educational tables as well as two hands-on activities at the Cape Cod Canal Cleanup and Earth Day Fest. This Festival was organized by Americorp. Carly helping out with the educational activities.  The children and adults who visited out table had fun looking and picking up all our whale and shark artifacts. And many people were surprised to learn just how light ocean sunfish bones really are. Carly at the educational display table. Big thanks to Carly, our new intern this season, for a wonderful job. Carly is an undergraduate student at Bridgewater State University and is very interested in Marine Biology. Carly was a natural with the children and really got involved in all aspects of the event.  Too much to write about so just enjoy the photos! We hope you have a great Earth Day weekend and do something (big or small) t...