Happy New Year and Happy Birthday to our whales! Most humpback whales (and presumably fin whales) are born this time of year. Although the exact dates of their births are not known, we still would like to wish them all a safe and healthy year ahead!
During each of our whale watching trips, our staff and research associates collect research data and photos of each whale we encounter. We always like to see moms bringing their new calves to Jeffreys Ledge, as well as seeing many of our old “friends”. In 2018, seven of our nine adoptable whales returned for another strong feeding season.
Hornbill was our “resident” adoptable humpback whale being seen most often at 24 days between June and October. Our other adoptable humpbacks were seen as well, but not nearly as consistently.
Pinball was spotted on 14 different days between June and August.
Satula enjoyed the Ledge on 9 days during the earlier part of the season (June and July) while Owl preferred our neighborhood on 8 days during the latter part of our season (August and September).
Fin whales were not nearly as abundant as they usually are for our area. In a typical season, we see fin whales on about 75 % of our trips. In 2018, we only found them on about 55% of trips. Fin whales could have been around more often, but with the influx of humpback whales, we may have missed them.
Comet was seen on 4 days. Her first sighting was in mid-May. Then she was seen in early and late July, and her last sighting was in early September. Where she visits between her sightings here is still a mystery!
Dingle appeared to enjoy the early part of our season, being seen on 3 days in June.
Ladder, who had been seen almost every year since we began tracking him in 1996, was seen once in mid-June and then for 3 days in late July. Then, as you likely heard, he was sadly found floating in Cape Cod Bay before washing ashore on the tip of Cape Cod. His death may have been caused by a collision by a vessel, but we are still awaiting the official word.
Fjord, our 4th adoptable fin whale and Scar, a minke whale were not seen in 2018 but we anticipate seeing them return again this coming summer.
Although it is only January, we are already looking forward to seeing who has newly born calves this year! Our 2019 season starts in about 4 months!! We hope you will join us on one of our trips. Maybe you will even see one of your adopted whales!
