These two whales were cooperating to feed using bubble nets.
On August 6th, I had the opportunity to go out on a whale watch aboard the Atlantic Queen II out to Jeffrey’s Ledge. We took the 1:30 cruise after stopping at the nearby restaurant Saunders on Rye Harbor for lunch. We were hoping for the opportunity to see a number of pelagic birds along with the whales. I was not disappointed with the birdwatching, and I was treated to a number of unusual and entertaining displays by as many as 30 humpback and finback whales.
The Atlantic Queen II was a spacious, clean and comfortable ship which made the run to Jeffrey’s Ledge in just over an hour from Rye Harbor. We chose a seat on the upper deck and had plenty of room to wander from side to side as whales and birds presented themselves at various locations around the boat. The boat also has an enclosed cabin area available with dinette seating for those wishing to avail themselves of the basic snacks and food offered from the galley.
The Atlantic Queen II whale watches are narrated by members of the Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation; we were lucky to have Patty Adell represent the group on our trip. As we boarded the vessel we heard reports from one of the day’s earlier whale watches that the morning had offered the best whale watching that the ship captain had seen in many years. So our expectations were high.
In Rye Harbor itself, we saw the usual Herring Gulls, Great Black-backed Gulls, Common Eiders, and Double-crested Cormorants. There were also about 20 Common Terns putting on an active diving display for those waiting on the docks.
Once underway, we soon saw a number of Wilson’s Storm-Petrels and more of the birds we had seen in the harbor, with the exception of the Terns which we did not see again until we returned. The route to Jeffrey’s ledge took us well away from the Isles of Shoals so we did not see any Terns venturing out from the Tern breeding colony on Seavey and White Islands.
As we began to get well away from the harbor, the pelagic birds began to appear in greater numbers. First we came across just three Greater Shearwaters, then a mixture of approximately 80 Sooty Shearwaters and Greater Shearwaters along with a smattering of the much smaller Wilson’s Storm Petrels. We also saw 1 immature Northern Gannet on the trip out to the whale watching site.
We saw our first whale, a finback, at 70 minutes out from Rye Harbor. We passed by another 15 Sooty Shearwaters and a Mature Northern Gannet as we continued on out further where there were expected to be more whales.
We saw three more humpback whales including a lone juvenile (identified as such by Patty Adell of the Blue Ocean Society), before we came upon a lone humpback exhibiting some very odd behavior. This whale was initially lying upon its side and waving one great fin in the air and periodically slapping it down on the water’s surface. Patty explained that this is thought to be a form of communication between whales, a way for the whale to announce its position to other whales within a mile or two. This is fairly common, though none the less spectacular to watch.
The humpback whale then rolled over onto its back with its belly up and began lob-tailing (lifting its tail out of the water and then slapping it down forcefully) from that position. Lob-tailing is ordinary enough, but it is always done from a normal belly down position. This inverted or belly-up lob-tailing was the first such instance of this behavior that our onboard naturalists had ever observed or even heard about!
Here is the video of the belly-up lob-tailing maneuver:
After this incredible display, we continued on and saw numerous examples of cooperative bubble net feeding with over 1000 Shearwaters, both Sooty Shearwaters and Greater Shearwaters, and a number of Wilson’s Storm-Petrels also feeding alongside the whales. There were whales spouting in all directions around the boat and the bubble net feeding occurred as close as 30 feet from the boat at times. View the slideshow below for amazing photos of the whales and the pelagic birds that were scooping up their leftovers.
If this interested you, you'l definitely want to see:
- Slide show of a Great Black-backed Gull swallowing a Tern whole
- Comprehensive list of whale watches and pelagic bird cruises in New Hampshire
- Boats and birdwatching in New Hampshire
- A review of Saunders Restaurant at Rye Harbor
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