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Wednesday,
February 6, 2008
Whaling
update: Mother and Calf Minke Whales Harpooned and Killed!
The past few months I've been checking
the internet for news articles about whaling every day. I guess in hopes
that by some miracle there would be a story about Japan finally deciding
that they're going to put an end to their commercial whaling... oops, of
course I meant 'scientific' whaling ... (that's what they call it anyway).
Then today I found a story about a mother Minke Whale and her young calf
(scientists say it was under a year old and still at the nursing age) who
were killed and there were photos published to prove it. Being a wildlife
lover, especially when it comes to whales, this story was very upsetting
to say the least. It just blows my mind to see that the Japanese whalers
will not only inhumanely kill adult whales, but also calves who's lives
had just begun! Not only that, but they're killing these animals in a sanctuary
where they're supposed to be safe and protected! To make it worst, 1,000
of these whales will be killed this whaling season, mainly Minke Whales,
but there are plans to kill 50 Fin Whales as well, who by the way are endangered.
It's just very sad to see this happening to one of most beautiful animals
on the planet.......
Two
Minke Whales, a mother AND HER YOUNG CALF killed by Japanese Whalers!
(click
to read the story and to see a photo of the pair) |
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Thursday,
October 11, 2007
 The
2007 season ended on Saturday October 6, a day earlier than planned due
to bad weather. The last couple of trips were great, but the hightlight
was on Friday's trip. We found two adult Humpbacks named Flask and Pinball
who spent several minutes circling the boat giving us some amazing looks.
We didn't know for sure who we were looking at for several minutes, but
we were very pleased to see that it was two very familiar whales. It was
a very nice surprise and a great way to end the trip.
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You can see the photos from this
trip as well as some of the other trips in the Online
Photo Album. You can also see some video clips from this trip as
well by clicking the links below. Note that these files are quite large,
but if you're willing to wait for them to download, it'll be worth it!
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Video
Clips
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I've also uploaded a few clips of
the Blue Whale that we saw last month. Again, the files are a bit on the
large side, but well worth the wait.
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It's so hard
to believe that the season has officially ended. It really flew by and
the nice weather towards the end along with the amazing whale activity
makes it even more difficult to accept that it's over. It was a great year,
very unpredictable and full of many wonderful surprises. The biggest surprise
(literally) was the extremely rare sighting of an adult Blue Whale. I was
lucky enough to see one back in 2002 and I honestly thought I'd never have
the chance to see another one. Thankfully, I was on the boat when this
one came into the area in September. What an amazing experience it is to
see the largest animal to have ever roamed the planet in person. It's truly
amazing to say the least!
The only thing
missing in the 2007 season was the Pilot Whales. We actually saw every
whale species that we had ever seen from 2001 - 2007 in this one season
with the exception of the Pilot Whale which we haven't seen since 2004.
Hopefully, in 2008 we'll have the opportunity to see them again. Time will
tell.....
Over the offseason
I'm hoping to do some maintenance work on this website, mainly the video
clip section. I have several tapes that I'd like to go through and add
as many clips as I can to show more clips of these amazing animals in action.
A very big
thank you goes out to everyone from the Granite
State Whale Watch for another great season. We hope you have a
great winter and we can't wait to get out there again in May! :) |
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Thursday,
September 20, 2007
 The
whale watching has been amazing the past few weeks. I've seen some new
Humpback Whales identified as Alphorn, Pele, Columbia, Echo, and a new
one from this season #0737. This past weekend I got to see a familiar
Humpback Whale named Evolution. There have been several Sei Whales and
a few critically endangered Northern Right Whales scattered throughout
the area as well.  While
all of these sightings were great, the highlight of the season so far was
the sighting of a very rare Blue Whale over this past weekend. The last
reported Blue Whale in our area was seen in 2002 which I was also lucky
enough to see. It was a very special sighting that I won't forget any time
soon! The Trip Details page and the Photo Album have been updated with
all of the latest sighting info. |
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Saturday,
August 18, 2007
Update
#2:
Video Clips
have been added from the 8/12/07 morning trip You can see clips of Newton
and Scylla logging as well as Tornado tail slapping along with Regulus
flipper slapping. Click
here for more detailed info.
Update #1:
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Today's trip has been cancelled
due to high winds which gave me time to finish this update! It's been over
a month since my last |
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update. Things have continued to
be very good on Jeffrey's Ledge lately. There are numerous Fin and Minke
Whales as well as North Atlantic White Sided |
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Dolphins. The highlight over the
past couple of weeks for me has been the several Humpback Whales (my |
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 personal
favorite) who have made their way back to into the area. Since August 6
I've seen Humpbacks on every trip. I've seen some familiar whales including
Owl, Scylla, Tornado, and Pinball (who just happens to be the very first
whale that I saw on my first trip in 2001). There have also been a few
new ones to me including Newton, Regulus, and Littlespot. We've seen these
whales doing a wide variety of behaviors including logging (sleeping),
tail slapping, tail breaching, and flipper slapping! It's nice to have
them back in the area! On one of my more recent trips we also saw an Ocean
Sunfish which was really cool. The photos can be seen in the Photo
Album and the detailed summaries can be seen on the Trip
By Trip Details page. I'm in the process right now of getting some
video clips together to post as well. Come back soon! |
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Sunday,
July 15, 2007
 Saturday's
trip was pretty amazing! The weather and sea conditions were as good as
they get out on the ocean and the whales were amazing! We saw a few large
adult Fin Whales and a very nice pod of North Atlantic White Sided Dolphins.
The ocean was so smooth that you could see the Dolphins crystal clear just
below the surface. It was amazing to say the least. The Photos
and Trip Details
have been posted. |
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Tuesday,
July 7, 2007
 Friday's
double trip was pretty slow due to some really thick fog, but we did manage
to get in some whale sightings. We also passed through a pretty strong
storm on the way back in to the harbor. Saturday was a much better day.
The weather was bright and sunny and the whales were out there. You can
see the photos here and you can also read all about all of these trips
here. |
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Tuesday,
July 3, 2007
 Sunday,
7/1/07 was my first double trip of the season. It got off to a slow start
on the morning trip, but the afternoon trip was really awesome! We got
to spend time with an adult Fin Whale known as Ladder who was very relaxed
and allowed us to get some amazing looks. He even lifted his flukes out
of the water which is pretty rare for Fin Whales to do. The photos and
the detailed summary are both up. |
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Tuesday,
June 25, 2007
First the website news: I'm sorry
it's taken me so long to get the 2007 info up here, but it took me much
longer than expected to complete the updates needed. There are still a
few more changes and updates that I'll be making as time allows, but for
the most part all of the pages are up to date now with the 2007 whale watching
updates.
 Now
the whale watching news: There was a bit of a scare early in the season
because the were very few whales in the area. Even the Minke Whales who
are normally seen pretty regularly were scarce, but luckily over the next
couple of weeks the whales started to return and it's been pretty consistent.
 On
my trips I've seen several different Minke and Fin Whales as well as a
few Humpbacks. My first Humpback of the season, Crook, was a very large
adult who was new to the area. The next day I got to see two familiar whales,
Satula (who I saw in 2006) and Clamp (who I saw in 2005). You can see photos
from these trips in the Online
Photo Album and of the detailed stories are up on the Trip
By Trip Details Page. |
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Tuesday,
May 22, 2007
Saturday's trip was cancelled due
to rough seas, but thankfully the boat did go out on Sunday. It was a cold,
foggy, and damp day, but we didn't care. To be out on the ocean again was
enough! Luckily though, we did find some very nice whales who gave us some
excellent looks. The best of the day was actually one of the Minke Whales
who surfaced pretty close to the boat. You could follow it under the water
by the white markings on it's pectoral fins (known as the Minke mittens).
I've got a couple of 'projects' going
on right now which has kind of put maintaining this website on the back
burner. I am hoping to have it completely finished within the next week
or so. We'll see how it goes. |
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..
-The Whaling
Continues-
Click
here for the latest headlines on Japan's controverisal 'scientific'
whaling
program.
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*
Total whales killed in whaling operations since the IWC whaling moratorium
went into effect. *
(PDF format)
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