The Whale

To the surprise of NO ONE, I am a weee bit fond of our natural world. One look at my profile pic and it should be obvious. And a quick glance at my posts, should clue you in as well.

A few weeks back, I had a meeting downtown Boston for a client. I set aside a few hours and the meeting ended up taking less than 20 minutes. I came out of my meeting and found myself next to a whale watch boat! Clearly, the Gods Have Spoken. Off I went. We traveled up to Stellwagen Bank, and Jeffries Ledge, and quickly came upon a series of three logging Humpback whales.

Logging is when a whale sleeps (sort of). It seems motionless, and lays still in the ocean, just under the surface. Whales breathing is not autonomic, meaning, they must think to breath. So, when a whale sleeps, it rests one side, one half of the brain, in order to remember to breath. Fairly soon, the three whales were on the move, diving and playing.

the Three Humpback Whales, (From the Greek: Megaptera novaeangliae: meaning big fucking Tail) Spoon, Valley, and Bungee, have been seen traveling together and hanging around the Ledge, lately.

Humpbacks can migrate some 16,000 miles a year (25,000 km), and can grow to typically 40-50 feet long (12-16 meters). They can live for generations and some, are known to be great, great grandparents. The Humpback Whale in my profile pic is Winrose.

These shots of Spoon are fun, as the whale just popped up, did a short blow (exhaled mist in the air), and was preparing for a dive. Spoon did NOT go sounding (Deep dive), as we did NOT see the Flat tail pointing strait down. But stay tuned... I got some awesome shots of Bungee, doing a deep Sounding!

By the way, the White pattern, on the underside of a Humpback, is like a fingerprint. No two are alike... so, rather than call a whale by some obscure catalog number, Scientists give the whales a generic name (usually, whales are named before data is collected on gender).

On our trip, we saw Minke Whales, Humpback Whales, and even a Right Whale. We saw some grey seals, Atlantic White Sided Dolphins, feeding alongside some diving Gannets.

Always, I strive to give back
To the animals and birds around me
to put more plants in than I take out
And be a good steward for the world around me!

All Photos by Bluefin Studios