Diario de tianshuo

A hot but pleasant beach day, hiked 4.3 miles on Race Point Beach loop. Then, began trip on Dolphin X (2PM) to Stellwagen Bank, Provincetown and Race Point Waters. We saw numerous short-beaked common dolphins, a minke whale, many humpback whale including Nile. Very pleased trip.

Hike from Race Point Beach to Race Point Lighthouse and Back.
Also on Dolphin IX, Dolphin Fleet Whale Watch 4:00 PM trip, naturalist was Dennis Minsky.

08/10/2024 We were aboard the Whale Watcher for the 2:30 PM Hyannis Whale Watcher Cruises trip, traveling from Barnstable Harbor to Race Point. We spotted numerous laughing gulls, common terns, a Bonaparte's gull, and a least tern (unconfirmed), among other seabirds.

We also observed several marine mammals, including:
1 minke whale
4 humpback whales (Sprinkles, Woodwind, Azrael, Quote)
2 Atlantic white-sided dolphins
1 fin whale (we did not spot the second fin whale that naturalist Kali observed)
1 gray seals
1 harbor seals

The total travel distance was 84.96 miles (73.83 nautical miles).

Puffin Cruise with Isle au Haut Boat Services' Seal Island Puffin Watch tour.
See my eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S181936786

Trip Note on Captain's Lady III of Newburyport Whale Watch with Naturalist Kristin Daley:

We travelled 49.73 miles on the water. Travelled from overcast 90°F Newburyport Harbor to Jeffreys Ledge, close to North Shore Ocean Sanctuary and The Salvages, about 74°F in the open ocean, partly sunny skies, very low waves and no winds. Saw my FOY & Lifer harbor porpoise in MA waters, I previously saw a lot of them in ME waters (like Boothbay Harbor and Downeast Maine).

We spotted 4 humpback whale individuals, including Satula, Clamp and her 2024 calf. Forgot the other individual's name we saw beside Satula.

We also observed almost all species of shearwaters that mostly common in Massachusetts waters: Cory’s shearwater, Manx shearwater, and great shearwater (We didn't see any sooty shearwater though). Additionally, we saw 20+ Wilson’s storm-petrels and 27 Great Black-backed Gulls in the open ocean. I even had a brief glimpse of a tiny warbler-like bird several miles north over The Salvages. I’m not sure what it could be—perhaps a migrating yellow warbler (no photos taken)?

Update 8/5/2024: The other humpback whale individual is identified as Pinball by another Facebook group member from Whale Watchers in the North Atlantic.

Update 8/7/2024: Per Happy Whale, we also had a glimpse of a whale named Sedge: https://happywhale.com/user/30868;enc=480552

Birding Trip on Barbara Frost, absolutely amazing bird colony at Machias Seal Island

We spotted around 5 finback whales and 1 humpback whale (not identified yet as naturalist Amanda said) on Privateer IV. We found 3 sharks on this trip (2 of them is recorded in this journal, the other I missed), might spot my FOY Manx shearwater. Also, the exciting part of this trip is that we spotted around fifty Atlantic white-sided dolphins.

Updated 8/6/2024:
The individual humpback whale sighted is identified as:
[Unnamed] HW-MN0103039
https://happywhale.com/individual/98098;enc=478608

165.61 miles on water: From Bar Harbor, to Petit Manan Island, Machias Seal Island, Mount Desert Rock, Great Duck Island and back to Bar Harbor. 10:30 AM - 5:30 PM.

7 Seas Whale Watch 1:30PM Trip.
Started with dense fog at the inner harbor and Jeffreys Ledge, then turns most cloudy and partly sunny sky with less fog and good visibility.
Saw 3 humpback whales individuals including a 1 year old unidentified male.

The whale that shows his tail repeatly is a male humpback whale named Agent.

We traveled about 42.20 miles out-and-back. This is my second time on board Captain's Lady III.

Partly sunny and then turn to mostly cloudy to overcast.

The sea was very bumpy today when we heading out from Merrimack River toward the Gulf of Maine (Ipswich Bay and Scantum Basin). I stood at the bow and it felt like pirate ship at amusement parks.

We found 2 fin whales at Jeffreys Ledge (East of Plum Island), 3-5 humpback whales. I thought I saw a minke whale on the way from Newburyport to Jeffreys Ledge but couldn't get a chance to take photo of it. On the way back, the sea turned tranquil and nice.

Will need some help for ID'ing the humpback whale mom that showing her tail at the end of the trip.

Update: The humpback whale mom at the end of the trip is Clamp.

Update 8/5/2024: The fin whale individual is identified as an encounter in HappyWhale as well in the following link:
https://happywhale.com/user/30868;enc=474100

The two humpback whales is identified as Clamp and her 2024 calf in HappyWhale in the following links:
https://happywhale.com/user/30868;enc=474345
https://happywhale.com/user/30868;enc=474346
I saw these two individuals again on the same vessel on 8/3/2024.