We had another successful whale watching trip once again we were off the sea bright Sandy Hook area about 5 miles offshore oil put on a great show for everybody everybody and all sides of the boat got tail
shots here’s a few from today
Trip report Saturday July 30th Jersey shore whale watch
I knew today was going to be special as i was looking out at the ocean views from my home and saw several hundred dolphins going by in the early morning light.
The whale watching trip did not disappoint, there was no need for our iron clad whale watching guarantee. “If you don’t see a whale, you get to return for a free trip during the same year, so you can see a whale”
Here are some photos from todays trip
Difficult to pick a favorite, which one do you like the best?
Friday July 29th trip report
More info to follow here are a couple photos from todays close encounter
I have heard it said many times that every whale watching trip is different. This one was surely different in all positive ways! Within 15 minutes of leaving the dock, we came across some dolphins. What I thought was a small pod was actually quite a large pod. They were on all sides of the boat and put on a nice show! Two young adventurers Owen and Ryan helped me find more and more dolphins. We had to leave the dolphins because we wanted to get to see the whales. Off we went searching the horizon for spouts when all of a sudden we did not see a spout, we saw a breach! It was far out but you knew it was a whale! Turns out it was whale #123 who we have seen several times this year as well as in past years. Danielle, the naturalist, is so quick at recognizing tail pattens!
What was so different about this trip? Well, usually when we get to see a whale’s tail, people cheer or you hear “oohs and aahs”. This time, the boat erupted into applause each time we got to see the whale’s tail! But that wasn’t the only surprise! Whale #123? wanted to play with us. He startled us with a loud exhale as he came up on one side of the boat. I am sure some people must have gotten some spray from his spout! He also swam under the boat and came up close on the other side. He also circled behind the boat so he was just having fun watching us as were were watching him! It was awesome!
Unfortunately it was time to head home and we had to say goodbye to the whale.
I overheard a conversation of a person thanking the crew for today’s experience. He said it “far exceeded his expections”! That summed it up beautifully, you hope to see a whale but to have an experience like today was extra-ordinary. Nature is incredible!
When you look at the whale pictures and you see whale body parts like blowholes and tails that do not fit into the picture, it is because, yes, the whale was that close! Wonderful day!
Trip report July 27th
Point Plesant Whale Watching trips Wednesday and Sunday
Saturday 4 different humpback whales and more
Linda writes the review today:
A little girl on the boat had a shirt on that said, “ride with Unicorns and swim with mermaids. It was that type of magical day! After all, It is World Whale and Dolphin Day!
We were still at the dock when an American Bald Eagle flew overhead and down the Shark River. At least 3 Ospreys were on the nest as we left the inlet. Cownosed Rays today. Always fun to see. At least 3 of us also saw a small shark. We came upon some very active dolphins on both sides of the boat. That was a lot of fun watching them and as they swam away, we were off to find a whale.Now here comes the magical part! There was a spout, but actually there were 2 spouts, one at our left side and one in front and to the left. The Captain placed us between the 2 whales but the one to the right was very active and lunge feeding. The other was much more reserved. How do you watch 2 different whales in 2 different directions and lots and lots of bait fish around?This was exciting as the one whale lunged and fed several times. These were whales # 250 and # 257. During this time, Danielle had mentioned another whale being seen. Later, there were spouts to our South and off we went! But wait, not one but 2 whales who were swimming together. These were # 94 and # 123. This was interesting because Gotham Whales has been documenting whales in the NJ/NYC area for 10 years so we have whales that have been around for several years as well as ones saw this year for the first time. These whales were not feeding and just enjoying the day I guess.
Watching them spouting and then swimming and showing their tails was beautiful. Thanks to the Captain, we had an extra 1/2 hour to observe our whales. Eventually, it was time to head back home. Saw more rays. One highlight was watching an Osprey select fish and dive into the water to grab it. Then the Osprey Carrie’s it home grasped by their might talons. It truly was a magical day. There was even a bachelorette party on board. Once again, I heard the common statement “I never knew you could see whales here “( right off of the NJ coast). It was hot but nothing like the land temperature!
More pictures later as they are still downloading.
Friday afternoon 2 humpback whale and more breaching
Well there are those special days and this was one of them.The days where you think its hot ill enjoy just being on the ocean and the a humpback whale breaches totally out of the water.Here are the first few photos, share with your friends its been an amazing season.
We had string off the coast of Avon by the sea and dolphins along Long Branch and Sea Bright, and a couple of ospreys were spotted also. I did see one Wilson storm Petrie
More photos later tonight
Wednesday success continues whale and ospreys today
We had another great whale watching trip today Wednesday we are up in the Sandy Hook area we saw very active humpback whale and an osprey feeding trying to fish back to its nest think about coming with us Friday we are going to go looking for dolphins shorts and seabirds on the morning trip it’s a less expensive trip it’s a great introduction to being out in the ocean if you haven’t been there before join us soon read a reviews we promise you a good time in the weathers going to be fabulous. There is no trip Thursday as the ocean will be too rough with Highwinds so join us Friday 10 AM dolphins and sharks for 1:15PM whale watching
Friday Dolphins Sharks and birds 2 hour morning tour special
Sunday whale watching trip success
We had a great and relaxing day watching a humpback whale off the coast of Avon by the sea today. The humpback was very boat friendly and came right up to the boat mugging for photos.
Frequent passenger Linda writes her review of the Sunday whale watching trip:
“This was such a unique whale watching trip. First of all, I forgot the camera body home but had the lens. By the time I discovered the problem it was too late to do anything about it. Instead I needed to depend on my new friends for pictures and I was going to try some videos with my cell phone.
Left Belmar inlet at 1:30 pm and by 1:50 or sooner we were watching a whale. Funny, I thought I saw a spout but it was too soon and too close. Maureen saw activity and thought it was a dolphin. But 1 dolphin would be unusual. Then we heard, “we saw a spout “ from Danielle. This was whale # 257 who was seen yesterday around Long Branch. Today he wasn’t breaching or lunge feeding, he ”mugged” us. Meaning we was watching or checking us out. Were we whale watching or was the whale people watching? He totally circled the boat while being a few feet under the water. We were able to a was track him the entire time as his flippers look bright green under the water. At the bow he was so close I felt that if I bent down I could touch him!. After awhile it was time to continue on looking for dolphins or other marine life.
As we were headed north, there was some type of disturbance in the water? Whale, shark, dolphin? Suddenly it jumped up and it was a blue fin tuna. It looked so large. Saw several cow nosed rays, and an Osprey with lunch. As we were approaching Belmar again, we found whale # 247 again . Watched him foe a few minutes and then back to the inlet. Saw the Osprey on the nest as well as the black crowned night heron.
What an incredible adventure . It was so nice to share it with others as we were sending pictures to one another. It felt like family on an adventure together.”
