bill mckim

Linda joined us today so she writes:

 

Cold, December, storm tomorrow; all reasons not to go whale watching. Turns out, it was probably the best day ever of whale watching at the Jersey Shore! A group of students from MRHS were on board and they were ready for an adventure. They had a trip they will remember for a lifetime. Wow!

Headed off to the Northeast out of the inlet and off of Long Branch, we spotted not one but 2 spouts. We navigated over to get a view and it was spectacular seeing these 2 whales swimming together. But…. That was only the beginning. After awhile, the whales decided they wanted to people watch. They worked their way over to the boat and spy hopped us, looking directly at us! Swam under the boat, back and forth. We all got to see them up close and even got sprayed by their spout several times. They were up against the boat and having fun playing with us. Able to see tail on one side and the rest of the whale on the other side. This was a day that will be talked about for a long time! Words do not do justice to the experience. The whales just stayed and stayed with us. We were all mesmerized by their activities. At that point there was no feeling cold. We all just watched in awe and enjoyed being in the moment. Eventually it was time to leave and we actually had to back away from them. As we left, we were able to see them one last time. It felt like leaving your dog or other pet behind as we went home. BTW we did see Northern gannets, dolphins in the distance and swans in the inlet. What a super fantastic, awesome day!

As usual i will let Linda tell the story:

Every time I think it is my last whale watching trip of the year, another opportunity arises! We headed north out of the inlet ( been going south for the past few weeks). Northern Gannetts kept us entertained as we sailed past Long Branch. Off of Sea Bright we saw our first humpback whale. It was a smaller spout and did not interact with us very much.

Meanwhile, there was another whale more towards the shore which we then followed. Way more interactive and got some beautiful fluke pictures. There was another whale that we went to see but it kept going further east and away from us. Left us with some high lifting of its tail. How many whales did we see? I am not sure! Maybe 2 or 3 or 4!

(We actively saw 3 there was a 4th in the distance)

As we headed home, we were treated to an incredible sunset and a sliver of the crescent moon. The shore lit up with lights as it grew darker. It was a magical day with a good size crowd for whale watching. Saw several people that I had meet on previous trips. I think we were all thinking that this might be the last trip of the year. If it was, we had a wonderful trip filled with memories! We saw at least 3 humpback whales along with Northern gannets, a spectacular sunset and crescent moon. Goodnight whales, good night sun, good night moon! until next time……

I will let Linda do the write up later :

Here is Linda’s trip review:

An absolutely gorgeous day in November to spend on the ocean whale watching. The day before Thanksgiving, who would think we would be able to whale watch? Bill brought hot chocolate and donuts to enjoy on the boat! It was a nice size group of people who came from far and near; some drove over 3 hours from Pennsylvania to have this experience. Many of the people had never seen a whale. Well, that was about to change! t. We headed East out of the inket and then south towards Seaside. Noticed the boat slow and turn; meaning a whale must have been spotted. Sure enough, we saw a humpback whale breach in the distance but it was still far away. The ocean was spectacular. The coloring was incredible and the pictures do not do it justice. The ocean was pale blue/white and just so beautiful. We were on a young humpback whale and the whale decided to visit different areas of the boat so everyone had a great view. One time we were watching to the left side and it came up on the right but we heard it first as it exhaled. Some of us jumped because it was so loud! Oh that was loud! Another time it came up right near the boat, so close I got pictures of the head, blow holes, body, tail. We were even treated to some pectoral flipper waving and plenty of tail shots.
Awesome day with a beautiful sunset.
This has been a fantastic year of whale watching! I have seen so many humpback whales, finback whales, minke whales,Mola mola, some sharks, sea turtles, breaching, lunge feeding, tail lob bling, flipper slapping, 2 and 3 whales lunge feeding together, 3 whales swimming side by side, and I am sure there was more. What I really enjoyed this year was talking to people on the boat. I am now friends with people around the world because of whale watching. It’s been a blast! I encourage everyone to experience whale watching. What a journey. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

 

Linda writes:

Temperature was to stay in the low 40’s but had the opportunity to go whale watching! Not a hard decision as this is whale migration season and you truly never know what you may see. Nice size group of people on the trip, allowing everyone to stay in the heated cabin if they so wished or they could be outside. From Belmar we headed south towards Seaside and we found not one but 2 Finback whales and a humpback whale. Finback whales are huge:, 60-80 feet and can weigh 100,000 pounds! The other thing is they can be very fast and these 2 whales were moving around and it was difficult to keep an eye on them. Briefly a humpback whale seemed to appear out of no where and then dove and we could not spot him again. At that point it was time to return home but before that we were treated to a beautiful sunset. We had newly weds as well as a couple celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. Whale watching off of the Jersey Shore has become a bucket list for many people. So glad I had the opportunity to be on this trip! Next trip is Wednesday Thanksgiving eve bring the family it will be warmer and everyone gets a free tshirt.

 

Here are a few photos from frequent passenger Alec, He is really good with the camera

Saturday and Sunday November 12th and 13th We didn’t go whale watching as the seas were too rough. The whales were still out here close o shore so we hope to be out there this coming weekend. Here are a couple photos i took Sunday with our drone whales off Belmar beach all day Sunday and Saturday they were close o shore in Spring Lake New Jersey.

We found 3 humpback whales today about 2 miles from the inlet what a beautiful day on the ocean. I wore a sort sleeve shirt for most of the trip it was that nice out.We have stormy weather coming in for the rest of the weekend so no trips for a few days.

Passenger Barbra sent us these great images she took on the trip today

The whale was seen in the distance but was elusive so everyone on board got a nice day on the ocean and a free return trip in 2023 to come out and see a humpback whale

I’ll will post about 30 photos later this morning

Linda writes:

Whale report in 1 word: WOW!

Just kidding but it does say what a spectacular day it was! We headed out of the inlet going south as that is we’re the reports of whales were coming in from. Earlier in the morning, people were posting pictures of whales lunge feeding not far from the beach in Lavallette. South we went, past where we saw the whale yesterday. Off of Seaside we spotted a whale and then a second whale. Of course they were on opposite sides of the boat. But as we watched, we came across 3 whales swimming together. It was simply beautiful as we got to see all of their tails several times. It looked as if the whales were diving and raising their tails in slow motion. It was so beautiful and calm. Besides the usual ohs and from the passengers, people were hugging each other, overcome with what they had just seen. The Captain gave us an extra 1/2 hour to be out since it took a long time to travel down to Seaside. There were 2 more whales in the distance but no time to check them out. We left the whales, although we didn’t want to, and headed back home. We got to see an almost full moon rise and a beautiful sunset. Words don’t do it justice; it was a spectacular day. If you were there, you know what I mean.

linda wAs our naturalist today she did a great telling people all about whales and their behavior

recap dolphins and 5 humpback whales today

Linda writes the review today

Sunset Whale Watching tour? Sounded like a great idea! When I got to Belmar it was foggy and wasn’t sure if we would be able to go out on the water or if so, would we be able to see a whale? We went out and saw what looked like a fog rainbow! It was foggy but we kept heading southeast and the fog started lifting. First we saw some blue sky and then the fog was gone. Beautiful, calm blue water. Around Bay Head we saw our humpback whale. He was a bit unpredictable as sometimes he dove after one breath and other times after 4 breaths. He showed his tail several times. We then went further south because whales have been in the area. Unfortunately, despite lots of baitfish in the area, we could not find a second whale. On the way back to port we were treated to a rising moon and a setting sun. By the way, close to the moon is Jupiter shining brightly. Can see it better in the darker sky. Sunset was beautiful.

We are going whale watching Friday and Saturday this weekend get tickets now we might add a Sunday trip also , whales have been in Belmar and Avon by the sea all week, great weather forecast this is it folks get out here now!