What better way to spend a Saturday but on the ocean and celebrate Earth Day! As part of the celebration, each adventurer on the Jersey Girl receive a whale watching t shirt. It was a large group of adventures, ready for an exciting time. Most people had not seen a whale before even though they tried in place like California and Hawaii. Well, that changed today!
We exited the inlet and headed north. Passed Asbury Park, Deal, Long Branch, Sea Bright and onto Sandy Hook. Along the way, saw some dolphins and slowed to watch them for awhile. Also saw some type of kite demonstration/competition. The best part was yet to come: there was a spout. Didn’t get to see it’s flukes but the entire boat got to see this whale. as many times when we thought he would surface in one area, he was in a different area. So if you were in the front, back, right or left, it didn’t matter! Eventually, it was time to leave our whale as we waved good bye or should I say, until next time! On the way back to port, saw more dolphins who then enjoyed riding the waves at the back of the boat. Had 2 birthday celebrations on board today! Such a great day at the Jersey Shore on the Jersey Girl

There was a humpback whale breaching about a 1.5 miles of the Belmar Beach around 16th Ave. last night. Whale watching season in New Jersey runs from April thru the beginning of December . This is the view from the boardwalk come out with us on the Jersey Girl whale watching boat to see it up close.

Get tickets today

Here are the photos from last night

Spent the afternoon on the water. Yes, it is whale watching time again! It has been a little over 4 months since the last whale watching trip. Today was opening day: the first trip of the year with Jersey Shore Whale Watch. It was a great crowd and the anticipation was high. Many of the people had never seen a whale before and if they did, they saw it in Hawaii. Although the sky was mostly clear, the winds were from the east causing some rough seas. Started off heading north to Asbury Park and then went south. Saw fish on the fish finder and was hoping a whale would be around. We tried finding the whales but unfortunately, it was not meant to be. The good news, everyone comes back for free. Got to talk to people from Philly, northern Jersey and even from Germany. I sure wish we would have found some whales.

Monday update whales were spotted breaching this morning in Bay Head NJ k=just 2 miles from where we were.

We will be on the new boat next week.

• How do I know it was five whales today ? 2 were way north of Me off the 9th ave jetty, and two more were south of me ear 16th ave 1.5 miles offshore, the 5th whale was 3 miles offshore near 16th ave @CanonUSA I need high powered binocs with a decent jpg capture @bhphoto #canonr3

• 

  

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!

Well it had to happen and today it did, no whale.. So everyone got a nice sunny fall afternoon on a calm ocean and a free return trip. Today was one of our rare misses this year. The 2022 season has been the best season yet, but not today. We still have a few more weeks to go and our new boat will becoming online shortly. We hope to have trips thru the first week of December. As long as the whales are here we will take you out to see them!

After a foggy morning, I decided to take advantage of a warm fall afternoon yesterday, and I’m glad I did. It was clear until heading to the Ocean Ave Bridge and it got quite foggy again. Reports were that it was patchy fog, so off we went headed south where whales have been for the last few weeks. We came across a large group of dolphins, who were fun to watch. Then a bit later, a spout was spotted. She was much bigger than what we usually see, and as we were watching her, a tiny spout was spotted! It was a mama and her calf! She was teaching her baby to feed 😍 They must be passing thru the area during migration. 2 new whales to the shore review And photos by Patty E.

Perfect weather on the flat calm ocean Saturday for whale watching trip Belmar Marina , We were able to stay local as the whale was in Spring Lake, just 2 miles from Belmar beach  a great afternoon trip.

Yesterday’s Whale watching trip was so much fun! Started out from Belmar and headed south. There were reports of whales in the area earlier. Got to Spring Lake and found our whale! He had a pattern of 3-4 spots followed by a deep dive and showing his tail. This allowed for so many great pictures. He also swam so that both sides of the boat got to see him. He seemed to be heading towards a big bait ball and then headed in the opposite direction. A few moments later, a huge lunge feed! That was awesome. We had been on the whale and saw his tail and flukes many times so we decided to look for dolphins because we had seen them in the distance earlier. Unfortunately could not find them so we headed back and as we went through Spring Lake, there was the whale again. As we we’re headed back, the whale decided to lunge feed again near one of the small boats that was fishing inside of a bait ball. Oh my, glad J wasn’t in that boat. A perfect day with calm waters, beautiful sky and lots of very happy people because they saw a beautiful humpback whale!

Here are Linda’s photos

Here is Sandy’s trip report from Saturday and her photos

What a great afternoon to go whale watching with Jersey Shore Whale Watch and the Golden Eagle! The water was so calm. We headed south out of the inlet and found a whale not too far from the Spring Lake beach. This whale established a pattern right away which made it great for watching and getting pictures of. It would surface 3 or 4 times and then take a deep dive arching it’s back and showing it’s tail. We stayed with this whale for a little while and then headed south a little further to see if we could find the dolphins that were spotted while we watched the whale. No luck with the dolphins so we circled back and found our whale again a little farther out this time. As we watched it we were also able to enjoy the beautiful sunset. I had just put my phone down after taking a sunset pic and was watching a bait ball when the whale lunge fed right through it. I was so surprised that it took a second to register and start taking pictures. I caught the end of the lunge feed with the beautiful sky in the background. That’s what makes whale watching so fun. The whale can be ‘predictable’ for a long time and then suddenly do something extraordinary. Unfortunately it was time to head back, but we finished the trip with a gorgeous sunset by the marina and Shark River. I met a couple celebrating their 39th Anniversary and another couple where the man surprised his wife/girlfriend with the trip for her birthday. Everyone seemed to have a great time!

The weather was beautiful the ocean was calm we were in 550 feet of water where the whales can really disappear any come up when then need air!

Here are some of the photos from the trip

Friday 10/21/2022 Offshore Trip Species Report

What was supposed to be a trip out to the Triple Wrecks (~65 miles) turned into a trip to the tip of the Hudson Canyon! (87 miles!).

20 short-beaked common dolphins
20 offshore bottlenose dolphins
2 fin whales
1 ocean sunfish
Northern gannets
Lots of gulls
1 great blue heron
1 merlin

 

Here is a link to a full birding report from the trip: https://ebird.org/tripreport/81285?fbclid=IwAR1o0_rXrkUOma-qIE5tT62E6N8KZf1LUplGs9ZRX7sGzO0V6zpnQwtSzT4

Linda wrote the following trip report, Thank You Linda

 

Went on the 12 hour whale watching trip the other day. We started off pre sunrise and we’re able to look for meteors we are at the peak of the meteors from Hailey’s comet. Some people saw several while others saw none. Next event was sunrise and that did not disappoint. Sunrise over the ocean is beautiful met dolphins along the way and they played around the boat for awhile. Fun! Next on to the triple wrench area but it was strange. Few boats around while 2 years ago the area was covered with boats. Searched and searched for whales but nothing. Decision was to go to the beginning of the Canyon. At the tip it is 500 feet deep and it goes much deeper! Two fin whales were sighted but they were far area other things seen were a Great Blue Heron, jelly fish, turtle and more dolphins.
Of interest, one of the boats from Cape May went to the triple wreck area on the same day and saw humpback whales as well as a Right Whale! Saw area, just must have been a few miles apart. It was still a great trip with good people. Can not wait until the next one!

Passenger Sandy writes todays report, she takes great photos here is here report and photos:

We had to travel farther today to find a whale. We went as far as Seaside Heights. So glad the ocean was much calmer than yesterday.
On the way we saw some dolphins around Manasquan. They must have been feeding in a circle around a bait ball. There were so many bunker up and down the shore. The whale wasn’t as active as the one yesterday, but it did show it’s tail several times. We continued a little further south to see a second whale. It surfaced once close to the other side of the boat. On the way back we saw some more dolphins but they were too far away to get pics of.

Frequent Passenger Linda writes:

 

Another whale watching adventure! Didn’t have to go very far to say hello to our whale but he was difficult to really locate him at the beginning. Saw a spout near the Seastreak and then a second but then it took a while before we saw it again. It was worth the wait. Meanwhile we got to see some dolphins and that is always fun. So the whale after looking so small as he was wasn’t showing his tail and you couldn’t see too much all of a sudden breached. We saw a total of 9 breaches with several behind the boat. What a treat! This whale also did a prolonged epide of pectoral fin slapping. As we were getting ready to leave, the whale gave us one last breach. Such an exciting day. The water had a lot of swells and at times was a bit rough but it was worth it. A few people on the boat had never seen a whale. One person who was by me was so excited when she saw her first spout. She was ready to cry at that point. Imagine her response when she saw a breach!

Another great day whale watching in Monmouth County

We had about 50 people on the boat today a smaller crowd so everyone had great sight lines. Join us soon we have many trips scheduled including our 12 hour trip October 21st from Belmar.

Wednesday was a beautiful flat day on the ocean and the smaller crowd was rewarded with a great show:Here are some awesome photos by passenger Sandy, who has been going whale watching with us for years. Join us soon, enjoy Sandy’s photos with NYC in the background. Get tickets now 732.592.6400

 

Passenger Linda write our review today:

With a storm coming in for the late afternoon/evening, I wondered what type of whale watching day it would be. Well the water was rougher than yesterday but it was okay and at times like a ride on a small roller coaster. The kids on the boat were having a great time! First some dolphins were seen but we kept going north. Then we saw another pod but in a little bit we headed north. Found whale # 267 from yesterday. He has a mostly white tail. He decided to do some tail throwing and also gave us a lot of stinky whale breathe. After a while, there was a whale to the north and off we went. We were a distance away and you could see it breaching/lunge feeding . Once nearby, we’re were treated to some spectacular lunge feeding. That was so cool and amazing. A little boy next to me, who told be he never saw a whale, was speechless when he saw the whale. He just kept pointing to the whale and said “ooh, ooh, ooh I
On the way back we saw 2 dolphin pods and I was at the back of the boat. The dolphins were riding the waves and having a blast! I was very excited to see this! Back to the dock but when we were near the inlet, it started raining pretty hard. Even the rain could not bit a damper on this terrific whale watching and dolphin day!

4 whales today here is passenger Sandy’s report:

We watched one whale off of Long Branch for a long time today. It was so close to shore that it didn’t do much. No tail or anything. At one point we were waiting for it to surface and it came up quite a distance away. Then we saw another smaller whale closer to the boat. The bait fish were jumping like crazy as that whale swam through them. Trish said it was a minke whale. They are faster than humpbacks. After we went back to the first whale for a short time we headed back south. As we were coming close to Asbury Park we saw another blow right in front of us. We found our 3rd whale. It was also close to shore. At one point it swam under the bow, right in front of me. AND finally it did a deep dive and we got to see its tail. We watched for it one more time. Got another tail shot before we had to head back home. It was a beautiful day on the water. So unexpectedly calm after the 8-10 ft waves we had yesterday.

Wow a great last day of summer, we will have whale watching trips 4 days a week this fall. Here is a drone video of today’s action https://youtu.be/KR9PRnV1FD4. https://youtu.be/KR9PRnV1FD4

As per Linda

On a beautiful day, you go whale watching. Today Sandy spotted the whale first!!!! It was off of Long Branch. This whale would hang out a lot on the surface and then do a deeper dive. Hanging near the surface allowed for viewing the pectoral flippers that seem to glow a beon green under the water but they are white. His tail is unique so they should easily be able to identify it. Stayed with the whale but then it was time to leave him alone. Looked for other mammals but no luck. Passed by Asbury Park and the music festival. Able to hear the music in our boat! After that, back to the dock. There were many birthday celebrations aboard the boat as well as the RU female gymnastics team. We all got to see a whale and have a whale of a good time!

We had another great day it whale watching close to home we found the first whale in Avon by the sea and the 2nd whale in Bradley beach it was perfect weather about 75 people on the boat flat calm seas everyone enjoyed it! Plenty of fall whale watching season tickets available join us soon.

We had two sets of wheels off of the sea bright deal New Jersey beach area on Wednesday a wonderful trip beautiful skies beautiful fall weather nice size crowd about 60 passengers everyone enjoyed a beautiful day in the ocean seeing whales and dolphins a total of four humpback whales were seen our season runs through November hooky trips now we go four days a week if you want to book a private trip for your group give us a call you know we just put your individual tickets right here on the website Jersey sure will watch the original Jersey shore will watching tour see you soon

What an amazing season its been, our best ever

Linda writes:

Once again, many first time whale watching passengers who says that they never knew whales were in the NJ area. Well, now they know! We went north out of the inlet and kept heading north towards the Highlands and Sandy Hook. Sure enough, first one whale and then another on opposite sides of the boat. They met up for a little bit and then went their own way. We stayed on the one that was away from the shore and it was # 16 which was last seen on Saturday’s trip. Learned that he had been in the Canadian feeding grounds in the past. He was moving more quickly today than Saturday and we witnessed one lunge feed. Then it was time to head back and as we were already past Long Branch, there was another whale! Saw him a few times and then continued on as we needed to catch the bridge and we already had an extra 1/2 hour. No dolphins on this whale watch but on the dolphin watch in the morning there were dolphins and a whale. It is amazing how on each trip, when we see a whale, the passengers all let out ohs and ahs. At the end of the trip, when Danielle asks who saw a humpback whale, besides a verbal response, the passengers clap! It was another fun day and hopefully about 2 more months of whale watching ahead as the whales start to migrate south.

Sunday 9/4/22 Species Report

2 humpback whales 🐋
30+ bottlenose dolphins 🐬
And a flying tuna!
Sandy writes the report:
We found another whale off of Long Branch today. This time it was #91. He was a little more cooperative and zig zagged back and forth on both sides of the both. He did a bunch of deep dives so everyone got to see his tail. A one point I was looking out the front of the boat waiting for the whale to come back up when I saw a what we think was a tuna jump way out of the water. It looked like it was at least 3 feet long. It was so cool.
Another whale was spotted a little farther south so we went to check it out. It didn’t do much either. Just kept swimming south. Then some dolphins showed up closer to the beach. At one point they started swimming towards the boat. Thought they were going to go under and pop up on the other side but they never did. The whale and dolphins were surfacing together at one point. Now that the trip finally got interesting Captain Alan decided it was time to get back. Really bummed since it was still only 3:30 and we were a little north of Asbury Park so didn’t have far to go. We had to leave the bow since it would get rough when going faster, so missed the shots of the whale and dolphins together. Saw a few more dolphin from the back of the boat on the way back.
Here are a few of passenger Sandy’s photos

Frequent passenger Linda writes her review of SUNDAYS TRIP
Another day, another water adventure. Interesting that so many people on this trip were first time whale watchers. Off we went towards the north and by 2:09 we were on whale # 91. This whale has been around a lot this year and I have seen him several times. He showed his tail often and both sides of the boat got to see him. After awhile, a passenger saw a whale to the south and we headed that way. Actually getting us closer to Belmar. This seemed like a smaller whale. There was quite a bit of bait fish around but no evidence of feeding at the surface. Then things became interesting as dolphins appeared. Also some other fish jumped (maybe tuna). The whale seemed to be interacting with the dolphins but shortly afterwards it was time to head home. Went to Federico’s and sat outside to eat by 4:30. The passengers all seemed to have enjoyed this trip as they saw 2 whales and dolphins.

Here are some of Lindas photos from Sunday Sept 4th 2022

From passenger Sandy:
We saw two whales today, which is great, but the best part of whale watching is the people you meet. I got there early as usual and wasn’t even the first one there. Met some very nice people that drove from Binghamton. Another couple from Montreal was visiting friends. There were lots of people who were whale watching for the first time. Everyone was excited to see whales. We found our first whale pretty quickly just south of Long Branch. Unfortunately this whale was on a mission and didn’t want anything to do with us. It was an older whale, #16. It was first spotted in 2014. It would blow a couple times and then do a deep dive. After a while it would pop back up quite a distance away. It was impossible to get a close look at him. After 4 or 5 times seeing him from a distance we headed north in search of another whale.
We found a younger whale up near Atlantic Highlands. We were able to get closer to it and while we idled it came up near the boat a few times giving everyone a great look at it. At one point they were going to wait until it surfaced again so they could get it on the other side of the boat and give people on that side a chance to see it also. Before it did, Danielle said they just saw it on the fish finder going under the boat. Then a minute or two later it came up on the other side pretty close again. It surfaced a few times and then did a deep dive so we were able to see its tail as our final farewell. Unfortunately it was time to head back, but thankfully Captain Alan gave us an extra half hour to hang with that second whale. It was a beautiful day to be on the water.

Friday 9/2/2022 Species Report Morning Trip

100+ bottlenose dolphins
1 osprey

Friday 9/2/2022 Species Report Afternoon Trip

1 humpback whale
Dozens of cownose rays
Several ospreys

Here are some great photos taken by passenger Vicky

Saturday 8/27/22 Species Report

2 humpback whales! 🐋
10 bottlenose dolphins 🐬
Dozens of cownose rays
4 blacktip sharks 🦈
1 osprey 🦅

I took it easy photographing the whales today, our dear friend Ann Maries , who sell all the merchandise on board for us has been sick> I could tell I have been in charge of the shirts for the last week or so as they were a mess so i concentrated on getting everything organized on the boat while all the passengers enjoyed the whales and shark and more lol

 

 

Legality aside, two major factors are “overlooked” by managers: localized depletion which can ruin fishing nearby and the role of menhaden in the ecosystem providing nutrition for the marine food web.

It would be a different story if the boats were smaller and family owned like they used to be. Back then, private commercial fishing boat owners would head out for the day, take 50,000 or so bunkers for trap bait and head back to the dock, offload and have a beer. Things have changed, not just for the menhaden fishery, but for fisheries all over the world. The little guys are out, and massive industrial scale vessels now rule the sea.

 

read more here https://www.tapinto.net/towns/belmar-slash-lake-como/sections/opinion/articles/omega-protein-is-reduction-fishing-off-of-new-jersey-again

Passenger Patty writes today:

This. Is. Why. I. Go. This is #40. An approximately 11 year old humpback. After looking where some whales were supposed to be, and the ocean turning into a Disney E ticket ride, we were heading back into the marina. Then, just south of Bradley Beach, this fella shows up. It started with a few shallow dives, a lunge feed and lots of wondering where next. As it started to drizzle the naturalist says, “whales like this weather, you never know, it just may….Breach!!!” And this show began. Tail throwing, and several full breaches! You can see how close to the beach we were! It was worth being in the rain to see this. Time to clean some camera gear!

Another great day, book your trip now! Tell you friends

Wednesday 8/24/22 Species Report Morning Trip

1 humpback whale 🐋
Cownose rays
Ospreys 🦅

Wednesday 8/24/22 Species Report Afternoon Trip

2 humpback whales 🐋
Cownose rays
Ospreys 🦅

Wednesday late afternoon trip

3 humpback whales

We had a great day whale watching today we saw 3 humpback whales with one of the smallest crowds we have had all summer about 35 people on board. Everyone had great sight lies and most were first timers who could not believe they were seeing humpback whales with the jersey shore in the background and NYC in the distance the trip was 3.5 hours join us soon. This has been our best year ever, and don’t forget to get your jersey shore whale watch souvenirs.

Here are a few photos from today,

Linda writes:

Another beautiful day on the water! Headed out of the inlet and went north because there were reports of whales between Long Branch and Sandy Hook. With NYC serving as the background, we found 2 humpback whales. They are 2 whales we have seen several times this year: # 11 and # 73. Well # 11 was first seen in the NJ/NY area in 2011 and he was the eleventh whale identified by Gotham whale (currently 263 individual whales have been identified). This whale is locally called Jerry because he was first seen on Jerry Garcia’s birthday. Soon he should be given his formal name as an adult by the breeding ground..Jerry is special because he has propeller marks aong his side that will always be present. Although he was injured he is fine! His picture is on flyers telling boaters to slow down and look for whales. Today was a good example of some boaters not paying attention and just going fast through an area were the whales were present.
It was fun seeing these 2 whales swimming along, seeing their tails and flippers, a lunge feed, and several close visits near the boat. Captain Alan gave us an extra 1/2 hour to enjoy the whales and then it was time to leave. On the way back, another whale was spotted but we needed to catch the bridge. We also saw cow nosed rays and jelly fish along the way. The person I met that was the furthest from Belmar was from Spain! He was seeing the Atlantic Ocean from the other direction. It was a fun adventure.

 

 

Excellent trip today, 6 whales!! and a small pod of dolphins on our way back wrapping up a perfect day 🐋🌊🐬☀️❤️

I didn’t take many photos i was pretty busy selling jersey shore whale watch shirts

Friday 8/19/22 Species Report

3 humpback whales 🐋
2 ospreys 🦅

I will add more photos in a few hours

So this must be peak whale watching season here in New Jersey. Book your trip now can you tell where we were today ?

 

Linda writes the review today :

Wow! It seems this summer I have used that word many times to describe a particular whale watching trip. Several times I have said that this might be ”the best whale watching trip ever”. I think today was THE best!
Started off by going south out of the inlet because whales we’re reported there past 2 days off of Belmar and south to the Manasquan inlet area. Less than 1/2 hour after leaving the dock we had located a whale. This whale was throwing his tail around and looked like he was having fun. Later, we came upon a whale in the Spring Lake area and oh what a find! To see a whale breach is an incredible thing. To see it breach time after time after time, there are no words. When it wasn’t breaching, it felt like something was wrong! I think I can safely say this whale breached at least 20 times. I think it was way more than that! The funny thing was if you missed getting a photo of a breach, it didn’t matter because he would do it again in a few seconds. I think this whale was either trying out for the Olympics or trying to set a record for the number of times a whale can breach within a 1/2 hour. In addition, there were times he was waving his flippers in the air. It was a magical whale watching trip. Passengers were amazed, and some asked if this was the usual. No, this was a magically day, a real adventure.

 

Another great day whale watching a full boat, come out whale watch with the best whale watching tour on the East Coast Jersey Shore Whale Watch

Here are some photos from today

Sunday 8/14/22 Species Report

3 humpback whales! 🐋

And two smaller groups of dolphins I will add even more photos Monday night , been a bi=use few weeks i have lots of photos to upload

5 whales! That is right 5 whales today a beautiful day on the ocean,very calm ocean conditions photos will be posted Sunday

Thursday 8/11/22 Species Report

2 humpback whales 🐋
30 bottlenose dolphins 🐬
1 osprey 🦅
1 common loon (out of season) 🪶
1 unidentified shearwater 🪶

We had another beautiful day at Whale WAtching Naturalist humpback whale off the Sandy Hook we were out on the ocean for about 3 1/2 hours beautiful day a little bit of a bumpy road on the way back because of winter picked up people who wanted to get sprayed by the ocean waves got it people wanna avoid it were able to avoid it.

 

we go whale watching seven days a week from Belmar two days a week from point Pleasant and two days a week from Keyport marina plenty of trips plenty of summer fun stuff behead will be running trips all the way till mid November we have the longest whale watching season on the East Coast of United States.

 

Linda writes:

Another hot day, another day to escape onto the water! With the past couple of days with whales in the Avon, Asbury Park and Long Branch area, I thought this would be an easy trip for whale watching. Well we kept heading north because we couldn’t find a whale. It was fun speaking to some of the other whale watchers as there was a family from New Mexico. First time they were ever on the Atlantic Ocean! As we approached the Highlands, saw something jump up out of the ocean. My guess is a spinner shark and others seem to agree but I really do not know. Shortly after that, it seemed the entire boat yelled “whale” as we saw it off to our right. He then decided to put on a show with frequent lunge feeds, deep dives with showing his flukes and 1 very close swim by the boat. That is when I realized how much smaller this whale (#258) was compared to others we have seen. Even got pictures of lunge feeding with the Highlands, and Verrazano Bridge serving as backgrounds. We had travel.a distance  but of course we did have to go home.

The trip home was going against the wind and swells and if you wanted to stay dry, you needed to be inside. Some brave people did stay outside but not me! On the way home, around Asbury Park, a whale was reported to have lunge fed and showed his tail. Danielle, the naturalist did get a picture so she will be able to identify that whale. We also went by hundreds of cow nosed rays ( a group of rays is called a fever). Also saw Osprey, both fishing and on their nest. Another day, another adventure!! Seeing lunge feeding is exciting!

 

What an awesome trip Friday August 5th

We had a Minke whale off the Beach just North of Asbury Park, that was our first Minke whale this year.The Minke whales are very fast movers and are about 20 feet long this was a big one.We then encountered 2 humpback whales near the beach in Deal New Jersey . We often see whales from Deal and Long Branch north towards Sandy Hook. Our 4th whale was also a humpback whale, in a little deeper water about 1 mile from shore. The group loved it we had people from the Uk and several states way outside our area. Please tell your friends about Jersey Shore Whale Watch and we hope to see you  all again one day. Bill McKim and crew Jersey SHore Whale Watch

Linda writes:

What a day! As we were approaching the last bridge before we “head off into mammal territory”, the ocean, I took a picture. It was 1:33 pm on my camera. I already had spout picture at 1:38! I didn’t bother with some of the earlier spouts. There were 2 whales, # 73 and # 94 right off of Avon!

They put on a show for us! We had multiple lunge feeds above the surface as well as slightly under the surface. Saw the tails so many times. Also exciting was that they were checking us out! They headed towards us several times, went around the back and actual surfaced right by the left bow of the boat. Got great pictures of body parts because the 2 of them were so close! Fantastic! After a while, the whales got tired of us, so we’re headed south looking for dolphins. Along the way, a few people spotted a small shark and we saw many cownosed rays.
Best comment I heard was a little girl asked her Mom, “what did the whale say” as the whale spouted. Mom’s response was “I don’t speak whale”. Sometimes, I wish I could and find out what they think about us.
Lots of room on the boat today and it was a great way to beat the heat. Had a family from Pennsylvania on the boat and the Mom just wanted to stay on the ocean because every other day she is on land. Glad I get to enjoy the Jersey Shore regularly!

More pictures later or tomorrow

Early morning Dolphin/shark watching trip. Danielle saw a shark about 3 feet down in the water but that was it for sharks. Trip was so refreshing in light of the temps reaching over 90 today. Found dolphins within 9 minutes of leaving the dock! Felt like the dolphins were giving us a tour to the Jersey Coast! Not a bad idea since we had people from Canada and Florida on the boat. The dolphins were headed north and we slowly followed and also circled around. All sides of the boat had dolphins. Some dolphins were breaching and others tail slapping while still others kind of quietly went along. The people on the boat were also quite as I think they were awed by the dolphins. Eventually we continued up the coast without them. The water was so blue, reflecting the clear sky! There were so many bunker fish all over. The pool of menhaden were huge and all over. Some bunker fish were jumping up into the air while we passed other pods with thousands of fish. Saw a few cownosed rays.Also saw an Osprey catch a late breakfast and head home with his catch. What a wonderful way to start a day!–

Afternoon Whale watching trip

We had a very active whale maybe 2 whales of the Sandy hook area

We had a very active humpback whale today Monday August 1st.This has been our best season ever, tell your friends we are booking trips from Belmar and Point Pleasant marinas 7 days a week. Jersey Shore whale Watch has over 10 trips a week right now. Grab your friends and enjoy a day on the ocea.We guarantee you will see a whale. Now till mid November

Humpback whale young at playJersey Shore Whale Watch #shorts

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

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?

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!

We had a new humpback whale today, a beautiful day with a pretty full boat. Joking us soon this is peak whale watching season in New Jersey, we also saw dolphins on the morning trip. A great day on the ocean and our trip from point Pleasant

was also success in seeing a whale.\

We have been seeing whales on all our trips from point pleasant so if you are in the seaside heights area or Bayhead look for our point pleasant trips every Wednesday afternoon and Sunday 3pm for tickets call us at 732.451.6003 or buy online below you can also change your date at no extra fee

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.

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

Thursday 7/14/22 Species Report

50+ bottlenose dolphins 🐬
1 lunge feeding humpback whale! 🐋

Well we made our best effort,but sometimes the whales elude us and we traveled for 3 solid hours looking and we did find the following

Wednesday 7/13/22 Species Report

1 group of 10 bottlenose dolphins 🐬
1 group of 30 bottlenose dolphins 🐬
4 cownose rays (why is there no stingray emoji!)
4 ospreys 🦅

I feel like we are a baseball team on an amazing winning streak yes it once again we saw two humpback whales Asbury park close to Belmar beautiful trip perfect weather here are some photos from the trip hope you take the time to come out with soon.

 

Greeting From Asbury Park, and the 2 humpback whales put on quite a show

Linda writes

How do you follow an incredible whale watching day like yesterday? By having
one just as incredible ! Okay, maybe slightly less incredible but what a great day. Weather was perfect and the seas fairly calm for this adventure. We headed back to a similar location as yesterday but not as far north as Long Branch. There was a report earlier that 2, whales were in the area. We searched but did not spot anything. We started heading further East when we saw a spout, actually two! Unbelievable, we found 2 of the three whales that we saw yesterday. At times they were just “hanging out” but they followed that with some lunge feeding behavior and diving while showing their flukes. One even breached infront of our boat further out. These were whales # 11 and 86. Jerry 2 days in a row! He is definitely a fan favorite. He was seen closer to NYC earlier in the week so he is moving south, maybe he wants to check out what Belmar has to offer? It was another great group of adventurers on the boat, including those celebrating birthdays and wedding anniversaries. We saw Ospreys, Black Crowned Night Herons, Great Egret, and a Great Shearwater.
Today again we had people who have been to Alaska to see whales say they never knew whales were here! They walk away impressed with what they see here at the Jersey Shore.

New Jersey best whale watching tour company, we guarantee you will see a whale.

Linda writes:

Wow oh wow oh wow! What a day. As we were getting ready to depart the inlet, we saw the Shark Week Blimp that is traveling up the eastern coast. Fun start. Saw the Osprey and Black crowned Night heron. Off we went heading northeast towards the Long Branch area where they were seeing whales all week! Saw some dolphins and kept going to find the whales. Found a whale who was taking some deep dives and showing his flukes. Meanwhile, Danielle announces there are 2 spouts to the East about a mile out. We headed there and watched the 2 whales for awhile when all of a sudden there was a triple lunge feed! The third whale was the whale we had been watching. Quite honestly, not sure how many whales we saw! Was watching one whale on the right and then there were 2 on the left. Was it 3 or 4? We were treated to multiple lunge feeds to the delight of everyone on board! There also may have been a shark or 2 lout there. On the way home, another whale was spotted and it was lunge feeding. What a wonderful crazy day! There was a bag piper at the Belmar fishing Pier. What a day! One of the whales that we saw was Jerry, #11. You can recognize him easily by his old propeller scars on his body. He has been a regular each summer and so glad to see him and know he is doing well. The other thing of note is how loud the whales were when they were breathing. Seemed very loud today. Saw several Great Shearwaters and a Corey Shearwater. What a day! How can it get any better!
Most off my pictures are still downloading so more pictures later.

Here is passenger Sandy’s review

What a fantastic whale watching trip today! I had one goal and that was to see the Shark Week Blimp. Turns out it came to us. We were still docked when Linda spotted it, of course, she is great at spotting sharks! 😂 How ironic we spotted the Shark over the Shark River! That ended up being the only time we saw it close up. We then headed north to Long Branch where the whales have been spotted all week. We passed some dolphins on the way that rode our wake for a bit. We wanted to try to find the whales first so we didn’t stop. We found one whale and watched it for a little while and then Danielle spotted two more a little further east so we went to see them. One ended up being an old favorite #11, named Jerry after Jerry Garcia, I heard he was in the area. So glad we got to see him. The first whale came and joined the other two. At one point there were whales on both sides of the boat. You didn’t know which way to look. Then they joined up and did a triple lunge feeding. I missed most of it unfortunately but those whales weren’t done. They lunge fed a bunch more times and sometimes I even got pictures of it. There were so many fish at the surface you kept expecting the whales to pop up between them. Only once did the whales come up were I thought they would. We hung out with them as long as we could but then had to head back. Wouldn’t you know it. There was another whale right in front of us a little further south. So we watched for it as we headed that way and what do you know, it lunge fed also. Amazing whale day! As we headed back into the inlet we heard bagpipes. Took us a while to spot him on the Fishing Pier. Now I have high expectations for tomorrow. 😂 Stopped by to see the swans on my way home. They are getting so big.

Friday 7/8/22 Species Report

3 humpback whales! 🐋
100+ dolphins 🐬
1 osprey 🦅

Frequent passenger Patty writes:
Quite a day when they have to decide “which whale should we go see 1st?” There were 3, possibly 4 to pick from! We saw more than one shark feeding on the way out to the whales too. #1 was checking out the boat, feeding below the surface when it decided to start lunge feeding. It’s quite cool to see, as the bait fish seem to “boil” on the surface before the whale comes up. It swam under the boat, coming up right next to us. There were some dolphins swimming with the whale as well. #2 was out about another mile or so, but once we got close, it gave us a good look at more lunge feeding behavior. The Osprey pics stink, but it shows how they carry their catch.

Location we were mostly off the beaches of Monmouth Beach ,Sea Bright and Long Branch on Friday join us soon, there is plenty of seating, yes we have bathrooms, yes you can bring a baby stroller or a walker
Yes you can bring beer!
Feel free to bring your own food or but on board, coolers are welcome

Their is air conditioned seating at spacious tables inside the cabin
We run trips from Belmar Point Pleasant and sometimes Keyport
This is our 5th year doing whale watching trip, that’s all we do we don’t get involved with fishing and other actives so if you wish to be guaranteed to see a whale, make sure you book with Jersey Shore Whale Watch, and also check out our beautiful merchandise we ship daily

Merchandise is on our website www.billmckim.com

Passenger Linda writes

Another day on the water although conditions were not ideal. Heavy cloud cover in Belmar and south, blue sky to the North East. Heading out of the inlet saw the Osprey and the Black Criwbed Night- Heron. Went North to where they have been seeing the whale all week, around the Long Branch area. Suddenly, notice the Captain make a turn and that usually means there is excitement ahead! Danielle, the naturalists, says they see a whale about a mile out and everyone needed to come off the bow while we were traveling because we were hitting some swells. This as we can see the whale breach! Then as we are traveling East, the whale breached at least one more time!. Finally we get closer and back on the bow and the whale was moving around rapidly at times and at other times seemed to be resting. Saw his flukes a few times. This is whale # 257 (I think) as identified by his flukes. Also he has the straight line scarring on his body.
We saw a pod of dolphins off Bradley beach on the way home but we were headed back to the dock . Everyday, every trip is a unique adventure. Think, 5 minutes earlier and we may have been right near the breaching whale!

Well I will to our own horn we had another fantastic day of whale watching both of Longbranch pier Village got some great photos and some video that I still need to upload you’ll be able to see it all here tonight or tomorrow morning here’s some photos from today if you were on the trip please take the time to leave a review on Google is important for us thanks we go whale watching seven days a week https://jerseyshorewhalewatchingtour.com

July 4-5, 2022
The fourth of July included sunny skies, calm winds, and stunning seas, a perfect combination to celebrate our independence day. Each trip provided its own unique sightings the 5th of July was choppy seas

We headed on our journey north towards a fresh whale sighting report by another boat of a whale off the red church in West Ned New Jersey , that was our landmark.The nice size crowd about 60 people were thrilled to be out on the ocean with the cooling ocean breeze.

I remembered meeting a 94 year old woman boarding the boat with her extended family, i made sure to give here a whale watching tshirt as a gift maybe i should do that for any passenger 90 years of age, its great to see them still so active.

On Tuesday, we were able to get a trip in before the forecasted weather was scheduled to flip upside down. We ventured to where we had luck with whales on Monday, Danielle saw a whale spout three times in the distance so we headed that only only to hear the crowd on the 2nd level boat roaring they were watching a different whale lunge feeding so we turned in choppy seas towards the closer whale and enjoyed a good show breach and lunge feeding off Long Branch Deal beach area.
I was just reminded we also saw two bottlenose dolphins swimming with the whale

A perfect weather day I will post a few more in the morning so check back.

From Linda

A beautiful July 4 th spent on the water. Sounds pretty good to me! Add in seeing a whale and it sounds great. Within the inlet saw a Great Egret and then the nest with 1 Osprey present. Today’s adventure headed north out of the inlet and the beaches were packed. Around Long Branch a whale was spotted that was also seen yesterday. Danielle thought it might be a “new whale” making it # 257 (different whales in the area over a 10 year period). This whale showed his flukes(tail) several times. That always delights the crowd. On the pictures you can see some straight lines on his body which are probably scars from being entangled in rope or fishing gear. Also of interest, in several of the pictures you can see a light green or white color in the water that are the whales fins that he uses for swimming. The fins are actually white. After spending time with this whale it was time to return home. Interesting that yesterday there were so many dolphins but none today. Several passengers mentioned that they could not believe that there were whales off of the coast of NJ. People come from so many various locations for whale watching. Today there was someone from Delaware. Back to the inlet and this time the Black Crowned Night Heron was there under the bridge. It has become a game trying to spot him. A wonderful adventure on the 4th of July! Hope everyone had a safe and wonderful holiday and made great memories!

Written by Linda, thanks as always Linda

Another fantastic adventure. Met a couple who are originally from Chile and live in Georgia. Had a lot in common and they became part of our whale watching group! We headed north because there was a report of 2 whales. But prior to that saw a few dolphins and then off we went to find a whale or two! As we were heading towards a boat who was watching a whale, we saw a spout to the East and tried to find him. Saw him a couple of times but he did not seem interested in us. Turned towards the original whale and saw it very near the other boat. He was taking it easy today, not sleeping but not very active. Never got to see his tail but Danielle, the naturalist, recognized the dorsal fin as whale # 250. We have seen him several times since May and sometimes he is very active and sometimes likes to relax like all of us. After awhile, we went east again and a spout was seen but couldn’t find the whale after that. On the way home, saw so many dolphins all around the boat. They are so much fun the watch! At one point the dolphins were throwing fish up in the air! Saw an Osprey with dinner fly by going towards land. In the inlet, the Osprey nest had 2 ospreys present whereas earlier there was only one. It was a beautiful day on the ocean. Water temp was 69 degrees. As our new friends said “ I can’t stop smiling”! That says it all.

LInda’s report
There were 3 whales spotted yesterday so the expectations were high for today. The weather was perfect to enjoy a day on the ocean. Saw the Osprey and the Black crested night heron and headed north towards Sea Bright and Sandy Hook but no luck. Everyone tried but could not spot a whale. Saw some unusual boats. They always say to always keep looking and sure enough, there was a whale. He must have been feeding right under the surface as he would surface but never showed his tail. He looked smaller than the typical humpback whales that we see and he may have been very young. I did not see any scars or marks like we typically see on the whales. After a while he seemed to disappear so we headed back to dock knowing we were going to be a half hour late since we spent so much time looking for the whale. Then as we were going, the sister ship was on a whale that was lunge feeding and may have breached. We were too far away to get a great look. Back to the inlet and now 2 ospreys were at the nest.

June 29th
Wednesday afternoon was a beautiful day! On our search for our fascinating mammals we passed Asbury Park, the infamous Pier Village, passed the Highlands and reached the beginning of the shipping channels by Sandy hook and saw an amazing view of the New York Skyline! Off of Monmouth Beach and Shrewsbury Rocks we met a gorgeous new humpback whale of almost 30ft, not more than 2 years of age! We joined him in his fast paced journey of feeding heading south and captured great views of his dorsal fin and flippers. On our journey back we caught sight that our sister ship the Miss Belmar Princess had also met two wonderful humpback whales and we were able to witness more lunge feedings and spouts! Overall a great trip, can’t wait for what we see next!
Michelle Naturalist Jersey shore whale watch

Great day, great adventure.

 

Tuesday 6/28/22 Species Report

3 humpback whales!
100+ dolphins
1 unidentified shark
4 ospreys

Sunday afternoon was an exciting trip and a full one with the sun blazing at 85°F! Off of Sandy Hook we found a beautiful humpback whale, about 30ft long moving rather quickly in its journey. We got to witness multiple feeding lunges, great shots of its dorsal fins, and a beautifully straight view of the tail fluke! For our bird lovers, we caught glimpses of a Great Cormorant, Osprey, a Bald Eagle, and more! For more sightings, come join us on our next trip! There was a 2nd breaching whale in the distance.

We had two whales one in the further distance it breached and lunged feeding but it was 3-4 miles past the whale that was closer so we never went there, maybe next time

Here is one of the reports on the whale we saw

 

I am not good at writing as most of you know. I am very tired form for days on the ocean here is the report from passenger Sandy S.

How do you spend a beautiful weekend? Whale Watching, of course. I went again today and so glad I did. We went back to the same place as yesterday, because a whale was reported there again today. It was a different whale than yesterday and this guy was hungry. He was moving around quickly and you could see the bunker jumping near the surface like crazy. He lunge fed a couple of times and then kept us on our toes. He was moving around a lot, but he was surfacing quickly so it was fun to try and keep up with him. We did this for about 30 minutes and then he started lunge feeding again. He did it right next to the boat and I was still watching the area when I saw the bunker literally flying through the air. And then there he was again! It was amazing. Thanks to Captain Alan, we got to spend an extra half hour with him. Just as we thought the show was over, he did it again! At least 6 lunges and several views of the tail. What a great day!

I have a few more reports coming in i will post them later tonight and more photos

 

Written by frequent passenger Sandy:

Beautiful day on the water. Probably the first time this year I left my winter coat at home. We headed north since two whales were spotted up by Sea Bright earlier. As we were going we saw a lot of birds and unfortunately, a lot of balloons also. ☹️ Linda and a few others on the other side of the boat were lucky enough to see a small shark as we passed by. It’s very strange. The sharks and turtles always seem to be on the starboard side. Luckily the whale is often on the port side where I’m standing. Anyway, it took us a while but we found a whale about 4 miles east of the Atlantic Highlands. It would take 2-3 breaths and then a deep dive. It was staying down most of the time for 10 minutes. Only got a glimpse of the top of its tail once until the last dive which happened nicely off the front of the boat. Then it was time to head back.

Photos by frequent passenger Patty of the dolphins today

We saw a couple Ospreys and about 50 dolphins today. We did not see a whale so everyone onboard get to come again this year to see a humpback whale, some times they do this

Monday 6/20/22 Species Report

1 bald eagle 🦅
2 ospreys 🦅
1 ocean sunfish 🐟
1 humpback whale 🐋
1 unidentified sea turtle 🐢

A beautiful afternoon of whale watching

here is what passenger Kelly wrote in here review:

Kelly hoherchak

My family had the most amazing trip whale watching found and spent a long time with a humpback! The crew was awesome, will go again for sure!

Photos will be posted later tonight

Linda says…

We started off and spotted a couple Ospreys in their nest on the other side of the inlet. Then once we got out to the ocean we headed north hoping to find the same whale that was very active yesterday. Danielle spotted an eagle. I couldn’t get my camera to focus on it but did get to see it. We were by Long Branch when we spotted a fin near the boat. It belonged to a Mola Mola or Ocean Sunfish. The captain circled around to get us closer. It kept popping up quickly. We finally got close enough to see it just below the surface. Then it disappeared and we went on our way to find a whale. It didn’t take very long when we spotted the same whale that was so active yesterday. We had high hopes that it might breach for us again today, but instead it swam next to the boat and near the surface. It seemed to be resting. This provided us some great looks at it. It took a while but then we finally got to see the tail. Only a side view but still worth it. As we headed back some people on the right side of the boat saw a sea turtle. I didn’t get to see it. Gorgeous day on the water!

I would say today was the best or 2nd best trip of the season, we had tailing throwing humpback whale , tail slapping humpback whale , breaching multiple times humpback whale, and plenty of dolphins.The winds were very strong today,but we were still able to get the the feeding grounds off sandy hook today and had an awesome day.

I am a bit tired I will post more photos Monday before we leave on Mondays whale watching trip!

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads

 I will add more whale photos from today in the morning 

From Linda

Today’s sea adventure began before the actual adventure. Weather was iffy and the winds picked up. Flags were straight out meaning they wind was really blowing. There was a possibility that the trip would be cancelled at the last minute. The positive was that a whale was seen earlier in the morning off of Deal and Long Branch and then aroubd 11 am near the Belmar/Spring Lake border. Decision was made to go since the whale was so close. Today’s fearless group of adventurers included people from West Virginia and Arizona and places in New Jersey like Princeton, Morristown and Toms River.
Did I say the wind was blowing? I actually got off of the bow of the boat before they asked us to step back off of it as we were leaving the inlet. Once we turned south, the land was blocking the westerly wind so the water was fairly calm. We left the dock at 1:30 pm and by 1:53 pm we were close enough to whale # 254 to get pictures. It was In the Sea Girt/ Manasquan area. It came up close to the boat at least 3 times, both sides and in front, with the closest passage seeming to be about 10 feet away. Engines were off so he was checking us out!, He was so close that I could not fit the entire whale in one picture. In most of the pictures you can see scarring on the whales body. That can be from getting hit by boats, injuries caused by other animals or entanglements from fishing type nets. This whale seemed to be feeding not far under the surface because he was not taking deep dives. At times the whale was in only 31 feet of water. Some of my pictures show how close he was to the beach. Wonder if the people on the beach noticed the whale and if not, they should have wondered what the boat was doing there! Hope the people didn’t have their faces in the phone and missed the beauty of nature. After 3 pm, the winds really picked up and the decision was to get to the dock early because trouble was brewing out on the water. On the way back there were some dolphins spotted. What a great adventure once again! Everyday is an adventure and everyday is a different experience as the whale watching is in the wild.

Passenger Linda writes:

When the temp is going to be over 90, it makes great sense to go out on a boat on the ocean. Went Whale watching with a small crowd of people from places like Wisconsin, Massachusetts, and also some relatively local like New Brunswick, Asbury Park, Lavalette and Belmar. As we left the dock and still in the inlet you could feel the temperature driop. It felt so good.
We headed north and near Bradley Beach and Asbury Park we found our first group of dolphins!. People were thrilled because the dolphins were all around the boat and were active. More than likely they were feeding so they were swimming and jumping as they went after the fish. We continued on and saw another pod of dolphins but we still wanted to see a whale. Saw at least 2 Ospreys; and at least one had dinner!
As we went past Sea Beight, in about 70 feet of water, there was the whale! It was # 250 and it was the same whale that we saw last week and had been in Sea Side prior to that. He was actively eating today as there were large amounts of menhaden fish in the area. He showed his tail a couple of times. What was fun was seeing his flippers because they are about a third the length of their body. So on this whale about 10 feet long. Even though Humpback whales are black, the flippers are white and underwater can look white or light green. The dolphins were in the viscinity of the whale and put on a major show. So many were jumping, breaching, flipping backwards. They were so exciting to watch and also listen to the people ooh and aah as they performed for us. We also had a lot of dragonflies flying around the boat. That was a new experience and seeing dragonflies is suppose to mean good luck, harmony, and fortune among other things. We are “treated” twice to whale breathe… it stinks! Too soon, it was time to go home and say good bye to the whale and dolphins . The wind picked up and the ocean spray coming off of the boat cooled everyon. . It was a fantastic day. with lots of smiles as people left the boat with some t shirt souvenirs they bought to help them remember this awesome trip.

Linda writes

When it is 88 humid degrees what better place to be but on a boat in the ocean? Funny thing is, what started as clear skies became a mixture of storm looking clouds and haze. We headed north out of the inlet and the haze was quite dense. We came across some dolphins and watched them for awhile before we kept heading north looking for more dolphins and whales. Went past SeaBright but no whale despite looking for spouts and the haze did not help. One of the few times that I couldn’t see NYC in the background. Unfortunately, we did have to turn around to go home but we were still searching for the whale. At this point, I had to add a light hoody because of the cool wind. Remember it was 88 degrees on land but the water temp was 66.

We saw too many balloons in the water today. That is so sad because they are commonly swallowed by whales and other wildlife and can kill the animals. Please discard of balloons properly and never release them into the air. They wind up in the ocean! We did stop once to pick up some balloons out of the water. There was a lot of activity on the water, from wind surfing, sail boating, surfing and swimming. Also be saw the Coast Guard boat and helicopter boat out.
On the way back ran into more dolphins and as it frequently happens, which direction do you look because they were to the left, in front and the right of the boat. They were active and there were some young dolphins in the group. Coming back to the dock, saw the Osprey on the nest and also saw a Black-Crowned Night Heron. Today was quite an adventure; you never know what excitement a day on the ocean will bring.

 

Join us soon on our 3 times a week morning dolphin tour and our 7 days a week Belmar whale watching trips. We also off trips from Point Pleasant marina and Keyport marina to go whale watching. Any questions call us at 732.592.6400

 

From passenger Linda: Her report

Such a great day on the water: weather was perfect and the ocean was calm. Whale watching has become so popular! Today there were people from Germany, Washington D.C., Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan and those were only the people I spoke to! A woman was celebrating her birthday week (I like that idea)! There was also a school outing from NYC and the students were running to the boat as they made the boat with no time to spare!
Out of the inlet we headed north past Asbury Park, Long Branch and found some active dolphins. They were fun to watch but we continued on because we were looking for a whale. Again we found some dolphins and we continued on in search of the whale. We went to the SeaBright area because that is where we frequently see whales but no luck today so we headed back but Of course, still searching for that spout! Suddenly, Danielle the Naturalist, spotted a sea turtle but they tend to be skittish and went underwater and we couldn’t find him. But as we circled around, there was a spout! A humpback whale! Watched it for a bit and then he moved away from us and then he was gone. We tried so hard to find him but to no avail. Saw an Osprey carrying home dinner. Such an enjoyable day. Another awesome adventure!

I wanted to share this review from today :  This passenger was one of our first 6 passengers on our first trip ever

What a fantastic afternoon! We had numerous whale sightings today, and saw dolphins galore! Bill McKim was a fabulous host and runs a great tour! Many thanks to our wonderful captain. Kudos to Danielle, the superbly friendly and knowledgeable naturalist, Michelle, the naturalist intern, and merchandise maven Ann Marie. I was on the Jersey Shore Whale Watch tour as an original passenger, and was so happy to bring my friend today to experience the fun. Thank you, Bill and staff! What a great day! I’ll be back with more friends! 🐳

The whales and a few hundred dolphins returned today the weather was spectacular read the reviews! Wow was it beautiful.