I'd been whale watching off Boston in 1995, and had views of a fin whale and some minke whales. I've always wanted to see humpback whales, and went on two trips during this visit. On both trips we headed just north of Provincetown, Cape Cod. The first trip (30 September) was with the New England Aquarium, and we had close views of a head-breaching humpback. The whale was dragging a fishing buoy, and the disentanglement squad was alerted. The second trip (3 October) was in choppier conditions with Boston Harbour Cruises, and we saw tail fluke and pectoral fin breaches from several individuals. I can't believe my luck on these trips - apparently breaching is only seen on 10-20% of trips. Invididuals are identifiable by patterns on their dorsal fins and tail flukes. I also saw a migrating bat and a mourning dove at sea from the pelagic.
Baleen plates visible here.
Ventral grooves exposed in what looks like a throat full of water.
The left fluke is badly damaged on this whale.
Orca tooth scars on the fluke of this one.
