2004 3-Day Canyons Whale and Bird Expedition Never lacking surprises, our 3-day trip turned up 10 species of cetaceans and 10 species of birds (the bird sightings don't even include gulls and inshore species!). Despite less than ideal weather conditions (too much fog), it was immensely successful. We want to send a big thanks to all the participants, particularly Mike and Dixie Overton- professional birders from Brian Patteson's birding team. Below is a breakdown day-to-day of the whales, dolphins, birds and other marine animals we observed, and the general areas in which we observed the species. Our travels took us nearly 200 miles from Gloucester this year. Our overall route covered close to 500 miles of ocean! Animals in bold are of particular interest! Day One - Georges Bank to Lydonia Canyon to Gilbert Canyon. We tied off to offshore lobster gear for the night. Even with unrelenting fog all day, the species observed included: 15-20 Atlantic white-sided dolphins; 10-15 Pilot whales; 10-15 Common dolphins; 1 Basking shark; 1 Ocean Sunfish; 1 Harbor seal. Birds observed included: 1 Cory's shearwater; 204 Greater shearwaters; 56 Wilson's storm-petrels; and 4 Leach's storm-petrels. Most interesting were the sightings of the pilot whales and common dolphins who made close approaches to our boat at night while we were tied off to the lobster gear! The lights from our vessel, the Yankee Freedom, were attracting squid to the surface. In turn, the pilot whales and dolphins were attracted to the squid, their main prey. It was very eerie and exciting all at the same time! An additional nice surprise arose when one of our crew members, Marco LoGrasso, caught a 40 pound yellowfin tuna! The canyon areas are notorious areas for fishing, as well as whale watching! They are incredibly beautiful fish, and it was an amazing sight to see one up close. Day Two - Starting in Gilbert Canyon, we ventured through Oceanographer's Canyon, Southeast to a warm-water area, west to Welker's Canyon and then traveled in the night to Asia Rip (south of Cape Cod) where we anchored. We had a few breaks in the fog during this day, but still had to contend with less than ideal visibility most of the time. We observed a nice list of animals including: 1 or 2 Sperm whales (one of which was very cooperative - and we got very close looks!); 1 Bottlenose dolphin, 30-45 Striped dolphins; 2 unidentified beaked whales; 15-20 Common dolphins; 2 Fin whales; 1 unidentified finfish or shark; 4 Ocean sunfish; 1 Portuguese man-o-war. Birds observed included: 7 Cory's shearwaters; 696 Greater Shearwaters; 1 Sooty shearwater; 753 Wilson's storm-petrels; 9 Leach's storm-petrels, 1 Band-rumped storm-petrel; 1 Common Tern. The beaked whale sighting was of particular interest, as they actually jumped out of the water before disappearing in the fog! Likely they were a species we've observed in the past, the Cuvier's Beaked whale also known as the Goosebeak whale. Our route was a little unconventional this year, as we received a report from a lobster fisherman who had seen a couple sperm whales out in the very deep water south of the canyons. He also reported very warm water in that location - close to 80 degrees. Though we found the warm water, we did not see any cetaceans out in that area. I must add that it is so amazing to see water that looks and feels like the Caribbean so close to Massachusetts! Day Three - Starting in Asia Rip, our course took us north through the Great South Channel, over Stellwagen Bank and then home to Gloucester. We had a report from the fishing vessel, the Yankee Capts, that there were quite a few humpback whales just south of Nantucket Island, and we scoured the area. In fog, unfortunately! We managed to see quite a few animals even with the fog. Our sightings included: 172-233 Atlantic white-sided dolphins, 45-48 Minke whales, 3 Humpback whales, 3-4 Harbor porpoise and 3 Basking sharks. Birds observed included: 403 Greater shearwaters; 803 Sooty shearwaters; 10 Manx shearwaters; 514 Wilson's storm-petrels; 2 Northern Gannets; 1 South Polar Skua; 2 Common terns. Though we only observed 3 humpbacks this time, the fog was so thick we had only about 50 feet of visibility. We heard several whales in the area, but could only make visual confirmation on three of them. We, again, are grateful to all who participated in this very unique ocean experience and hope to see you all again on a future excursion. Please watch the CORE website for updates on future trips!
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