Sunday June 29, 2025

2 species of cetaceans and hundreds of pelagic birds, but way too many balloons

A great way to start our 30th season with 75-100 Tamanend's bottlenose dolphins, a finback whale, and lots of pelagic birds. Today's trip was a nice way to beat the heat and see wildlife. Our first encounters were with several groups of Tamanend's bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops erebennus), as many as 5-6 groups totaling 75-100 individuals, including some moms and calves in the near shore waters west of Montauk. There were also a few Great shearwaters (Ardenna gravis) and Cory’s Shearwaters (Calonectris borealis). We eventually decided to head southward (offshore). Things were quiet, with a few shearwaters and storms petrels, as we traveled, we reached an area where the ocean became alive with birds, bait, and ultimately a baleen whale.  We were in 170’ of water, with prey from the bottom to the surface. We knew we were in the right spot and eventually saw the characteristic 20-foot blow of a finback whale (Balaenoptera physalus). What a pleasure it was to find this majestic, fast, and sleek individual. Finback whales are the 2^nd largest animal. We watched it for about 30 minutes before making our way back to the dock. This was our 110^th consecutive trip (since 2019) finding cetaceans. While we never guarantee it, we do our best to find them and have been doing it longer than any other group in the NY Bight.

Totals:

• 75-100 Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins
• 1 finback whale (~55-60 feet long)
• Great shearwaters
• Cory’s shearwaters
• Sooty shearwaters
• Wilson’s storm petrels

Unfortunately, just about every direction we looked, we saw balloons on the surface of the water.  We scooped up as many as we could but didn’t have the time to grab more.  The ones we removed were graduation celebratory balloons. Come on folks – stop buying and releasing balloons, they are killers.

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

Monday, June 30, 2025

Another successful trip!!
Our second trip of the season started out in a thick layer of fog that quickly enveloped the point despite clearer skies at the dock. Excitement onboard though was palpable like the mist consuming the region. Despite the limited visibility, passengers were afforded close-up views of a variety of pelagic birds including Cory’s, Great, and Sooty shearwaters, along with flocks of the small but mighty Wilson’s storm petrels. Our captain wisely steered us into deeper waters with the hope that there, the fog would lift, and that it did!  As if a switch was suddenly flipped, the skies cleared to nearly unlimited visibility at which point, a small pod of dolphins was spotted off the starboard bow. At first the pod was tricky to find again, but then several other small pods were observed around the vessel. We spent some time here, enjoying some good looks at porpoising and playful Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins before continuing southwest in hopes of finding larger cetaceans. It took some time, but eventually a large spout belonging to a finback whale was observed about a half a mile away. With bait detected along the bottom, this whale was likely feeding, spending little time at the surface and long stretches underwater. Observing finback (fin) whales can be tricky because they are incredibly sleek and fast. In 6-8 minutes time, they can move ¼ mile away from where last observed. We had some far-off views, but others close enough to see the body and the characteristic fin. The blow itself is also impressive and was exciting to behold. As we headed back to port, we encountered a beautiful flock of sooty shearwaters, mixed with Great and Cory’s and more Wilson storm petrels along the way. More views of porpoising bottlenose and at least one seal were enjoyed as the sun set beautifully over the water.
Our season is only just beginning and every trip is unique. Come out and see why we have been doing this for 30 years!

• 150-200 Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins
• 1 finback whale
• 1 seal of unknown species
• 30-50 great shearwaters
• 50-60 Cory’s shearwaters
• 8-12 Sooty shearwaters
• 80-120 Wilson storm petrels

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

Our 3rd trip of the 2025 season was the 1st time in a while that we didn’t find a baleen whale. It was a great trip nonetheless! The earlier rain/drizzle and dense fog gave way to incredible unlimited visibility. We were all ready to encounter cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises), as well as pelagic birds. We had reports, but had a planned route to head to where we’d seen that finback whale one 6/29 and 6/30.

As we headed out, we encountered a small pod of about 20 Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins, along with a few Great Shearwaters and Cory’s Shearwaters.  In a short while, we encountered another group of about 50-75 Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins, as well as more shearwaters, and Wilson’s Storm Petrels. The area offshore where days before we found the whale and loads of bait fish throughout the water column (surface to 170 feet) not productive.  We headed closer to shore and ultimately came across a massive aggregation of Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins. We watched as several pods joined together repeatedly top interact and feed. Captain Dave Marmeno told us that the bait profile on the sonar was indicative of squid, and lots of it. These dolphins were spending a lot of time beneath the surface, most likely feeding on those deep squid.We saw moms and calves, adults, juveniles. It was a pleasure to watch. Eventually we had to head back to the dock and a few saw a seal just of Gin Beach.  Please note that as members of the Whale SENSE system, we are committed to responsible whale watching and will always abide by the constraints of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and never harass, chase, or disturb them. 

• 250-300 Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins
• Great shearwaters
• Cory’s shearwaters
• Sooty shearwaters
• Wilson’s storm petrels

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

Friday, July 4, 2025

Happy Independence Day! For our fourth trip on the Fourth (say that five times fast!), we set sail under sunny skies and excellent sea conditions. Our first cetacean encounter occurred quickly with a small pod of Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins as we steamed passed the lighthouse. We spent some time observing this group of approximately a dozen dolphins before continuing in search of other species. We headed towards an area where humpback whales were seen a day prior, not far from where also observed a fin whale on previous trips. Despite near unlimited visibility and calm seas, no baleen whales were found. Instead, we enjoyed nice views of Cory’s and great shearwaters along with sporadic sightings of Wilson’s storm petrels. We also stopped a few times to pick-up multiple batches of mylar balloons which otherwise kill marine life (especially sea turtles) when ingested. About six miles off Napeague, we encountered another pod of Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins. This aggregation was larger than the first with multiple small pods and one large pod of 40-60 individuals surrounding the vessel affording everyone outstanding views. Some of the dolphins were tail-slapping, a form of non-vocal communication which could also serve as a hunting mechanism to stun prey. With little bait detected, however, these displays were most likely interactive. We stayed in neutral as the dolphins surrounded the vessel, when suddenly a group of at least 12-16 simultaneously surged to the surface to the delight of those of us onboard. Other synchronized leaps followed before we continued north and east towards Montauk. Another small group of Tamanend’s was observed on our return. What a great way to celebrate the Fourth of July! Please note that as members of the Whale SENSE system, we are committed to responsible whale watching and will always abide by the constraints of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and never harass, chase, or disturb them. 
 

• 120-140 Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins
• 30-40 Cory’s shearwaters
• 6-8 great shearwaters
• 10-12 Wilson’s storm petrels

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

Sunday, July 06, 2025

We found our first humpbacks (and common dolphins) of the season!

Yesterday was a beautiful day to be out on the water and sightings began early with a gray seal in the harbor upon departure. We first headed south to an area where whales were reported to be the day prior, but despite significant bait detected beneath the surface, no whales were found. Sporadic sightings of Cory’s and great shearwaters kept us entertained while we continued east in our search towards a second area where whales were also reported, but at first, it seemed as if the whales had moved away. Then, a blow! Upon investigation, it was found to belong to MTK119 (also known as Loon in the Gulf of Maine catalog*), a humpback whale previously documented by CRESLI off Montauk in 2022 and 2023. We spent some time alongside this whale before investigating two other blows about a quarter mile away. As we did, a pod of short-beaked common dolphin charged toward our vessel to the sheer delight of those onboard. Surrounded by dolphins, we now had views of the second humpback, MTK141 (known as Celebration in the Gulf of Maine catalog*), who was previously seen off Montauk in 2023 and 2024, making this the third consecutive year we observed this humpback in our waters. In fact, MTK141 is quite familiar to CRESLI having been sighted eleven times over three months in 2024! There were two other humpbacks in the area, but the whales were diving for about six minutes at a time and not feeding cooperatively so it was difficult to reach the other two while observing the ones closest to us. Viking and CRESLI are proud participants of WhaleSENSE, a voluntary program promoting responsible and ethical whale watching and we do not transit with whales below until we know they are safely away from the vessel. We used this time wisely though, removing a mylar balloon, from the water. Common dolphins continued to approach the vessel as we eyed a navy combat ship, the USS Billings (as later determined by the hull number) in the distance. It was a very exciting and awe-inspiring day on the water and we cannot wait to get back out! Please note that as members of the Whale SENSE system, we are committed to responsible whale watching and will always abide by the constraints of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and never harass, chase, or disturb them. 

*the Gulf of Maine Humpback Whale Catalog is organized and maintained by the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, MA. CRESLI proudly contributes data to this catalog.

• 3-4 humpback whales
• 60-80 short-beaked common dolphins
• 1 Atlantic gray seal
• 12-16 Cory’s shearwaters
• 4-6 great shearwaters
• 16-20 Wilson’s storm petrels

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available soon

Monday July 7, 2025

Our 1^st 3 species day of the season!!

We left the dock ready to look for the humpback whales sighted the day before (7/6/25). We new it would take a while to get out to the zone and began looking esly and found a small pod of about 10 Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins. They were nice to view, but very elusive and we continued our way.  We found a humpback whale with a highly curved dorsal fin. It was making shallow dives and rarely putting it’s flukes. Actually, it was logging most of the time, that is, essentially sleeping just at or below the surface.  Occasionally fluking and diving deep and staying down for 5-7 minutes ((the prey was 150’ down).  The time spent with this whale travelling ENE and surfacing to blow every 30 seconds while sleeping, was well worth it. Of course, we were joined out there by a pod of short-beaked common dolphins. These dolphins swam towards us, with and around us for a while as we remained out of gear.

We also encountered the typical array of pelagic birds and picked up more balloons.

This was a great trip and we are trying to ID this humpback whale . Check back with us in a few days. Please note that as members of the Whale SENSE system, we are committed to responsible whale watching and will always abide by the constraints of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and never harass, chase, or disturb them. 

• 10 Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins
• 12-15 Short-beaked common dolphins
• 1 Humpback whale
• 24 Great shearwaters
• 1 Cory’s shearwaters
• 22 Wilson’s storm pertrels

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

Wednesday, July 09, 2025

On yesterday’s trip, we followed-up on some reports of whale and dolphin activity to our south. We headed out under beautiful weather conditions, exchanging cool ocean breezes for the steamy conditions left behind on land. About two miles out, we had our first cetacean encounter with a group of Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphin. What was first believed to be a small group of a dozen or so ended up being 30-40 individuals swimming around the vessel. Everyone got great looks at the pod(s) before steaming our way south. Eventually we got into an area that was ripe with bird activity; Cory’s and great shearwaters, along with common tern were numerous, and bait was detected from 40-50 ft to the surface. This was a good area for whales, but none were yet found. So we traveled east until a large splash was detected, belonging to a kick-feeding humpback whale. This was the first of five humpbacks encountered in a thick sea of sand eels. Scores of shearwaters joined in on the feast and we enjoyed spending time on the water as whales surrounded the vessel feeding and diving on the bounty. As we left, a small pod of dolphins appeared next to the vessel to the delight of those watching from the bow. It was wonderful being in the presence of such active whales again.

Viking and CRESLI are proud members of NOAA’s Whale SENSE program promoting responsible and ethical whale watching. We do not chase or crowd the whales and keep a safe distance while observing them. Every trip is different and we never know what we will see or experience. Book your first or repeat trip with us today!

• 5 humpback whales
• 30-40 Tamanend’s dolphins
• Small pod of dolphins, likely short-beaked common dolphins
• 80-100 great shearwaters
• 40-60 Cory’s shearwaters
• 20-35 Wilson’s storm petrels

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

Friday, July 11, 2025

Wow, what a day we had on the water yesterday!

Numerous reports of whales in the area had us excitedly heading out in search of some of the humpbacks we had seen on Wednesday’s trip. But to our surprise, our transit was ‘interrupted’ by the sightings of three finback whales less than halfway to our destination. The massive whales were feeding on sand eels, with one seen lunge-feeding on its side at the surface. Fin whales are extremely fast and can travel tremendous distances in a short time, so we enjoyed watching them for a bit, before they – and we – traveled on. About twelve miles offshore, we found blows belonging to two, and then four, and then five humpback whales. All types of feeding and surface displays were observed with one humpback kick-feeding at the surface, another open-mouth feeding with excellent views of its baleen, and another breaching beyond our vessel. We spent time with these whales, while more blows were observed in the distance, and we traveled on to investigate. Again, to our surprise, two fin whales appeared in the mix, along with a minke whale, while tails of humpbacks dove in the distance. What an amazing experience! We reached the additional humpbacks and were pleased to see the tails belonged to a mom/calf pair that had been encountered on Wednesday’s trip. Humpbacks often form associated pairs while feeding and can vary in size and length, so we are always cautious to identify a pair as mom/calf without additional observation. This sighting confirmed what we believed on Wednesday to be our first humpback mom and calf pair of our 2025 season. What a wonderful way to spend a summer’s day on the water.

Every trip is different and we never know what we will see. Don’t miss the boat – book your trip today!

• 3-5 finback whales (not yet determined if additional two were same as those first encountered)
• 7-11 humpback whales
• 1 minke whale
• 80-120 Great shearwaters
• 20-30 Cory’s shearwaters

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

Sunday, July 13, 202

Oh, what a trip we had- 5 species of cetaceans!!

Our 2025 season is getting better and better. Today’s trip initially brought us to a small group of ~20 Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins. Quickly we began to find more groups, , and ultimately a massive aggregation of 300 individuals. We stayed with them for a while and then headed further offshore and found a zone with finback whales and their characteristic 20’ tall inverted coned-shaped blows. The water column was loaded with sand eels and the surface loaded with pelagic birds. We were able to get ID photos from about 6-8 finbacks, although we could see blows in every direction for a few miles.  After a while we decided to check out the humpbacks in the same area. Sea-nettle, Mostaza, and a few others to be ID’d were there. Sea-nettle regularly kick-feeding, the others sometimes bubble mist feeding, and occasionally open-mouth feeding.  Throughout this area we occasionally saw several minkes whales as well.

• 300 Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins
• 8 Finback whales
• 3-4 Humpback whales
• 3 Minke whales
• 40-60 Short-beaked common dolphins
• Hundreds of Great, Cory’s shearwaters
• 2 Wilson’s storm petrels

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

Monday, July 14, 2025

This was a tremendous and memorable trip! We started out toward an area with heavy bait and numerous reports of cetacean activity. En route, we encountered a juvenile humpback whale that was spending brief intervals at the surface, just enough to give everyone a quick look, before we decided to move on. Within a few miles, we saw numerous spouts ahead of us, the first belonging to a finback (fin) whale, the second largest animal on Earth. While observing this endangered species, a minke whale popped up near the vessel, followed by a second blow belonging to the tiniest of minke whales, about one third the size of the adults we typically see. From there, we spent time with a group of 60-100 short-beaked common dolphins which approached our vessel and swam all around us affording everyone onboard incredible views, as well as a second fin whale in the area. Then, it was time to meet our second humpback of the day, a tail-throwing individual exhibiting long dive times (likely feeding on the incredible density of bait detected beneath us) so we continued toward a third humpback observed bubble cloud feeding ahead of us. This whale continuously produced bubble clouds (about every two minutes) around our vessel, confusing and trapping the sand eels that are in abundance here. A minke whale was seen here as well, completing an exciting spectacle of wildlife just eight miles off Montauk. A small group of Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins were spotted on our return transit, wrapping up an incredible five-species cetacean day.

We never know what we will see, but it seems like this season is heating up, and these trips are truly a dream come true. Come on out with us and experience this splendor for yourself!

• 3 humpback whales
• 2 fin whales
• 3-4 minke whales
• 60-100 short-beaked common dolphins
• 12-20 Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins
• 60-80 great shearwaters
• 20-30 Cory’s shearwaters
• 40-60 Wilson’s storm petrels

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

A spectacular afternoon with an interesting and well-known humpback whale and loads of dolphins! On a brutally warm and muggy day on land, we were already for a cooler day at sea. We headed towards the area where we’d been seeing dense patches of prey, birds, and cetaceans for the past week. The prey, and predators (cetaceans and birds) were gone. We had to pick a direction to travel, westward or eastward. We started heading west, but Captain Dave Marmeno changed his mind and turned us eastward.  That was the right move. We spent time with a large aggregation of short-beaked common dolphins. Thern we saw blows from far off and found 25-year-old Mostaza, a female humpback whale that we’d seen on our past 2 trips (and many times before). Mostaza was open-mouth feeding, each time after she closed her mouth, she would roll-over. The dolphins came over as well. This was a magical encounter that included lots of pelagic birds as well.

• 220 Short-beaked common dolphins
• 1 humpback whale
• 47 Great shearwaters
• 19 Cory’s shearwaters
• 11 Wilson’s storm petrels

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

Friday, July 18, 2025

It was a beautiful day on the water yesterday with a refreshing breeze and cooler temperatures than those experienced earlier in the week. The whales were around and we found our first – a  humpback about seven miles off Montauk. This whale was spending long intervals beneath the surface and popping up only briefly 200-300 yards away, making for a difficult encounter. We decided to continue in hopes of finding another individual, which we did, just ahead of the first. This whale, however, was also exhibiting long dive times and surfacing far away from the vessel and after photographic investigation post-trip, turned out to be the same individual as previously encountered. With little bait detected in the area, it is likely this whale was traveling (and quickly at that) in search of food. While quite natural an observation, we realize this can be frustrating for passengers who want a closer look, so we continued on in search of others. About 15 miles off Montauk, we observed two blows, belonging to a presumed-juvenile humpback and a small finback whale. Both whales were exhibiting the same behavior as the first two, with long dive times and distance traveled between blows. With little bait detected here as well, we understood that they were also on the move, so we decided to do the same by heading west toward an area where we have encountered cetaceans previously. Here, we found between 80-100 short-beaked common dolphins who were more than happy to delight everyone on board by approaching the vessel and swimming alongside for minutes at a time, offering everyone incredible views and a truly memorable encounter. On one of their approaches, passengers could hear the dolphins communicating underwater – an amazing experience! Birders on board were happy to document three species of shearwater and a good number of Wilson’s storm petrels. The return trip along the south shore offered everyone outstanding views of Montauk’s cliffs and beaches, and its historic lighthouse and grounds.

• 2 humpback whales
• 1 finback whale
• 80-100 short-beaked common dolphin
• 50-70 great shearwaters
• 10-12 Cory’s shearwaters
• 2 sooty shearwaters
• 80-100 Wilson’s storm petrels

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

Sunday, July 20, 2025

It was absolute cetacean heaven at sea yesterday!

We headed offshore, pausing only briefly to investigate some nearshore splashes and visible leaps, likely belonging to tuna and/or other large, predatory fish. Our transit was speckled with pelagic bird sightings, at times by the hundreds, before we encountered our first whale, a somewhat elusive humpback with long dive times and distant surfaces. While waiting, we were treated to a splendor of hundreds of short-beaked common dolphins charging towards and swam alongside the vessel, giving everyone amazing and incredible views. The very acrobatic and energetic dolphins included adults and juveniles, and the tiniest of calves which appeared, with mom, adjacent to our ship as if to show her newborn off. This made the wait between blows very easy to tolerate. We eventually gained better views of the whale, which at one point was flanked by dozens of dolphins, some of which were bow-riding the humpback! Beyond this magical spectacle, a large blow belonging to a fin whale appeared just as a minke whale sliced through the surface. In one line of sight, we had FOUR CETACEAN SPECIES, a spellbinding experience for even the most seasoned passengers (and naturalist/volunteers)! We eventually moved toward the fin whale to discover at least two additional (fin whale) blows and a second humpback. As before, this humpback was surrounded by dolphins and many others were observed charging and porpoising in the distance. The sea was ‘boiling’ with dolphins and the sky was saturated with blows, just as another minke whale popped up within view. Seabirds were everywhere and soon the fin whales came easily into view with additional blows beyond. The only downside to this whale watch was that it had to end! While we didn’t want to leave, we were comforted by the warm summer sun and the afterglow of our extraordinary time at sea as we returned to port.

Every trip is different and we never know what we are going to see. Book your first or tenth adventure with us today!

• 2-3 humpback whales
• 3-4 finback whales
• 2 minke whales
• 300-650* short-beaked common dolphins (*range reflects uncertainty of duplicate sightings during the multiple encounters)
• 200-250 great shearwaters
• 40-60 Cory’s shearwaters
• 1 sooty shearwater
• 100-200 Wilson’s storm petrels

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

Wednesday, July, 23, 2025

What better way to celebrate World Whale and Dolphin Day than aboard another magical Viking/CRESLI whale watch! Our transit yesterday brought us southeast towards an area we dubbed “cetacean heaven” on Sunday’s trip. At first, it appeared as if the bait and the whales/dolphins had moved on with zero bird activity and no sign of life near the surface. That changed as we reached an area markedly noisier than before. Here, hundreds of great shearwaters and terns patrolled the area and we encountered our first pod of short-beaked common dolphin. The dolphins were acrobatic and inquisitive, swimming around our vessel with repeated close approaches to the delight of those onboard. Shortly after, a series of blows were observed and investigated, while repeated large splashing events occurred just beyond them. The blows belonged to at least one finback whale, while a lobtailing humpback was the source of all the splatter. The lobtailing continued with occasional tail-throws, presumably to communicate with other humpbacks in the area. This humpback then began feeding near the surface, popping up adjacent to dozens of dolphins and shearwaters, and then right next to a feeding finback whale! Everyone had great views of the action and additional blows were seen in the distance. The lobtailing seemed to work because another humpback moved in and we later investigated blows from a third humpback, which began bubble cloud feeding not far from our vessel. Sitting safely out of gear, we watched as blue water turned green reflecting its rich productivity contrasted against the bubbles produced by the feeding humpback. This humpback would then cut through the surface with its mouth (and soon belly) full of prey, as it strained out the water through hundreds of plates of baleen. Eventually, it was time to return home and transform these amazing experiences into lasting memories.

• 4-5 humpback whales
• 2 finback whales
• 120-180 short-beaked common dolphin
• 200-300 great shearwaters
• 30-40 Cory’s shearwaters
• At least 1 sooty shearwater

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

Friday, July 25, 2025

A challenging but successful day!

We left the dock expecting to escape from the heat and we did. We encountered wind and expected 4-5' seas. We found a pod of about 20-30 Tamanend's bottlenose dolphins about 1.5 nautical miles (nm) from Montauk Point. We then headed ESE, experiencing the classic "old-time rock-and- roll" of 4-5' seas for a few hours. We traveled through the area in which we'd found whales, dolphins, and pelagic birds on Monday 7/23/25. Spotting blows at distance was challenging due to all the white caps, and the wind, and waves. We searched and traveled and then at about 20 nm out, a finback whale blew 100 yards ahead of us! We could see the blows  (3 or 4 a few seconds apart, and the whale would go down for a terminal dive of 5-10 minutes, then come up 100-200 yards away. After about 30 minutes, the whale briefly surface close enough to see and attempt to photograph its right side and dorsal fin. We will compare this fin whale to the other 201 fin whales in our catalog. It was a long and challenging trip. We got back to the dock and off the vessel just as a massive thunderstorm began. Perfect timing. We head out again on Sunday

• 20-30 Tamanend's bottlenose dolphins
• 1 finback whale
• ~100 great shearwaters
• ~200 Wilson's storm petrels

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

July 27, 2025
A long, but utterly unique and successful trip with finback whale mom and calf, and some dolphins!
We travelled to an area that is one of the major whale feeding areas off Montauk and found nothing. We continued ENE for a while and turned to head back on a more northerly route, and then we saw the massive blow of an adult finback whale, and a faint blow of her calf! This is a new finback whale mom/calf pair for us, and what a pair it was! The calf kept swimming under and around our bow, then mom came up close to us. We were being “mugged” by both whales. These whales stayed so close to us that we could not move. Doing this for nearly 4 decades, I (Dr. Artie Kopelman, CRESLI president and senior scientist) have never seen a fin whale mom and calf do this for nearly 30 minutes, nor had our Captain (Dave Marmeno), in his many decades of whale trips. This was special! All100+ of us on board (passengers and crew) were ecstatic. We also were visited by a pod of about 30 short-beaked common dolphins while we were headed back. We got back to the dock almost 45 minutes late- but nobody complained. 

• 2 Finback whales (mom and calf)
• 25-30 Short-beaked common dolphins
• 26 Great shearwaters
• 12 Cory’s shearwaters
• 200 Wilson’s storm petrels

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

Monday, July 28, 2025

This trip was punctuated with sightings from the start, and not limited to cetaceans. Our first-of-the-season sighting of bunker (Atlantic menhaden), an extremely important prey fish for a myriad of marine predators, kicked off our departure past the lighthouse. And not surprisingly, shortly thereafter, we encountered a large pod of Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphin. The pod was separated into two distinct groups, each consisting of tightly-packed individuals including adults, juveniles, and a few neonates (newborns) diving and surfacing together, with occasional tail slaps on the surface. While the sighting was invigorating, we decided to use our time wisely and continue east where baleen whales were seen on previous trips. As we transited, the sea boiled almost continuously with bait fish and occasional tuna, before the largest thing of all broke the surface behind us: a submarine! A possible spinner shark spiraled above the water while great and Cory’s shearwater and Wilson’s storm petrel sightings persisted. Our search brought us east of Block Island before returning northwest when numerous blows, belonging to at least six humpback whales, were excitedly investigated. While waiting for the whales to resurface, Bombay, a female who spent nearly the entire summer off Montauk with a calf last season breached immediately ahead of our vessel. Then the magic continued with whales popping up alongside the vessel and one particularly memorable close approach by Mostaza, the 25-year old daughter of Salt. Even more exciting? Our second mom/calf pair of the season was confirmed when Pickle, a whale encountered off Montauk three other seasons, was seen swimming closely with a calf. We saw Pickle eight times over 53 days in 2024, so knowing now that she was pregnant – and returning now as a nursing mother - speaks volumes of the nourishment this area can provide to this species. The enchantment culminated in a rare and beautiful approach by the quintet alongside our vessel, resting and breathing at the surface, affording everyone incredible views (and sounds) and ultimately wrapping up another tremendous day on the water. 
CRESLI proudly contributes to the Gulf of Maine Humpback Whale Catalog curated by the Center for Coastal Studies out of Provincetown, MA. (https://coastalstudies.org/our-work/humpback-whale-research/gulf-of-maine/gom-humpback-catalog/)

• 7-8 humpbacks, including Bombay, Mostaza, Pickle and her 2025 calf, and Scylla’s 2024 calf
• 70-100 Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphin
• 40-50 great shearwater
• 20-30 Cory’s shearwater
• 60-80 Wilson’s storm petrels

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

Wednesday, July 30, 3025

Another challenging yet successful trip with whales and dolphins.

We headed out again to ostensibly cool off while looking for marine mammals. The relatively cooler water helped to curtain some of the brutal conditions and made things more comfortable than on land.  We had multiple reports of whales to the south and decided mot head that way. As we traveled, we found a few pelagic birds and the numbers increased moderately, Cory's shearwaters, then great shearwaters, and Wilson's storm petrels. Eventually, we saw a humpback whale dive about 350 yards ahead of us. This was a large individual, but the prey was in the upper 1/3 of the water column so the whale undertook a shallow, non-fiuking dive. We waited for the whale to resurface, but in the haze we must have missed it and after 15 minutes headed on. Our next sighting was of a massive finback whale (~75') long. After a series of blows, it dove and we waited… 15 minutes and we must have missed this one also. The water had tremendous quantities of squid (one of the prey of fin whales). We headed on, and eventually 15 minutes later and 1.3 miles from where we'd first seen the whale, it surface again swimming rapidly to the east.  
Shortly thereafter, we began to encounter hundreds of short-beaked common dolphins, then more and more- an aggregation of ~300 individuals. These were enchanting encounters.

• 1 humpback whale
• 1 finback whale
• 300 short-beaked common dolphins
• 25 great shearwaters
• 3 Cory's shearwaters
• 230 Wilson's storm petrels

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

Sunday, August 3, 2025

With the sun shining, a light, cool breeze, and nearly unlimited visibility, it was a perfect summer’s day for a whale watch. Under ideal sea and atmospheric conditions, we had our first signs of cetacean life, the tell-tale signs of a distant blow, approximately an hour after passing the lighthouse. We expertly followed the spout and waited for the whale, a mature finback, to surface. Typically, with fin whales, their speed, and long breath-holding times keep us a good distance away, but yesterday’s trip was an exception. This whale would surface, at first about 100-150 yards from our vessel, increasingly getting closer as we waited safely out of gear. Close approaches by fin whales are rare, but passengers got exceptional views as this whale, likely feeding on the dense patches of bait near the surface, appeared repeatedly around the vessel. To add to the excitement, two minke whales also popped up in close view, and like the fin whales, were uncharacteristically easy to watch. The minkes would appear predictably in an expected path of movement, making for repeated sightings between surface appearances by the finback. Off in the distance, two additional blows were seen and they, too, were moving closer toward us. These were two additional fin whales, believed to be a mom-calf pair due to size and behavioral characteristics, and excellent views were afforded of them as well. Then, a successful marriage proposal resulted in an eruption of applause amongst the passengers, and an air of joy surrounded us at sea. Additional blows, likely belonging to even more fin whales, were observed way out in the distance, too far for us to safely investigate while waiting on the fin whales to surface around us. Eventually, the dive times and distances of the whales increased, and we investigated a fourth fin whale with an interestingly faint blow (likely due to its small size) before heading back to port. Photos of these whales will soon be examined and Dr. Artie Kopelman, Senior Naturalist and Curator of the CRESLI Finback Whale Catalog, will determine whether these individuals have previously been documented in the area. Check out CRESLI’s SmugMug photo collection in a few days to follow-up (https://drartiek-cresli.smugmug.com/CRESLI-2025-Whale-Watches). And CONGRATULATIONS to the newly-engaged couple on board!

• 4-6 finback whales
• 2-3 minke whales
• 120-150 Wilson’s storm petrels
• 8-12 great shearwaters
• 6-8 Cory’s shearwaters

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

Monday, August 4, 2025

Awe Inspiring! 

What an amazing trip! We headed to an area where whales used to be incredible prevalent for many years, and where whale had been the day before as well as the past weeks. It took a while to get there, and on a day with unlimited visibility, we began seeing whales from several miles away. Humpback whales, finback whales, and short-beaked common dolphins were around us, next to us, under us for several hours. Our senior scientist/naturalist, Dr. Artie Kopelman, is finished going through almost 1440 high resolution photos for good views of feeding and other behaviors, as well as photoidentification.  We has open-mouth feeding and bubble feeding humpback whales. We saw whales in every direction but couldn’t get to all of them.  Occasionally, when finm whales encountered short-beaked common dolphins, the fin whales blew bubble to keep the dolphin away! We sail Sunday, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and will begin adding Saturdays soon.

• 5-7 finback whales
• 4-5 humpback whales
• ~1000 short-beaked common dolphins
• 200 great shearwaters
• 70 Cory’s shearwaters
• 70 Wilson’s storm petrels

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

Wednesday, August 6, 2025

What a wildlife spectacle we witnessed off Montauk yesterday!

We always tell passengers how each trip is different and every outing brings with it a special uniqueness, but yesterday’s trip was both familiar and outstanding. Familiar in the sense that we’ve had days at sea like this before, yet exceptional and above and beyond what we ever hope to experience. The trip began with a small pod of Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins, not far from the lighthouse. As we watched, multiple small pods joined together, first into a group of about twenty, before gaining more individuals into what ultimately became a pod of at least 120 dolphins. It was beautiful to watch their synchronicity and to witness how responsible whale watching pays dividends to all involved; it was as if the dolphins returned their respect for keeping our distance and passively observing by swimming and surfacing together alongside the vessel for much of our encounter. We eventually headed east and after about an hour of transit, we saw our first blow. Then another, and another, and another, and another, and so on, like the Bellagio fountains at Vegas! At first, the blows belonged to at least 6-8 fin whales, including a mom and calf pair. Four of the whales were surfacing and moving together, likely feeding on dense patches of sand eels about fifty feet beneath the surface. But then splashes in the distance caught our eye and eventually after moving safely away from the fins, we encountered the first of 8-12 humpback whales. These whales demonstrated nearly every surface activity possible: bubble, kick-, and open mouth feeding, flipper slapping, spy hopping, and partial and full breaches! The group consisted of at least two mom/calf pairs, one of which we encountered earlier this season (Pickle and her 2025 calf). As the surface behaviors ensued, fin whales remained in the area and one humpback breached right next to them! Then the dolphins arrived; these were the fast and acrobatic short-beaked common dolphins, who charged towards the bait as well as our vessel, giving everyone excellent and memorable views. Some passengers at the bow heard their vocalizations as well! It was chaotic in the most beautiful sense: fin whales to the left, humpbacks to the right (and left), dolphins at the bow, and then as you finally fix your gaze, a breach to interrupt whatever it was you decided to focus on. The breaches were numerous and exhilarating, and not to be ‘outdone’, a minke whale surprised us all at the bow with a close approach on both sides giving everyone great views of four cetacean species at once. It was a five cetacean species day and we returned full of happy memories and humbled by the grandeur of our special time at sea.

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

Friday, August 8, 2025

A long and exceptional day

We traveled to where many whales had been seen on the previous trip, only to find few pelagic birds, little bait, and 1 humpback whale that was repeatedly diving without fluking, for extended periods of time. About several long bouts waiting for this large whale to fluke, we headed on towards the previous days coordinates.  We saw no whales and continued to head eastward. We were about 20 nautical miles (nm) east and decided to turn north before heading west. On our way back, we had encounters with 4 humpback whales (i.e., 2 associated pairs), approximately 2 miles north of where we'd looked for them. We were then joined by about 40 short-beaked common dolphins.

• 5 humpback whales
• 50-75 short-beaked common dolphins

Unfortunately a computer malfunction has temporarily disturbed the typical photo review of the 8/8/25 trip until later 

Sunday, August 10, 2025 

Another exceptional trip for Viking/CRESLI is in the books!

With sunny skies, a refreshing breeze, and incredible visibility, it was already a great trip when we encountered a small pod of Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins close to shore. We spent some time with them, but wanted to move on with reports of humpbacks to our south. After spotting a couple of blows and seeing flukes (of diving whales) at the surface, we knew we found at least two humpbacks, but the surprise was on us as they suddenly appeared at the surface open-mouth feeding on the rich bait detected below. These whales were bubble-net feeding, a coordinated effort where a circular (spiral) ring of bubbles is created to confuse and corral small schooling fish such as sand eels, and they were doing it again and again, all around us as the boat sat safely out of gear to watch. A third humpback was bubble cloud feeding (blowing a single burst or trail of bubbles individually), but at one point, joined in with the associated pair such that all three humpbacks could at once be seen feeding and then dragging (moving slowly along the surface straining out the water through their baleen to capture their prey). This went on for a while with bubbles – and then whales – appearing close to our vessel affording everyone exceptional views. Three finback whales were also in the area but despite being the second largest animal in the world and a rare and endangered species, most eyes were on the humpbacks, a testament to how incredible an experience it was to witness. A very small pod of short-beaked common dolphins was also briefly seen feeding near the surface. Eventually, it was time to return, but the incredible encounter kept everyone delighted even as we steamed home. Every trip is different and we never know what we will observe and witness. Come join us on our next adventure of discovery! 

• 3 humpback whales
• 3 finback whales
• 20-30 short-beaked common dolphins
• 60-80 Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins
• 80-120 great shearwaters
• 30-40 Cory’s and/or Scopoli’s shearwaters
• 60-80 Wilson’s storm petrels

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

MONDAY AUGUST 11, 2025  OFFSHORE TRIP TO THE GREAT SOUTH CHANNEL (GSC) -

Perseid meteors, whales, dolphins, basking shark and more!

We left Sunday evening to begin our 36 hour trip to the Great South Channel. With enough bunks for 40 people below deck, many decide to sleep out under the stars and meteors. Morning brought us an exquisite sunrise. We had reports of where some whales had been seen by our colleague, Dr. Jooke Robbins, Director of the Humpback Whale Studies Program at Center for Coatsal Studies (https://coastalstudies.org/). This was our 26th offshore multiday trip, and the 25th to the GSC. Interestingly, most of our trips involved starting at almost exactly where Dr. Robbins suggested.  The trip was phenomenal, with 30 or more humpback whales, as well as a basking shark. Dr. Artie Kopelman, CRESLI's president and senior naturalist had his hands full - almost 2800 high resolution photos are being reviewed. So far, half have been carefully vetted and he has identified 27 different humpback whales - more to come. 

We apologize - but the same computer malfunction regarding the 8/8/25 photos temporarily wiped out all 1524 photos from this trip (to be honest, it wiped out all 54,460 whale photos). Luckily backups were reinstalled but the painstaking process of reviewing all photos from the GSC trip will have tpo wait until the end of our season. All appropriate GSC photos and videos will be posted sometime in early September.

Wednesday, August 13, 2025

Fin Whale Nirvana!

There has been a certain level of magic with our whale watching trips this season. Every trip is different, but this year, each trip is very different from the last and we lay witness to beautiful and unexpected encounters at sea. Yesterday was no exception, but for a short while, it did not feel that way. Our sunny skies turned gray shortly after leaving the dock and there was a strong, gusty wind with a bit of chop. The usual sightings of bottlenose dolphins near the lighthouse were lacking and as we headed south towards an area where whales and dolphins were bountiful on previous trips, we saw few birds and no cetaceans. Then we headed east, putting the strong wind to our back, and turning toward sunny skies as if a switch had been flipped. Almost immediately, a small pod of short-beaked common dolphin charged toward the vessel and swam around the bow, but only briefly. We waited and searched for more, but this would be a fleeting encounter. We continued steaming and searching, and after a little while, the dolphin pods returned, and this time, they remained. It was a small group and more mellow than the charging pods we have seen on previous trips, but these rode the bow and swam alongside (and under) the vessel for nearly 20 minutes. Everyone had excellent, lingering views. Then a blow was spotted and we quickly investigated it. The single blow became two and we found two finback whales about 200 yards from the vessel. But there was a third finback behind the vessel and more blows were spotted in the area. These belonged to six additional finback (fin) whales with blows belonging to at least six other fin whales ahead of us. Fin whales are incredibly fast and notoriously tricky to encounter, but that was not the case yesterday! The magic returned and we were surrounded by a dozen fin whales, with groups of two, three, and five popping up around our vessel. The second largest animal on Earth, these whales were HUGE and we soaked in their sights and SOUNDS as they exchanged breathes at the surface. It truly was a magical and rare encounter. Unfortunately, we had traveled so far to find them, it was eventually time to head home. Blows continued in all directions on our return and a surprise humpback whale was spotted diving ahead of the vessel. We paused our transit to investigate and were elated to see this whale surface again revealing its tail flukes on a terminal dive, marking the perfect punctuation to another incredible day at sea.

• 11-13 (possibly more) finback whales
• 1 humpback whale
• 60-80 short-beaked common dolphins
• 30-40 great shearwaters
• 40-50 Wilson’s storm petrels

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

Friday, August 15, 2025
Continuously breaching humpback whale and so much more!
This summer of exceptional trips continues. Have you ever watched a young humpback whale breach for 20 minutes at 15 to 20 second intervals continuously? That happened to us. We saw this well from 5+ miles away and watched and counted as a breach over and over again until it got close.  It continued to breach and chin slap repeatedly at 15-20 second intervals for a while. Use the link below to see slow-motion videos and photos. We saw Loon, Strikeout, and 4 humpback whales that haven't been seen before or named. The whales were feeding at/around the sea floor (most likely on sand eels). We had the pleasure of spending 3 hours amongst a very active group of whales.  It was tiring, after coming back from our successful offshore trip, just a few days ago. But I'll take that kind of tiredeness every day.

Come on out and join in the fun, excitement, research, and education!

• 6-12 humpback whales
• 110 Wilsons's storm petrels
• 43 Great shearwaters
• 20 Cory's shearwaters

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

Saturday, August 16, 2025

A beautiful day on the water rich with whale and dolphin sightings!
Yesterday was our first Saturday excursion of the year and what a precedent it set! We exchanged the sweltering heat on land for cool ocean breezes under clear, blue skies and excellent visibility. Although we planned to travel ten or more miles to find cetaceans, the whales had other plans, stopping us only a few miles out to investigate a flipper-slapping juvenile humpback. This individual lay belly-up at the surface slapping both flippers at the surface, a form of communication with other humpbacks. We watched the activity until the whale began short, consistent two-minute dives, likely feeding on the rich schools of bunker nearby. A brief shark sighting was made and the whale surprised us with an inverted lobtailing, just as, a second humpback, not surprisingly, was observed in the area. As crazy as it may seem, we moved on to our destination with the hopes of finding even more. Our transit, however, was interrupted once again, this time by a small pod of Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins. We continued on and began seeing blows over a mile away. As we approached, we discovered at least 9 humpbacks including (at least) two mom/calf pairs which we spent time with. The whales included an associated pair, an associated trio, and at one point, a group of five not far from the vessel. A minke whale also, briefly, appeared as we watched the humpbacks. Then things got exciting as a humpback calf began close approaches near the vessel, joined by the associated pair, and then the associated trio. We looked left. We looked right. Then, two fin whales appeared 150 feet from the bow. The excitement was palpable! It was an incredible day and we were honored to be a part of it. 

• 11-13 humpback whales
• 3 finback whales
•  minke whale
• 1 shark (of unknown species) with many others spotted by passengers along our transit
• 80-100 Wilson’s storm petrels
• 16-22 great shearwaters
• 3-4 Cory’s shearwaters

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

Here's a slideshow

Sunday, August 17, 2025

Another successful trip with 5 species of cetaceans and a loggerhead sea turtle!

A rich diversity of marine mammals and sea turtles were seen during today's trip on the Viking Starship. The capacity crowd got to see things that many had never seen before. We headed to the same area where we've been seeing whales and dolphins for a few weeks. It's actually an area that used to be the prime area for sightings for decades! Near Montauk, we encountered a small group of Tamanend's bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops erebennus).  Offshore, in view of the Block Island Windfarm, from miles away, again, we saw the splashes of breaching whales and the blows of humpback and finback whales. A few minutes before encountering our first whale, we encountered a loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) and were able to see it and photographic it eye-to-eye using a zoom telephoto lens at 600mm. Shortly thereafter, our encounters with cetaceans began: fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus), humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis), and common bottlenose dolphins (T. truncatus). While the pelagic bird sightings were low, we still managed a few when with the whales. The seas picked up and wit was a bouncy ride on the way back, but none-the-less, a spectacular trip!

• 3 humpback whales
  • Loon
  • Saucer and her 2025 calf
• 4 finback whales
•  30 Tamanend's bottlenose dolphins
• 100 Short-beaked common dolphins
• 30 Common bottlenose dolphins
• 200 Wilson’s storm petrels
• 16 great shearwaters
• 3 Cory’s shearwaters

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

Here's a slideshow

Saturday, August 23, 2025

We headed out after the effects of Hurricane Erin were settling down. Often after these kinds of events, we are sure what might become of the whales' prey and the whales. We decided to head towards where we had been finding whales over the past few weeks. We were pleasantly surprised by finding whales significantly closer than we expected. At first we saw the characteristic towering blows of finback whales, a mom and her calf. After a while, we headed towards a nearby pair of humpback whales, also a mom and her calf. In both cases always a special treat to see.

The humpbacks could be seen open-mouth feeding and filtering - again, always a pleasure to see, whether you're a newbie or have been at it for nearly 4 decades. We ended the trip while looking at our 5th humpback, unfortunately like too many, it had lost its dorsal fin, but otherwise seemed well. Human interactions such as ship-strikes and entanglements are the predominant causses of whale deaths and injuries.  We can all do better. CRESLI and the Viking Fleet are members of the Whale SENSE program and always interact responsibly and appropriately when with marine mammals.

• 2-4 finback whales
• 5 humpback whales
• 5 Wilson's storm petrels
• 5 Cory's shearwaters
• 4 Great shearwaters

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

Sunday, August 24, 2025

Only two days after Hurricane Erin stirred up nearly 20-ft seas off Montauk, we headed off unsure of what we may or may not encounter. Shortly after steaming beyond the inlet, we encountered a small pod of Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphin, a species we typically find much closer to the open ocean beyond the Point. We continued on after a short stop and found a humpback whale just a couple of miles southwest of Camp Hero State Park. We spent time with this whale, a juvenile, which would surface every three to four minutes, likely feeding on bait detected near the bottom. We eventually headed east where humpback and finback whales were spotted the day prior. Almost immediately, more Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins were spotted, in small groups at first, not exceeding 20-30 individuals per pod. This continued for a few miles of transit with the pod size and pelagic bird sightings increasing along the way. We passed through the area where whales were seen the day before without any sightings so continued east where whales and dolphins were documented throughout the season. Unfortunately, the area was barren so we circled back and searched familiar areas again. Shearwaters (Cory’s and Great, mostly) and Wilson’s storm petrels were abundant, but no whales would be found. A large splash made likely by a humpback whale was observed by one of our sharp-eyed volunteers at least a few miles away and we headed in that direction to check it out. Unfortunately, despite keen eyes and eager passengers keeping watch, the whale was never seen and it was time to return home. Thankfully, we enjoyed good sightings earlier in the trip and a beautiful sunset upon our return, but this was a reminder of the dynamic nature of the ocean and the animals within.

• 1 humpback whale
• 100-120 Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphin
• 160-200 great shearwaters
• 60-80 Cory’s shearwaters
• 1 sooty shearwater
• 1 Manx shearwater
• 180-220 Wilson’s storm petrels

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

Here's a slideshow

Monday, August 25, 2025

Not wanting to repeated the previous day's effoprts, we headed out to investigate several different whale spotting territories and had success

The conditions were excellent, the visibility was limited to around 5 miles at first, but opened up to at least 14 miles. We headed south soon found a scalloped hammerhead shark and a few pelagic (open ocean) birds, before we eventually found two humpback whales in an area where the depth was 125' and their prey (most likely sand eels) were patchily distributed on the sea floor. One whale was ahead of us and one on our stern, Both dove several times before any photos were taken, both stayed down for anywhere from 8-15 minutes. After the "last" dive was at 15:00 minutes long and counting, and we'd unsuccessful in getting photo ID's, and had been with these whales for 27 minutes, we opted to leave and look for more. Away we went and the whales came up behind us after being down for 16 minutes. 

We headed ENE for 2 hours before we found a mom/calf pair of finback (or fin) whales. The mom was enormous, probably near 80' in length and the calf was obviously smaller, but large enough.  They also had potential prey far down in and around the sea floor and were diving for around 3:30 on average. Throughout the trip we had birders on board, monitoring and attempting to count all birds, but particularly wanted to see pelagic (open-ocean) birds.  Their sightings are posted in E-bird and they documented 36 species!  I've included their counts for our pelagic bird component of his report. The trip was long, but rewarding for all involved. My sincerest thanks to the group of 4 birders who's offshore trip with our friends and colleagues on the American Princess had been cancelled. Of course my thanks also go the Viking Fleet Captain (JR Gibson) and crew (John and Paulie), the 9 CRESLI volunteers, and everyone else on board (including the yellow warbler that hitched a ride back to shore with us)
 

• 1 Scalloped Hammerhead shark
• 2 humpback whales
• 2 finback (fin) whales
• 5 Parasitic Jaegers
• 320 Wilson's Storm Petrels
• 13 Cory's Shearwaters
• 141 Great Shearwaters
• 1 Sooty Shearwater
• 1 Max Shearwater
• 1 Sargasso Shearwater
• 2 Red-necked Phalaropes

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

Here's a slideshow

Wednesday, August 27, 2025

With summer vacation soon ending, the mood onboard the Viking Starship yesterday was excited and joyful as we left the dock under beautiful blue skies, a light breeze, and unlimited visibility. We sailed passed historic Camp Hero and Montauk Point Lighthouse before finding numerous schools of bunker, visible as dark patches at the surface. Here, hundreds of shearwaters (primarily Cory’s and great) flew, fed, and rested with full bellies at the surface. The fish and bird life continued for the first couple of miles of our journey as we sailed southeast towards productive waters where cetaceans (whales and dolphins) were seen in abundance on previous trips. The unlimited visibility provided excellent views of Fire Island, and the bow was full of families and friends enjoying the voyage. To our surprise, despite its beauty and an abundance of bait detected by the ship’s SONAR, no whales would be found. We passed Block Island before heading south to loop back in different waters. The wind and seas picked up a bit adding a level of excitement to those at the bow, and things got even more exciting when a large pod of short-beaked common dolphins raced toward the vessel and gave everyone the encounter of a lifetime. Dolphins rode the bow and swam alongside the vessel as others surfed the waves and breached ahead of us. Bait was detected throughout the water column and soon enough dolphins could be seen charging at, and just beneath, the surface feeding on the feast. The close approaches continued for half an hour, with dolphins porpoising and rubbing bellies immediately next to the vessel, beneath admiring eyes. Passengers on the lower level could hear the blows of exhalation and occasional whistles, providing an exhilarating and memorable experience. Altogether, at least 180-220 dolphins swam, fished, and surfed alongside our vessel, before we continued northeast toward Montauk. Unfortunately, no baleen whales would be found despite persistent searching. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful and memorable day at sea, ending beneath a gorgeous sunset as we passed the Point and returned to harbor.

• 180-220 short-beaked common dolphins
• 160-200 Cory’s shearwaters
• 80-120 great shearwaters
• 10-20 Wilson’s storm petrels

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

Here's a slideshow

Friday, August 29, 2025

Another special day on the water with dolphins, whales, and cold winds

If you were itching to escape the heat and spend you time looking for dolphins and whales, Friday August 29, was your day. While we'd been traveling east for the past few weeks and finding whales, the presence of Atlantic menhaden in the near shore waters, as well as the mixing in response to Hurricane Erin has changed our potential searching paradigms. We had reports of humpbacks being in the nearshore waters and went to explore.  First we found a group 60-70 Tamanend's bottlenose dolphins in addition to a few pelagic birds (Cory's shearwaters and an occasional Wilson's storm petrel and Great shearwater. We continued westward and our Senior Naturalist/Scientist, Dr. Artie Kopelman, saw the splash of a massive whale breach miles ahead. We never found the reported breachers(s) but did find our first humpbacks, an associated pair. It was beautiful to watch them come over to check us out, non the port side and one on the starboard side of the bow, as we were floating still, Moments of AWE.

Eventually, we decided t leave them and held elsewhere.  We ended up encountering more Tamanend's dolphins and another resting humpback whale. Even after doing this for 37 year's it new gets boring. Exhausting yest, but boring no/

Join us, we have a few trips left before we switch to seals./ Oh yeah - there was an Atlantic Gray seal in the harbor.

PLEASE NOTE THAT SOME OF THE PHOTOS HAVE BENN EDITED TO PROVIDE CLARITY. Our usual settings were inadvertently altered and have to be corrected via software

• 250 Tamanend's bottlenose dolphins
• 4 humpback whales
• 108 Cory's shearwaters
• 85 Great shearwaters
• 10 Wilson's storm petrel

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

Here's a slideshow

Saturday, August 30, 2025

As August (and soon summer) draws to a close, we could not have asked for a better day to explore Long Island’s marine ecosystem. With unlimited visibility, blue skies, and a crisp breeze, it was a privilege to head west along Long Island’s east end searching for marine life. Pelagic bird sightings were limited at first, but began to pick up with numerous Cory’s and great shearwaters observed gliding over a calm sea. A small pod of Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins were spotted about two miles from shore and we spent some time with them before moving on to a second, larger pod to their west. We continued on for a bit and decided to move south in our search. About five miles out, we encountered a series of splashes belonging to a much larger group of Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins, which were traveling west and could be seen breaching and charging bait, surfacing together in large groups of 40-60 individuals each. Altogether, at least 140-180 dolphins were here and we enjoyed their company for a while, as some headed in our direction and others swam alongside the vessel, if only briefly, to provide incredible views. We then traveled east, farther offshore than our original transit, searching for any of the three humpback whales encountered on yesterday’s trips. CRESLI’s dedicated volunteers searched in all directions around the vessel, but unfortunately, no whales would be found. The cetaceans have been on the move all summer, but this seems especially true after Hurricane Erin passed offshore last week. The warm sun, crisp breeze, and a beautiful East End sunrise, however, helped wrap up an enjoyable time at sea.

• 260-280 Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins (in three distinct pods)
• 60-80 Cory’s shearwaters
• 20-40 great shearwaters (and possibly Manx)
• 4 Wilson’s storm petrels

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

Here's a slideshow

Sunday, August 31, 2025

You couldn't have asked for a better late August day. We had unlimited visibility, clear skies, sun, and enough cool wind to keep those in the shade needing additional layers. We had no reports of whales or dolphins, and decided on a course that would take us through several areas that had been productive recently. We briefly caught glimpses of dolphins, and had several encounters with phantom 'blows,' but nothing substantial materialized. While we saw sporadic clusters of pelagic birds and prey, it wasn't until late in the trip that we found areas with significant prey densities throughout the water column, but still no cetaceans.

• 19 Wilson's storm petrels
• 60 Cory's (with perhaps 1 Scopoli's shearwaters (see https://ebird.org/checklist/S270846932)
• 30 Great shearwaters
• 8-10 Manx shearwaters

Monday, September 01, 2025

It was a beautifully crisp day as we sailed into September aboard the Viking Starship yesterday. We decided to head west after finding no whales or dolphins to the east on the previous trip. The nearshore environment has been rich with schools of bunker and scores of pelagic birds over the last few weeks, even as the effects of Hurricane Erin passing offshore have been felt elsewhere in the region. We encountered rafts of Cory’s and great shearwaters, likely resting with full bellies, from a previous feast, and enjoyed their characteristic gliding above the water as we continued out transit west. After a short while, a small pod of Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins were seen, if only for a fleeting moment. We waited and watched as they appeared one more time, before continuing on. Eventually, with no whales spotted nearshore, we headed south toward an area rich with bait, and where we had spent so many successful days watching whales last season. Unfortunately, although we did find another small pod of Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphin, no whales or other marine life would be found, save a handful of shearwaters and the small, but mighty Wilson’s storm petrel. We continued to search as we passed Montauk Point, aglow with a beautiful sunset, as if to mark the traditional end of summer. Typically, we continue to see cetaceans well into September, so this may be a continued effect of Hurricane Erin passing offshore just a little over a week ago. We have four more trips on the water before our 2025 season wraps up for good; come join us a beautiful and educational time at sea.

• 4-9 Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins
• 160-200 Cory’s shearwater
• 70-90 great shearwater
• 12-15 Wilson’s storm petrels

Wednesday, September 3, 2025

SPECTACULAR TRIP - 3 species of cetaceans!

A calm, crystal clear, beautiful day. We had unlimited visibility, relatively calm seas, and were able to find whales and dolphins. We passed through several hundreds of Great and Cory's shearwaters sitting on the surface near the Lighthouse and headed ESE towards one of our well known dolphin areas and readily found a small group. While viewing a small group of Tamanend's bottlenose dolphin (6-12), we saw a faint blow  0.2 miles ahead. This was a humpback whale, a small one with horrendous propeller scars across the remnants of it's dorsal fin - another whale hit by a vessel. This was was spending long times down, most likely feeding on the sand eels at/in the seafloor. While we stayed with this whale, we were joined by several minke whales, a hammerhead shark, and a group of 60-90 additional Tamanend's bottlenose dolphins. We decided to head off and look for others and as we got a few miles away, the young humpback breached 5 times, and we went back to spend a little more time with it. 

We headed back to the dock, elated and worried about this poor injured whale. Attempts to identify it are on going.

• 1 humpback whale
• 2 minke whales
• 65-100 Tamanend's bottlenose dolphins
• 1 Hammerhead shark
• ~350 Great shearwaters 
• ~400 Cory's shearwaters
• 2-3 Sooty shearwaters
• 20 Wilson's storm petrels

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

Here's a slideshow

Saturday, September 6, 2025

Another special day on the Viking g Starship, breaching and lunge feeding humpback whales and loads of Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins!

We had a cool, clear, and somewhat choppy adventure on antepenultimate (3rd from last) Viking Fleet/CRESLI whale watch. On of our volunteers saw a young humpback whale swimming in the waters right near her home in Montauk town, so we knew were to look.. For most of the season, the whales were further offshore , but today, we found them close to shore.  

These were all juvenile humpback whales (<12 m long) and while some were feeding on sand eels in water over 65’ deep, others fed on the abundant Atlantic menhaden in shallower waters. At one point, a 35’ long (10.67 m) humpback conducted a full body breach about 35 feet off our port bow. While some were able to see this, it caught many off guard. It was beautiful to see, even after 37 years of seeing whales breach. Another humpback went under the vessel and came up to breathe 4-5 feet off the starboard side of the Starship. Another beautiful site to see. Ultimately, we saw 3 different young humpback whales, and around 100 Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins, and a slew of pelagic birds, a spinner shark, and another unidentified shark

• 3 humpback whales
• ~100 Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins
• 25-30 Cory’s shearwaters
• 35-40 Great shearwaters
• 50-60 Wilson’s storm petrels 
• 1 spinner shark
• 1 blue shark

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

Here's a slideshow

Sunday, September 7, 2025

What a wonderful way to wrap up our weekend trips aboard the Viking Starship yesterday! The bunker was running and we found dolphins almost immediately after leaving the inlet. These dolphins, Tamanend’s bottlenose, were actively feeding on the bunker which surrounded our vessel, affording passengers excellent views of the action. We traveled along with the dolphins, a pod of 50-70, for a while before moving around the Point and heading west along the shore. Here we searched for larger cetaceans, mainly some of the juvenile humpback whales encountered on Saturday’s trip. At first, no whales could be found, but the sights of spinner sharks spiraling out of the water in a school of bunker, made the searching worthwhile. We continued on, eventually finding a young humpback west of the previous day’s sightings. As we waited for this small whale to surface, we were treated to the music of bunker splashing and occasional surprise lunges by the whale as it fed on the hearty bunker. Bottlenose dolphins were also in the area and the rain, which persisted earlier in the trip, let off a bit making for a magical encounter. The humpback, which was in shallow water (30-38 feet), eventually lifted its tail flukes out of the water on a terminal dive, and we said goodbye to the whale to head back to the dock. Well, we tried anyway, because not long after, we saw a minke whale ahead of the boat feeding on another school of fish. We stopped and watched as this young minke surfaced around the bow with a second humpback popping up behind it! After spending some time here, we continued home, encountering constant schools of bunker, pods of bottlenose, and occasional shark (of unidentified species) sightings. As if that were not enough, the sun came out enough to not only cast incredible shades of light during sunset, but created a rainbow that ran clear across the sky as we returned to port. We could not have asked for a better way to wrap up the trip and (almost) the season. Thank you to all the passengers who joined us onboard (and those following us online) this season. It sure was a magical one.    

• 2 humpback whales, juveniles
• 1-2 minke whales
• 120-160 Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins
• 1-2 spinner sharks
• 2 additional sharks of unidentified species
• 60-80 Cory’s shearwaters
• 8-12 great shearwaters
• 50-60 Wilson’s storm petrels    

PHOTOS SOON                             

Monday, September 8, 2025

Our last scheduled trip was another success!!

We headed out on the Viking Star looking forward to another fascinating trip on a day with unlimited visibility and brisk NW wind. The seas we fine as we headed westward towards where we'd been seeing juvenile humpback whales feeding on Atlantic Menhaden.  It wasn't long before we were joined by 60 or more Tamanend's bottlenose dolphins. We saw menhaden pods and we saw the blow of a humpback whale seen and photographed by our senior scientist, Dr. Artie Kopelman, 2 days earlier. This poor whale had deep healed gashes on the trailing edge of its right fluke, something we see too often. This whale was diving for about 3-5 minute, most likely feeding on the sand eels patchily distributed in and around the sea floor. 2 days prior, this young whale never  lifted its fluke completely, so identifying this whale was difficult.  Now we have photos of the ventral surface of its fluke, as well as the right and left sides of its dorsal fin. 

• 1 humpback whale
• 50-75 Tamanend's bottlenose dolphins
• 1 Immature Northern Gannet
• 5 Cory's Shearwaters
• 5 Great Shearwaters
• 2 Wilson's Storm Petrels

Photos to view and/or purchase to help support our work - prints, digital copies, and framed artwork available

Here's a slideshow