CARDHU (Twitter page)

2011 Sightings: May: Cardhu was sighted on Jeffreys Ledge in late May, traveling with another female Humpback named Scylla. Cardhu not only lifted her tail to reveal her beautiful all-black fluke, she did a behavior called a fluke corkscrew—rotating as she fluked to create a corkscrew effect!

Additionally, there was some very positive news in relation to Cardhu’s 1996 calf, Venom. She appeared quite unhealthy in 2009 and many doubted her survival, however, Venom appears to be much healthier and even brought a calf back to the area! Despite the noticeable chunk missing from her fluke, Venom and her calf seem to be doing fine.

2009 Sightings: Sept: Still with Salt, the pair put up with a very disruptive Colt, who rushed into the group, charged around for 10 minutes, and left!

June: We saw Cardhu out on Stellwagen Bank with Salt. We often see this two large females together. Salt was lob-tailing, or repeatedly slapping her tail on the surface of the water - you can imagine what a big sound that makes! Cardhu, however, was breaching! Cardhu is a very large whale, so this was a particularly impressive display.

May: Every year we gather with other whale biologists to name the new whales to our Stellwagen Bank population. Calves are not named in their first year, but are rather when they are seen again in a future year. Cardhu's 2006 calf was given the name Safari this year.

On a less positive note, another of Cardhu's calves was seen this year. Her 1996 calf, Venom, was seen traveling with Tear. Sadly, Venom did not look good. She appeared pale and emaciated. We will keep an eye out for her and will let you know any news.

2008 Sightings: July: Whale Center Catalog Manager Jenn Tackaberry and former Whale Center Catalog Manager (and summer naturalist) Cara Pekarcik just finished a week-long stint on a collaborative whale tagging cruise on Stellwagen Bank. They report that on one day they saw eight of our adopt-a-whales! They saw Cardhu and her 2008 calf with Cardhu, mostly feeding on her own.

May: Cardhu is back on Stellwagen Bank with her 11th calf! She was seen by our friends at the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies over the weekend. We hope to see her soon ourselves.

Cardhu is one of the most prolific whales in our study group. She's frequently seen over the years with another big female, Salt. In fact, the two spent a lot of time traveling and feeding together late last summer. It turns out they were both pregnant at the time because Salt is also back with her 11th calf!

Cardhu's 2006 calf was seen in the area last year which means it will be getting name sometime in the next month or two. The whale naming is a group effort by the many groups that study humpbacks in the Gulf of Maine. The whales are named for distinctive marks on their flukes.

2007 Sightings: July: Cardhu was seen on our first research trip in April, and has been seen regularly since. She was seen several times traveling with Salt, another big female familiar to many whale watchers. Cardhu and Salt have been seen traveling together off and on for decades. One day in June Cardhu was seen with another adopt-a-whale, Trident, and with Dash-Dot; the three whales spent about 30 minutes making close approaches to two whale watch boats out of Gloucester. Such a display is rare for the older adults.

2006 Sightings: Cardhu continues to be seen with her new calf on trips to Stellwagen Bank during early July.

Cardhu returned to Stellwagen Bank in May with her 10th recorded calf! She has been a resident of northern Stellwagen Bank for the past few weeks. Cardhu has been feeding on sand lance and often feeds with other females in the area including Reaper, Ase, Pepper and Scratch.

2005 Sightings: Whale Center staff have seen Cardhu in July feeding on abundant herring and krill on Jeffreys Ledge. We are happy to see this large female who has been a regular in the area since we first saw her in the summer of 1980.

2004 Sightings: She was seen in the summer of 2004 on Georges Bank, and again in the fall on Jeffreys Ledge most likely to feed on the spawning herring.

2003 Sightings: Sighted on September 15, 2003 off of Chatham, Massachusetts, in a feeding group of over 50 humpbacks. That has been our only sighting of the entire year.

2002 Sightings: Seen in both the Great South Channel and on Stellwagen Bank, Cardhu has her ninth recorded calf this year! The calf has been seen rolling and breaching, and we think it is a male (but need to confirm this by our sex-determination photos).

2001 Sightings: Early Sept. Report: Cardhu has been seen surface feeding on several days.

August Report: Cardhu was seen on a few scattered days over the past few weeks, including one sighting of her surface feeding in the midst of a large group of whales.

July Report: Cardhu has appeared for the first time this year, feeding on southeastern Stellwagen Bank. She is taking a resting year between calves, and was seen on three days in the past two weeks.

2000 Sightings: Cardhu was seen with her calf on October 14, 20, 21, 24, and 25. They were feeding on most of these occasions. Cardhu was doing some great open mouth feeding. On the 14th of October we had Cardhu & calf with Folicle. Cardhu and Folicle were just hanging around the boat checking out the situation and the calf was doing amazing headstands (the calf was pointing its head down below the water and it's tail was above the water and would say there for a period of time). - this behavior was repeated over and over again for 20 miniutes. On the 24th Cardhu and calf were seen with Bilbo & Geometry. The were playing with the boat and each other for most of the time we observed them. The calf was slapping Cardhu (the mom) on the back with its flippers, not aggressively but more in a playful manner. The calf was also doing head stands again. This was a great interaction between whales.

In addition, she and her calf were repeatedly seen by our friends at the Center for Coastal Studiesin the Great South Channel, off Nantucket Island.

1999 Sightings: October Report: Seen many times this year, often in association with Salt, another well known adult female. Cardhu has done some spectacular feeding this season and seems to be doing very well!

June Report: Cardhu was seen late last week (June 19) surface feeding with an adult male, Wyoming.

April Report: First seen this year on April 8, and she stayed with another adult female, Salt, for three weeks afterwards. She has not been seen in May, however.

1998 Sightings: Sighted with her 8th calf, Cardhu was not as social as she has been in many past years. Sightings of this big female were sporadic, although we saw her on at least 15 different days from late June through early September. Her calf is a small female!

1997 Sightings: Cardhu showed up in the early summer this year, and had two long-term associations with other whales. Through much of June and July she was sighted with Salt, another female; later in the summer she spent at least four weeks with Square Fin, also an adult female. Cardhu's calf from last year, Viper, has also returned this year!

1996 Sightings: Cardhu was seen first in late June with her sixth recorded calf since 1981. This was one of our most sighted mother-calf pairs, and was last seen very late in the year. Her calf was an unusually good "fluker" (unlike most calves, which rarely bring their tail flukes into the air, this calf did so on almost every dive). We got to see Cardhu feeding on many occasions, a time when we could really appreciate the size of this huge female. Cardhu was only seen on Stellwagen during 1996.

In 1996, Cardhu was seen on June 29; July 4, 5, 6, 7, 12, 14, 30, 31; August 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, 19, 25, 27, 28, 29; September 26; October 18.

1995 Sightings: July 3; August 5; August 9-12; August 20. All sightings on Jeffreys Ledge.

COLT (Twitter page)

2011 Sightings: May: Early in the season, Colt was spotted on Jeffreys Ledge in a group of three humpbacks feeding. The group of three also included another Humpback named Barb—interestingly, both Colt and Barb would be seen later in the season in the south, on the opposite end of the feeding ground!

July: Colt was seen in bubble-feeding chaos on southern Stellwagen—the area contained about 25-30 different Humpbacks! He would later be spotted numerous times in groups of feeding humpbacks. Whale Center researchers even noticed him kickfeeding on occasion—slapping his powerful tail against the water before diving down to scoop up a patch of prey.

Furthermore, Colt was tagged this summer as part of a research project spearheaded by Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies, with participation by a multitude of other organizations. The study not only looked at the ways that tagging could be improved as a whole, but also whether these tags had any significant short-term or long-term effects on individuals. Whale Center staff paid close attention to the behavior of Colt shortly after being tagged and took plenty of photos of the tagged area. He seemed to behave normally when we observed him.

Furthermore, Colt was tagged this summer as part of a research project spearheaded by Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies, with participation by a multitude of other organizations. The study not only looked at the ways that tagging could be improved as a whole, but also whether these tags had any significant short-term or long-term effects on individuals. Whale Center staff paid close attention to the behavior of Colt shortly after being tagged and took plenty of photos of the tagged area. He seemed to behave normally when we observed him.

2008 Sightings: July: Whale Center Catalog Manager Jenn Tackaberry and former Whale Center Catalog Manager (and summer naturalist) Cara Pekarcik just finished a week-long stint on a collaborative whale tagging cruise on Stellwagen Bank. They report that on one day they saw eight of our adopt-a-whales! They saw Colt traveling in that area.

June: It's been a great season so far with lots of sand lance in the area for humpbacks to feed on. Earlier this week, Whale Center staff saw Colt feeding on Stellwagen Bank in the same area with humpbacks Pepper, Putter, and Echo and her 2008 calf. Last year we were thrilled to have almost 70 mother-calf pairs in the area; so far this year we've seen over 30 and the list keeps growing!

2007 Sightings: Sept.: Whale Center staff recently saw adopt-a-whales Colt and Ember together. These two males were born one year apart (Colt 1981 and Ember 1982) and are regular returnees to the area. Both whales often approach whale watch boats, a behavior that has endeared them to whale watchers for years. Colt was seen spy-hopping (or poking his head up vertically out of the water as if he were standing on his tail); it is thought whales will do this to get a better look at what is happening above the surface of the water.

July: We had our first sighting of Colt on June 7th, and he's been seen regularly since then. His dorsal fin has a new nick which suggests he was active in breeding battles in the Caribbean this past winter. He was seen one day in the midst of a feeding aggregation of 30-40 humpbacks. On another day he was seen with Reflection and her calf. All three whales approached the boat and were rolling and spy-hopping. It was great to see Colt up to some of his familiar antics!

2006 Sightings: We are happy to report that Colt was sighted in July on Stellwagen Bank!

2005 Sightings: We are happy to report that Colt was sighted in May on Jeffreys Ledge! John Gwalthney on the Deborah Ann Whale Watch reported seeing Colt on northern Jeffreys Ledge.

July: Colt was sighted on northern Jeffreys Ledge by the Deborah Ann whale watch (out of Ogunquit, ME)! We hope that he will move south on the Ledge to get into our study area so that we can spend some time with this very special whale.

Most whales on Jeffreys Ledge recently have been feeding below the surface. Although we don't know exactly what they've been feeding on, we suspect it is a mixture of herring and krill. Hopefully the prey will continue to be abundant on Jeffreys Ledge to keep Colt and other humpback whales in this area!

2004 Sightings: He was seen only once in 2004 at the northeast tip of Georges Bank near Nova Scotia.

2003 Sightings: Seen several days in June on Jeffreys Ledge, on the east side of Stellwagen Bank in mid-July, and off of Chatham, Massachusetts in mid-August.

2002 Sightings: Seen on a single day in mid-June off of Cape Cod.

2001 Sightings: Colt was seen alone feeding in mid-November near Stellwagen Bank. There were about 40 humbacks around that day, many others also feeding.

Early Sept. Report: Colt was seen on four days in the last few weeks. We have now noticed that Colt's big, distinctive dorsal fin has a new clip in its base, probably from breeding ground battles with other males.

August: Colt made his first appearance of the year last week in a feeding aggregation, but was only seen on a single day. He appeared healthy and normal.

2000 Sightings: Colt was seen on October 20th, and 25th in with a group of other feeding whales. On the 27th Colt was sighted in a "rowdy" group like one would see on the breeding grounds. Colt, Wyoming, Tear and Rocker were traveling very quickly with a new mom and her calf. There was head breaching, tons of trumpet blows and rolls. A very exciting day especially for the end of our season.

August Report: Colt was seen at the southern end of Stellwagen with Anvil doing some group feeding. Colt was doing high lunges on his own and with her a few times. What a great display of this behavior!

July Report: Colt was seen for the first time this year in the beginning of July, doing what he does best. Alot of close to boat from Colt on July 2nd and he was also with another associate. Then the next day he was doing some flipper slapping and more close to boat and he was by himself.

1999 Sightings: October Report: Seen more in the first half of the season, Colt has also been seen in the Great South Channel off Nantucket Island, south of Massachusetts. His famous close approaches to boats have been few and far between during this year.

June Report: Colt was seen Friday, June 18 and on Saturday; he was seen in the company of two adult females (Loon and Thalassa) on Saturday.

April Report: Colt has been seen a few times already in 1999, and is doing well. What a surprise; he immediately started to approach closely to the whale watch boat. Good ol' Colt.

1998 Sightings: Colt was seen for the first time this year on Friday May 29, looking well. Like most adults, Colt was seen on a regular basis during June and July, but not often after that. He was seen in the midst of several large feeding groups. As is his pattern, he also made a number of close passes to whale watch boats!

1997 Sightings: Colt was seen through most of the summer season, and was still present in mid-September. Colt was seen feeding quite often this year, although his old curiosity was still evident in several close approaches.

1996 Sightings: First seen in July, Colt was last sighted late in the year. He was often seen bubble feeding, and still approached boats on numerous occasions, although his "visits" were usually fairly brief. Colt was only seen on Stellwagen Bank in 1996.

In 1996, Colt was seen on: July 14, 17, 18, 19, 24, 27-29; August 1, 7-9, 11, 16, 18, 24, 28-31; September 21; October 5, 18.

1995 Sightings: August 1-2; August 8; September 30. All sightings on Jeffreys Ledge.

CORAL (Twitter page)

2011 Sightings: June: Coral was seen with two other Humpbacks named Joy and Habenero. The three whales were doing a lot of bubble feeding, as well as some traveling.

July: Coral made a spectacular appearance when he surfaced in a group of three directly in front of the boat! On another occasion, he was spotted bubble feeding with one other Humpback. Plenty of gulls hung around the pair, looking for an easy snack.

2009 Sightings: Sept.: Seen kick feeding, travelling, and logging (resting).

June: Seen travelling on northern Stellwagen Bank among other humpback whales. Most whales are feeding on southern Stellwagen.

2008 Sightings: July: Whale Center Catalog Manager Jenn Tackaberry and former Whale Center Catalog Manager (and summer naturalist) Cara Pekarcik just finished a week-long stint on a collaborative whale tagging cruise on Stellwagen Bank. They report that on one day they saw eight of our adopt-a-whales! Coral was seen briefly in the morning, traveling between feeding bouts.

June: The Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies reports having seen Coral. We're happy to know he's back for the season, but Whale Center staff have yet to see him. There's lots of sand lance on Stellwagen Bank and lots of feeding humpbacks, so we're hopeful to see him ourselves very soon!

April 2: Coral was recently spotted breaching repeatedly in Samana Bay in the Dominican Republic. This is the first known sighting of one of our adopt-a-whales this season. The humpbacks we study in the summer on the Stellwagen Bank feeding ground spend the winter in the Caribbean where they breed and have their calves. They are beginning to return to this area and we are eager to get back out on the water!

2007 Sightings: Coral was first seen in mid-May and has been seen regularly since. He was with another humpback, Flounder, who was kick-feeding; Coral kept showing up in the middle of Flouder's bubble clouds!

2006 Sightings: Coral was spotted in July on Stellwagen Bank.

2005 Sightings: Coral was seen during the mid-summer season on Stellwagen Bank. He was often photographed along side another Whale Center adopt-a-whale - Ember! Both were seen feeding and resting in the area for approximately two months.

2004 Sightings: Coral was spotted in July 2004 on Stellwagen Bank near his half-brother, Peninsula (Silver's 1985 calf).

EDEN (Twitter page)

2006 Sightings: Eden was seen in late April and May off the southern portion of Stellwagen Bank. She was photographed in areas with other humpback whales including Leonid, Eruption, Ase and another adoptee, Cardhu (& calf).

EMBER (Twitter page)

2011 Sightings: June: Ember was spotted alone on southern Stellwagen Bank. He seemed to be traveling, with some sounding dives and low-fluking.

July: Ember was spotted in an area of feeding chaos with about 25-30 Humpbacks. Ember stood out from the crowd as one of the whales doing kickfeeding—slapping the surface with his tail, diving underneath the water, and then coming up with a mouthful of fish.

August: Ember was seen amongst a group of Humpbacks on a very interesting day: Whales were feeding in separate groups when a pair blew some bubbles a little ways away. Suddenly, a significant number of Humpbacks made a beeline for that area, resulting in a very chaotic group of about 12-14 whales! He was also spotted flipper slapping alone on a separate occasion.

2009 Sightings: Sept.: (Cardhu's 1982 calf): The last whale we saw on our way in from a recent trip. He was traveling alone.

July: we saw Ember for the first time this season. He was on southern Stellwagen Bank traveling with an adult female humpback whale named Right Bar. They were steaming towards a group of humpbacks in a 'feeding chaos group.'

2008 Sightings: Sept.: Ember is back in our area! Whale Center staff have seen him several times recently on Stellwagen Bank. Most recently he was seen feeding in a large group of humpback whales. The humpback whales in our study spend winter on the mating grounds in the Caribbean; while there they do not eat.

July: Whale Center Catalog Manager Jenn Tackaberry and former Whale Center Catalog Manager (and summer naturalist) Cara Pekarcik just finished a week-long stint on a collaborative whale tagging cruise on Stellwagen Bank. They report that on one day they saw eight of our adopt-a-whales! Ember was seen late in the day feeding with a group of at least ten whales.

They return to the rich waters off the coast of New England in search of food for the summer. The season is young, but so far sightings have been great with plentiful prey sources for the whales (large schools of sand lance –the humpbacks' favorite food).

Mother-calf pairs are usually the first to return to the area with males following a little later. So far this year we've seen 32 mother-calf pairs, including Ember's mother, Cardhu who returned this year with her 11th known calf.

2006 Sightings: Ember was photographed from our research vessel Silver II on June 27, 2006. This is the first sighting on Ember for the year. He was feeding in the same area as numerous mother/calf pairs including another adopt-a-whale (and his mother) Cardhu!

2005 Sightings: The Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies recently sighted Ember in the Great South Channel (southeast of Cape Cod, MA) feeding in the same area as two dozen other humpback whales, including Tear, another Whale Center adopt-a-whale! Ember's mother, Cardhu, and his half-sister, Venom (Cardhu's 1996 calf), have also been seen in the area this summer.

2004 Sightings: Ember was spotted in August of 2004 off the coast of Nova Scotia by the Center for Coastal Studies.

2003 Sightings: No sightings this year as of this time.

2002 Sightings: Sighted a few times during June, Ember was seen in the midst of many other whales in spectacular surface feeding aggregations.

2001 Sightings: August Report: Ember was seen one day last week in what was perhaps our largest feeding aggregation of the year. He was both surface feeding and breaching during our time with the group. Great show!

June Report: Ember appeared on Stellwagen Bank today, June 25, for the first time this year. Surprisingly, he was associated with Zeppelin, another Adopt A Whale animal, traveling and diving together. Both animals were on the southern end of Stellwagen, very probably having recently come north from the Great South Channel, off of Nantucket.

2000 Sightings: August Report: On August 26th Ember was seen feeding on the Southern End of Stellwagen Bank, he was with an unknown humpback companion. They were blowing clouds & Ember would come up through the cloud and filter and drag along the surface. On the 28th of August he was traveling with Drip, Beacon, & Abrasion for a little while, then later split from the group and remained with Drip. Seems as if there was alot of deep feeding going on and the were not on the surface for very long.

July Report: Seen on a number of days starting in July. He has remained his "spectacular" self. On July 14th Ember was seen traveling with Fringe. He was trumpet blowing and squealing. He did a little close to boat, then started flipper slapping away for quite some. On July 17th he was still seen flipper slapping. He also was rolling around going upside down and just appearing to be having some fun on his own. He soon approached the boat and wanted to check out the passengers on the Super Ranger (out of Salem, Ma). When he came close to the boat he did a very high spyhop, he was so close they could have touched him! When we did get a closer look we noticed that he has lost a small part of his dorsal fin over the winter, probably in the male breeding ground.

1999 Sightings: October Report: Although we have not seen Ember too often this year, he has been seen in some spectacular feeding aggregations, and has put on several spectacular breaching and flipper-slapping displays.

June Report: Ember is back, seen on May 27, initially lunge feeding in a group, then later putting on a long display of flipper slapping and breaching.

1998 Sightings: Ember spent less time on Stellwagen Bank this year than in most recent years. He was seen from mid-July until the end of August, and was seen surface feeding on several days.

1997 Sightings: Ember has been seen through much of the summer this year, and his behavior was very distinctive. He was seen in at least four groups which looked to us like breeding battles - perhaps there were a few hormones still running through Ember! His close to boat approaches and consistent flipper slapping were as spectacular as ever.

1996 Sightings: The were sporadic sightings of Ember on Stellwagen Bank. Ember was never resident this year on Stellwagen Bank, which is surprising given the numbers of animals which were seen in that area. Ember was seen feeding on several occasions, and was usually seen by himself.

In 1996, Ember was seen on July 27; August 2, 4, 17, 29.

1995 Sightings: August 1, in the Great South Channel.

REGULUS (Twitter page)

2008 Sightings: June: Whale Center scientists thought they had a few fleeting glimpses of Regulus over the past few weeks, but none confirmed until recently. He is back!

Many of you know that Regulus has had some tough times. In 2005 he suffered a serious entanglement that hampered his ability to feed. He managed to free himself, but was dangerously thin by the end of the season. We all eagerly awaited his return in 2006 and he did not disappoint, though he was still thin. In 2007 he was back looking more robust but with a damaged dorsal fin, presumably from battles on the mating grounds in the Caribbean.

We have seen Regulus on Stellwagen Bank every year since he was born in 1983. We hope to continue seeing him for years to come.

2007 Sightings: July: Regulus was seen often throughout the month of June. Most of his dorsal fin is missing this year, which means he was active in breeding battles in the Caribbean this past winter! Regulus has the unusual habit of hitting the side of his body when flipper slapping and he's been doing that again this year.

Regulus is back! Whale Center staff saw him today on southern Stellwagen Bank with another humpback, Leonid. Both whales were doing a lot of flipper-slapping; Leonid was also breaching. It's been a great season so far with plentiful prey and whales. Today was no exception with over 25 humpbacks seen feeding in the same area with Regulus. We had another good Earth Day Whale Watch trip this past weekend. The weather was beautiful and the seas calm. We saw more than 25 humpbacks as well as a small pod of dolphins. We also saw two North Atlantic right whales, one of which was lob-tailing. We also crossed paths with a harbor seal and a gray seal.

2006 Sightings: Regulus visited Stellwagen Bank in early April and was seen in the area over the course of a few weeks. While in the area, Regulus was seen flipper slapping and lobtailing. Whale Center staff members were able to photograph Regulus, particularly areas of his body that were wrapped in fishing gear last season. Although Regulus still appears thin, we hope the absence of gear is a good sign for this well-known humpback whale.

2005 Sightings: July: We sadly report that on July 15th, Regulus was sighted by a whale watch boat on Stellwagen Bank and he was severely entangled in rope. He has a tight wrap over his back and his right flipper appears to be pinned to his body. He is very thin, which means that he has probably been entangled for some time and it has interfered with his feeding behavior.

The sighting of Regulus was too late in the day for a rescue attempt to be made and, unfortunately, he has not been resighted. Whale Center staff are all keeping a sharp lookout for him and as soon as he's seen again, a disentanglement attempt will be launched. We will keep you up to date on Regulus' condition.

2004 Sightings: Regulus was seen in October 2004, for the third year in a row, during herring spawning season on Jeffreys Ledge.

2003 Sightings: Seen on Jeffreys Ledge in June for several days, then again on southern Jeffreys in late October.

2002 Sightings: Seen on a single day on the eastern side of Stellwagen Bank in a feeding aggregation of over 75 humpback whales!

2001 Sightings: Although Regulus has rarely been seen on Stellwagen Bank in the past few years, he has been seen frequently over the past week, usually in the company of adult females. After 18 years, we still see him hitting his own side when he flipper slaps!

2000 Sightings: August Report: Seen on a single day on Stellwagen Bank in mid-August, he associated with a social group which consisted of 6 other whales (1 unknown). Regulus was with Anchor, Venom, Grommet, and Tornado & Calf. It seemed as if they were traveling towards food. Later on that day Regulus was seen alone and traveling to another group of feeding whales.

1999 Sightings: October Report: Regulus has not yet been seen during the 1999 field season, but it's not too late, as he has often visited our study area in the fall. We work on our research vessel, Silver II, until late November, weather permitting.

1998 Sightings: We just received sighting data from Jeffreys Ledge, and Regulus was seen on six different days between August 15 and August 30.

Regulus is now the only adopt-a-whale which did NOT spend considerable time on Stellwagen Bank this year. However, this fifteen year old male was seen on Jeffreys Ledge between August 20 and August 23 this year. The absence on Stellwagen is surprising, as he has spent considerable time there in other seasons. In the past few years Regulus has also moved up to Jeffreys in the fall. Why he was not seen on Stellwagen remains a mystery.

Regulus' mother, Bilbo, had her fifth calf with her this year. They were seen both on Stellwagen Bank and Jeffreys Ledge, although they were only seen on Jeffreys for a single day.

1997 Sightings: Seen in the last half of the summer, Regulus' dorsal fin was badly damaged in breeding battles over the winter. He spent most of his time here associating with other females and cow/calf pairs.

1996 Sightings: Surprisingly, Regulus was only seen on Jeffreys Ledge, and did not show up until the fall. He was seen on several days in late September and October.

1995 Sightings: August 8-9; August 12; August 14. All sightings on Jeffreys Ledge.

TEAR (Twitter page)

2011 Sightings: July: Tear was the escort to Venom and her calf, although he stole the show from the younger whale. He often rolled onto his side or his back and slapped the surface with his huge pectoral flippers. Whale Center researchers would continue to see him throughout the season acting as an escort to Venom and her calf. The set of three dorsal fins has become easily recognizable due to the large amount of times the three have been sighted together. Later in July, Tear was seen with two Humpbacks named Fern and Thumper. Although they were initially deep feeding, Tear broke off from the group and began to breach and slap the water with his flippers.

August: Tear was sighted, as per usual, with Venom and her calf. However, this was a special occasion. The usual trio, along with a fourth Humpback, started breaching together! It seems like Tear has been a very active escort whale this summer.

2008 Sightings: July: Whale Center Catalog Manager Jenn Tackaberry and former Whale Center Catalog Manager (and summer naturalist) Cara Pekarcik just finished a week-long stint on a collaborative whale tagging cruise on Stellwagen Bank. They report that on one day they saw eight of our adopt-a-whales! Tear was seen early in the morning.

May: On a whale watch trip out of Boston yesterday, Whale Center naturalist Laura Ganley saw Tear! Tear was feeding on Stellwagen Bank with Nile and Doric, two other adult humpbacks frequently seen in this area.

2007 Sightings: July: Tear was seen early in June and has been seen regularly since. One day he put on a spectacular breaching display!

2006 Sightings: Whale Center staff members saw Tear on Stellwagen Bank in mid-May. He was feeding in an area with other humpback whales, including Firefly and Reaper. In June, Tear was photographed in the Great South Channel by scientist from The Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies.

2005 Sightings: Tear was recently sighted in the Great South Channel (southeast of Cape Cod, MA) by scientists from The Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies. He was seen with about two dozen other humpbacks, including Ember, another adopt-a-whale. The whales were feeding, most likely on small schooling fish, in the area. We hope the food source continues to lure Tear and the other humpback whales to the area.

2004 Sightings: In March of 2004, our Assistant Director observed Tear in a competitive group with eight other animals in Silver Bank, off the coast of the Dominican Republic. The animals were exhibiting aggressive behavior such as chasing each other, surging to the surface, filling their ventral pleats with water to expand them, blowing bubbles at one another and head breaching.

In mid-August of 2004 Tear was seen with a group of over 25 humpbacks feeding in the Great South Channel.

2003 Sightings: Seen on Jeffreys Ledge in June on several days, on southern Stellwagen Bank early in July, and in the Great South Channel in August. Tear's dorsal fin was clipped during the winter of 2002-3, meaning that this male is probably maturing and entering breeding battles.

2002 Sightings: Sighted on several days during both June and July, Tear appears to be moving in and out of our area in feeding aggregations with a lot of other whales.

2001 Sightings: Seen on almost a daily basis over the past two weeks, Tear has continued his preference for associating with mother-calf pairs. We have seen him in the company of Sparta and calf, Octave and calf, and Bolide and calf in the past week. He has been moving up and down Stellwagen with some regularity, while most of the other whales have been staying right on the southern edge of the Bank.

TORNADO (Twitter page)

2011 Sightings: Whale Center staff has not seen tornado this year. However, we know she has been seen in the Gulf of Maine thanks to collaborative research efforts amongst various cetacean research organizations. Through this collaboration, we can gain a more comprehensive catalogue of whale sightings that covers a much greater area than any one single organization can feasibly study.

2008 Sightings: July: Whale Center Catalog Manager Jenn Tackaberry and former Whale Center Catalog Manager (and summer naturalist) Cara Pekarcik just finished a week-long stint on a collaborative whale tagging cruise on Stellwagen Bank. They report that on one day they saw eight of our adopt-a-whales! Tornado and her 2008 calf were there; Tornado was feeding in her unique and dramatic style of slapping chin, flippers, then tail against the water.

Tornado is back on Stellwagen Bank! She was seen Saturday by naturalist Cynde McInnis on a whale watch boat out of Gloucester. Tornado returned this year with her sixth calf – a female.

2007 Sightings: July: Tornado was seen starting in early June and has been seen probably more often than any other humpback since! Sand lance are plentiful this year, so we've seen lots of feeding activity from the humpbacks, including large aggregates of 30-40 whales. Tornado, with her unique feeding style of a chin-slap followed by a tail-slap, is easy to spot in these groups. She was seen one day in cooperative feeding with Sirius, her 1982 calf.

2006 Sightings: Tornado was first seen on southern Stellwagen Bank in early June by scientists from the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies. Just a few days later, she was seen on northern Stellwagen Bank feeding on sand lance. Tornado is with her fifth recorded calf this season.

2005 Sightings: Tornado was seen feeding on Jeffreys Ledge at the end of June. While on a tagging trip, Whale Center staff saw Tornado again. She was traveling with Fan and calf (the first sighting of this mom/calf pair this year).

2004 Sightings: In the spring of 2004 Tornado was seen for several days south of Provincetown, Massachusetts. She was spotted again in the fall on Jeffreys Ledge.

2003 Sightings: Tornado had her fourth calf with her this year. She and her calf spent much of the year moving back and forth between Stellwagen Bank and Chatham, two areas that are almost 50 miles apart. In August and September she was seen in a cooperative feeding group with 8-10 other whales! Our last sighting of Tornado and her calf were in November all the way up on Jeffreys Ledge. At that time, Tornado's calf was almost a year old, so it probably was weaned shortly afterwards, before Tornado headed south for the winter.

2002 Sightings: Sighted off of Cape Cod surface feeding on a few days in early July.

2001 Sightings: Tornado has been seen around Stellwagen Bank for much of the past week. She was seen surface feeding over the weekend, and has been moving up and down the Bank on a regular basis. Although she has usually been seen in the company of other whales, her associates have varied on a daily basis.

TRIDENT (Twitter page)

2011 Sightings: May: Trident was sighted very early this season on Jeffreys Ledge-- with her new calf! The calf tail-breached (throwing its tail out of the water) and lobtailed (lying either on its belly or on its back and slapping the surface of the water with its tail) almost continuously for about 15 minutes. Then, it suddenly surprised and delighted onlookers with a full spinning head breach! A shot from the camera during the calf’s surface activity revealed a hemispherical lobe on its underside: it’s a girl!

June: Trident was seen bubble feeding, with her calf sticking close, and the pair was soon joined by a third Humpback named Fray. The trio of whales exhibited bubble feeding on a patch of herring beneath the surface and, in one instance, it seemed as if they were using the boat to condense the fish. As they traveled away and the boat followed, onlookers were thrilled find a Basking Shark feeding on plankton in the vicinity.

2008 Sightings: July: Whale Center Catalog Manager Jenn Tackaberry and former Whale Center Catalog Manager (and summer naturalist) Cara Pekarcik just finished a week-long stint on a collaborative whale tagging cruise on Stellwagen Bank. They report that on one day they saw eight of our adopt-a-whales! Trident and her 2008 calf were seen near a large group of feeding whales.

July: At the beginning of the month Trident was seen with monofilament fishing line streaming along the left side of her body. She has been seen repeatedly since then and, we're happy to report, appears to have shed the line on her own. About 80% of the humpbacks we see on Stellwagen Bank bear the scars of some sort of entanglement.

As we announced earlier in the season, Trident is back this year with her ninth calf. Calves typically stay with their mothers only for the first year of life so Trident and her calf will probably separate sometime this winter. Throughout the past couple of weeks, however, Trident and her 2008 calf have been seen in the company of Trident's 2006 calf. We include here a photo taken by Whale Center naturalist Laura Ganley of Trident's 2006 calf (left) fluking along side Trident's 2008 calf (right).

June: Whale Center staff are seeing large schools of sand lance, the humpback's favorite food, and lots of feeding humpbacks. We've also seen a lot of Trident and her calf. During today's trip the calf was active and fluking. Also feeding in the area was Trident's 1998 calf, Draco. It's been a great season so far and we hope to keep seeing a lot more of Trident and her calf.

April: 2008 is off to a great start with lots of feeding humpbacks on Stellwagen Bank. Whale Center staff saw Trident out there this weekend; she's back this year with her 9th calf! Trident is a regular in this area and a real favorite. We hope to see a lot more of her and her calf.

July: Trident was seen in the midst of a large feeding group of humpback whales on Sunday, May 20th. For several weeks prior, whales had primarily been seen feeding on the southern end of Stellwagen Bank. On a foggy Sunday, however, whale center researcher Jenn Tackaberry was on a whale watch boat that started the day by seeing Regulus, another adopt-a-whale, for the first time of the year. Poking further into the fog, they were surprised to find themselves in the midst of 25-30 humpback whales in a feeding frenzy! Trident was in this group, and we were able to confirm that her 2006 calf was not with her. That is typical since weaning generally occurs at one year of age. It was great to see Trident back and close to home!

2006 Sightings: Trident was photographed by staff members from The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society on the southern portion of Stellwagen Bank. She was photographed with her seventh recorded calf. She has been spending a great deal of time traveling with another female humpback whale named Tongs.

2004 Sightings: In a resting year between calves, Trident was seen in the summer of 2004 and again in November on Jeffreys Ledge.

2003 Sightings: Seen first on Jeffreys Ledge in May and June, then on Stellwagen Bank in mid-July, and in the Great South Channel off of Nantucket during late July. In August, she was seen entangled on Jeffreys Ledge, then the next day over 50 miles away off of Cape Cod. A team from the Center for Coastal Studies disentangled her. Sightings of her on Stellwagen in September indicated that she was totally free of fishing gear. However, her 2000 calf, Lighthouse, was found dead in October off the Maine coast; a necropsy revealed that he likely died from eating contaminated prey. This cause of death is to be confirmed through lab tests of samples collected during the necropsy.

2002 Sightings: Trident has her seventh calf this year. She was first seen off of Cape Cod in feeding aggregations of whales, but was seen on Jeffreys Ledge for well over a week in early July. Her calf has made several approaches to boats, including one wonderful approach to Silver II, our research vessel!

2001 Sightings: Seen on southern Stellwagen Bank for a single day on Monday, July 16, slowly traveling to the south.

ZEPPELIN (Twitter page)

2008 Sightings: July: Whale Center Catalog Manager Jenn Tackaberry and former Whale Center Catalog Manager (and summer naturalist) Cara Pekarcik just finished a week-long stint on a collaborative whale tagging cruise on Stellwagen Bank. They report that on one day they saw eight of our adopt-a-whales! Zeppelin was seen mid-day traveling through an area where a lot of whales were feeding, though she was not actually feeding herself.

May: Zeppelin was last seen on Stellwagen Bank in 2004 – until this past weekend! She was one of about two dozen whales we saw on our Earth Day Whale Watch trip this past Saturday. When Chief Scientist, Mason Weinrich announced we were seeing Zeppelin, Whale Center staff cheered in delight! When we saw her she was traveling, but there were lots of feeding whales in the area so it's possible she was doing some feeding as well. Despite some soggy weather it was a good trip, and we were thrilled to see Zeppelin back on Stellwagen Bank!

2007 Sightings: Sept.: We are happy to report that word has been sent to us by The Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies that Zeppelin was sighted offshore on their Gulf of Maine cruise with a calf! This is her fourth calf since her first, Milkweed (who we have sighted often this year) was born in 2000. While we have missed having her on Stellwagen Bank this year, we are glad to hear that she is doing well, and are excited that she has another calf!

July: Zeppelin has not yet been sighted this year, but we're hoping to see her before the season is through! Recently, however, we did see her first calf, Milkweed (born in 2000), feeding with adopt-a-whale, Tornado, and with two other humpbacks, Venom and Pele.

2004 Sightings: In 2004, we spotted Zeppelin three times: once on the southern part of Stellwagen Bank in May and twice moving across the southern part of Stellwagen Bank in August. In addition, we saw her calves, Milkweed and Pagoda.

2003 Sightings: Sighted first in September off of Chatham, Massachusetts, and then in early October on Stellwagen Bank. Her 2002 calf has also been resighted on its own during the 2003 season.

2002 Sightings: Sighted with her second calf ever, first in the Great South Channel by the Center for Coastal Studies, then later on Stellwagen Bank in a big feeding aggregation of whales.

2001 Sightings: Zeppelin was seen in mid-November with Rocker, feeding in an area near Stellwagen Bank. About 40 humback whale were seen that d ay.

October Report: Seen regularly, at times in the company of Fracture, and at times on her own. Zeppelin is one of the few adult humpbacks that we have seen feeding on krill, the primary prey of whales this fall.

Early Sept. Report: Zeppelin was seen regularly during the last two weeks, almost always in association with Fracture. While this pair has been seen separately on several days, they always have rejoined by the next day on which they are sighted!

August Report: Seen almost daily for the past few weeks, still often in association with Fracture. This is interesting because in 1993 and 1994, these were the only two humpbacks which were seen on Stellwagen Bank with any regularity, although rarely associated with each other. Do they remember each other from those years?

June Report: Zeppelin appeared on Stellwagen Bank today, June 25, for the first time this year. Surprisingly, she was associated with Ember, another Adopt A Whale animal, traveling and diving together. This is Zeppelin's first appearance on Stellwagen Bank in two years, and her first since she had a calf in 2000. Both animals were on the southern end of Stellwagen, very probably having recently come north from the Great South Channel, off of Nantucket.

2000 Sightings: Reported to us by our colleagues at the Center for Ocean Research and Education, Zeppelin has also been spending time down in the Great South Channel (off Nantucket Island) with her first calf ever! This is also Milky Way's first "grand-child". (Milky way also has a calf of her own this year.)

1999 Sightings: October Report: Seen briefly early in the year, then more regularly in both August and September. Although still not a large whale, Zeppelin is slowly getting noticeably bigger.

June Report: Was seen Sunday June 20, and today (Monday) in the midst of sub-surface feeding groups. Zeppelin was seen within 1/2 of mile of her 1/2-sibling, Stellar, the 1996 calf of Milky Way.

April Report: She was seen in early April on southern Stellwagen Bank, but has not been seen in the area since. As a ten year old female, she has tied a WCNE research record for the longest we have observed a female calf age without having a calf.

1998 Sightings: We are glad to report that Zeppelin was back on Stellwagen for the first time since 1994! She was first sighted in mid-July, and was seen regularly until our last day at sea, on December 4. While she had grown considerably since we last saw her, she is still smaller than most 9-year old females.

1997 Sightings: While we have not yet seen Zeppelin on Stellwagen Bank, researchers at the Center for Ocean Research and Education noted a possible sighting of her on George's Bank in early September. They are awaiting their film from that observation for confirmation.

1996 Sightings: Although we initially thought that Zeppelin was not seen in 1996, our photo analysis has revealed that she did return! She was photographed in late October on northern Stellwagen Bank, during only a few days. Her dorsal fin shape has a changed due to an entanglement she suffered in 1995, and she has a deep scar from that encounter. However, she looks fine otherwise.

In 1996, Zeppelin was seen on October 23 and 26.