We’re just back from another Silver Bank trip!
Straight from the log of Captain Gene:
Every week we are tempted to use this pun, this week we are just going to throw caution to the wind and go for it… we had a WHALEY good week!
It’s always funny when guests board the boat who have been avidly reading our Cruise Reports and ask us questions about the interactions: “how did you find that singer on week one?”, “was the calf on week four REALLY that curious?”, “the weather looked amazing in that one picture from last week”, etc. It is always a happy reminder that people care about what’s going on out here, and it’s an inspiration for us to keep you updated on what is happening. Thank you for your everlasting dedication and interest ().
Perhaps predictably, but we have another diverse Cruise Report for you this week, thanks to a very wide variety of whales and humans enjoying the Silver Bank and everything it has to offer. Our week was full to the brim with mums and calves and we joked all week that we barely remembered what it is like to swim with an adult male. Funnily enough, our first two swims were with adult males – the first a snoozing guy just hanging out; the second – the much-coveted singer! Capt. Gene’s group found him when he popped up demanding their attention. He belted out his powerful song long enough to call over Cat’s boat so everyone could take turns to not only listen to, but feel, the beauty of his voice vibrating through the water (more about him below).
As exciting as these swims were, they weren’t the highlights of our week. It’s impossible to pick just one favorite, but a rowdy group that Gene’s boat encountered definitely wins the title for best rowdy group of the whole season. There were around ten adult males fighting hard, sometimes even lunging up out of the water and bashing right into each other, as well as displaying a lot of other aggressive behaviours and threat displays like shoving and pushing, trumpeting, bubble trails and blasts: the works. With fewer single female whales around, these guys were fighting hard for the opportunity to be dominant escort. The boat spent more than an hour watching in astonishment as it tracked the fight for almost five miles before turning back toward the anchorage for lunch.
Any time we see a female with an escort and two or more challengers, we automatically refer to it as a “rowdy group”. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean they are being all that “rowdy”. Sometimes competitive groups are much less physical than the truly rowdy lot we saw on Monday. This was proven by the next group we encountered on our last afternoon. In these competitive situations it is the female that sets the pace, sometimes moving so quickly we can barely (or can’t) keep up. But this female seemed to be resting, barely moving, slowly drifting or logging at the surface with the boys circling her. With no wind, we were able to drift nearby, too, to watch the situation unfold. The males swirled and swooped and 
trumpeted and lunged as they swept around her, sometimes passing very near or right under our boats, with the female sometimes urging them on with some graceful and provocative pec slapping. It is truly fascinating to see just how different two groups of similar composition can be, and it’s all based on how the female is feeling.
But this situation presented another interesting opportunity. Most everyone knows that male humpback whales sing. But not as many folks know that humpbacks make all sorts of social sounds and vocalizations: sounds between mums and calfs, sounds when they are feeding or socializing – and sounds when they are fighting.
Usually the fights are moving so fast it can take all our effort just to keep up. But because this big lady was just drifting, so could we, and that meant we could toss 
our Aquarian Audio hydrophone in the water for a listen. And, oh my! But what an incredible mix up groans and grunts and whoops and hollers. This is definitely not something we hear every day – or even every season! You can listen to one short clip that Capt Gene uploaded to Conscious Breath Adventures’ SoundCloud page by clicking here (the really good stuff starts at 00:45).
Of course, no week on the Silver Bank is complete without a little appearance from a calf. As we get later in the season the calves are getting bigger (on average), and some have already set off for their feeding grounds in the North. As they grow, they become more confident, and their mums trust them a little more and let them approach swimmers with more curiosity. Well, our favourite calf this week really leaned into the role. She would come up, nose first an straight towards our groups, as if ready to play a game of slow motion bowling where she was the ball and we were the wonky, wiggly pins. Then she would suddenly turn away when she was a few metres away, and even the mum gave us some beautiful close passes when she came up for air. This is the kind of interactions we love, when the natural curiosity of the animals brings them closer to us.
Oh, and we can’t forget to mention that one of the most exciting things we saw this week had nothing to do with whales at all but everything to do with us being out in the middle of the ocean – and right underneath the flight path of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch! We were upstairs having our sundowner drinks just minutes after sunset when we noticed what looked like an aeroplane, then maybe a shooting star, then perhaps a UFO (WTF is that)? It sure looks like it could be a rocket! We were even able to see the first stage flame out before the much fainter second stage lit up and carried on. Sure enough some quick googling confirmed that a bunch more Starlink internet satellites were being deployed, the same satellites that we are using right now to send you Cruise Reports or google rocket launches or match whale flukes on Happywhale while on the Silver Bank! Read about the launch by clicking here. Very cool!
And speaking of matching whales, we had a few interesting tidbits this week. First of all, we saw Clamp again! The sighting was not as dramatically dynamic as our first meeting but it’s always exciting to see a familiar fluke. (And, speaking of Clamp: that video of her on Instagram? Now at 17,000,000 views and climbing! Just like Elon’s 🚀 !!)
Then, our good friend and supporter, Jeff Friedman, head of Maya’s Legacy Whale Watching in the San Juan Islands, Washington (orca, dolphin, seals & sea lions and humpback whales, check them out if you are ever up that way), spent a little time online and on Happywhale. He found out that the singer the first day has only been sighted twice before, both times on the Silver Bank. The first time was in 1982! The next was 2005. And now 2024. Where has he been in between, where does he feed..? No one knows (yet). And before this week the sex of the whale was unknown but we were able to update that to (singing) male! Then yet another whale was matched to its feeding grounds in the Saint Lawrence Seaway. That’s a long haul to enjoy spring break in the Dominican Republic!
As always, thank you for taking the time to read our weekly stories. One day we hope to meet you in person so we can show you the humpbacks’ winter home. Care to join us? We’re already taking reservations for 2025 so don’t hesitate to get in touch!