We’re just back from another Silver Bank trip!
Straight from the log of Captain Gene:
Greetings, Dear Reader!
Welcome back to Conscious Breath Adventures’ Cruise Reports, a weekly feature during our now-started 2024 Silver Bank humpback whale season!
Our season is officially underway, and what a week it was! Let me tell you a little bit about it. ()
This week’s guests were a boatload of family and friends from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, several who have been out with us before to swim with the whales on the Silver Bank. Welcome to the new friends, welcome back to the old!
People often ask: are there any whales around early (or late) in the season? The answer is a definitive yes. We see whales every day and swim with them on most, regardless of week. Any week is a great week to be on the Silver Bank, the largest breeding ground of the North Atlantic humpback whale. This week was living proof. (If you are curious about my detailed answer to that question, read my blog post “What is the Best Week to Swim With Whales on the Silver Bank?”)
It was a very diverse and varied week on the Silver Bank, both whale- and weather-wise. Winds varied anywhere from flat calm to windy and choppy. But these conditions are not an issue for the whales and they sure weren’t a deterrent for an enthusiastic bunch of whaleswimmers like these.
One of our first interactions was with a pair of resting adults who we found sleeping in the reef close to the anchorage. No need to travel far today! The pair relaxed comfortably below as our swimmers took turns stationed above, waiting for the interaction.
Typically pairs of whales will surface to breathe at the same time. But sometimes, like this one, one whale, usually the escort, will surface “off-cycle”, coming up several minutes ahead of the other. And when that happens it is not unusual for the whale to be especially curious about the swimmers in the area. That’s how it was with this one, who for nearly an hour would surface directly in front of the swimmers to raise its nose so it could look at the swimmers with both eyes. It was an exhilarating first meeting for everyone.
On another occasion I was in the water with guests over another pair of sleepers when they surfaced for their breath cycle. They didn’t come as close but close enough for me to notice there was something different about this whale,what looked like scarring down the right side of its back. A short while later, back aboard the whale boat, I was able to take some good photos (left) that clearly showed the massive scars from a nasty boat-strike. Getting hit by boats or ships – “ship-strikes” – is one of the leading causes of unnatural death in whales and this one was lucky to still be alive.
A new feature this season aboard our mothership, the M/V Sea Hunter, is internet access via Starlink. Making the most of that amenity, I uploaded a few photos of the whale to Facebook and within hours it was identified as a whale from the Gulf of Maine known as Watchtower (that’s his fluke on the right). What a great use of the resource, and if you want to follow our action more closely, look for our regular updates on Facebook and Instagram.
On another day we had beautiful, calm weather and both whaleboats went different directions, only to have very different but very fantastic interactions with the whales.
I was in one boat when we crossed paths with another pair of resting whales. Much like the pair described earlier, their breath cycle was not synchronized. This time the curious one surfaced just yards away from the swimmers and float, breathing, looking right at us down the length of her long, tapered and knobby rostrum. This went on for more than ten minutes, very close, and it could be weeks before we have another in-water approach as intimate as this one.
Meanwhile, Jeff’s and Cat’s guests found a mother, calf and escort but their interaction was much different. These whales were not at all interested in having in-water company but were more than happy to repeatedly “mug” the boat itself. “Mugging” is when a whale approaches and interacts very closely with a drifting boat and its very happy passengers. In these cases it is possible to be much closer to a whale (or to have the whale get much closer to you, really) than would ever be possible in the water. This mom and calf were just feet from the side of the boat. Sometimes they’d swim off and immediately circle back to lay alongside, or slowly drift underneath the boat, or just lie there breathing (watch the video by clicking here). And they did this for nearly an hour!
We also got a hearty helping of the usual spectacular topside behaviors with some pectoral fin slapping, lobtailing, a few tail throws and even some nice, close breaches! It seemed like when one boat was happily swimming with whales, the other was enjoying world-class whale watching. And then it would switch. There was plenty of whale-love going around this week!
But not everything brought smiles to our faces. Obviously seeing Watchtower and its scars was a sobering reminder of the threats facing the whales, and we had one other situation, too. Late in the week we spotted a pair of blows in the distance and approached for a closer look. At a medium distance, one whale 
looked so pale, so very light grey, that it almost looked like an albino. Obviously it was not but… this was unusual.
On closer inspection () we could see that 
the whale was very scratched up, which is not unusual, but it also seemed to have a skin condition, some sort of skin lesions and scarring, that gave it this very light and mottled appearance. There was a patchy look to it’s back and what looked like healing 
wounds or sores near the tail. It slapped its pec fins a few times and the fins themselves looked raw, sore, discolored and generally not good. We took a number of photos, including the fluke, and will be sharing them with experts in the field for an 
interpretation and explanation. We will update you when we know more.
These are just some of the highlights of the week, there was more fun, too. Different whales, different swims, and of course the beautiful sunsets and a couple green flashes. A swim on the wreck of the Polyxeni. Lots of group laughs and 
great meals, too. And this is just the first week! Where will it go from here..?
Tune in next week to find out and, in the meantime, please follow us on Facebook and Instagram for regular updates as circumstances allow.
Thanks for reading and have a great week!
Sincerely,
Capt Gene