From Snails to Whales: Whale Watch

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Whale Watch

Wow. Today we embarked on a whale watch aboard the New England Aquarium vessel, The Voyager II. The sky was overcast and a steady breeze blew in off the water. I was somewhat concerned it would be too dark or foggy to see overly much once we travelled an hour and a half out to sea. The possibility of good waves kept me at least tentatively optimistic that I would get some enjoyment, even if the wrong sort, from the experience. In spite of the weather, a fellow selling tickets nearby promised that the three-deck catamaran would provide a unique once-in-a-life-time glimpse at the whales of Stellwagen Bank. Typically, I disregard anything I hear from someone attempting to sell me something (Wowzer, folks! It cuts pennies! Chocolate stains disappear in one spritz! The weeds will never come back!) but for once, there was truth to what we were told.

I rushed to claim a seat on the highest tier of the boat to enjoy a broader (and wavier) view of the surrounding ocean. About 45 minutes out of Boston, we made our first sighting, still far from Stellwagen Bank. A young girl spotted the whale off our stern. I turned in time to catch it roll and wave a pectoral fin in our general direction (a behavior I did not see repeated later on). It was too far away for me to really make a guess at what sort of whale it was. Perhaps it was letting us know what a treat we were in for, or waving its friends over to us.

When we arrived at the bank, we were almost immediately greated by 4-5 Humpback Whales. I've been on whale watches before, and seen maybe 3 whales total, at a distance from the boat, and a good bit of water between them. This time, our class saw what our guide called an "association," a nonperminant grouping of whales who eat/fish together. Seeing so many at one time was just ridiculous in and of itself; having them swim so close that I could have bonked them if I were given a long enough stick (not that I would want to bonk a whale...) was completely insane. In a good way.

Initially we met Cajun, and Crown and their calves, as identified by our guide who examined their flukes to make this assessment, but several unidentified whales joined the group after a time. The whales were leathery, smoothy, and shiny. On top, they were almost black, with white lining their pectoral fins and patterened on their flukes. We only ever got a good look at the top of t

hem, but I am not going to complain! As is typical of Humpback Whales, they had two blowholes situated close together on their heads. To me, it looked a bit pig-snout shaped (but cooler. beacuse they are whales.). From these blowholes, the whales frequently launched water+air close to the height of the boat. Kindly recall, that is pretty darn high! At one point, I was concerned they would actually hit me. Above the blowhole on their heads were several lump-like callouses. Similar lumps also appeared on their pectoral fins, but it was difficult to get a good look at these because they were always below the water, and the water was dark with nutrients.
The dorsal fin on these whales was small, knobby, and located f

ar back toward the tail. It looks nothing like the large and pointy dorsal fin that folks (ie: me as a little kid) tend to imagine whales with.

As the whales surfaced around us, they seemed unpreturbed by the perssence of the boat and were quite happy to swim all around us. They would rise, blow water/air out of their blowholes with a rather dramatic sound, and remain with us on the surface for upwards of a few minutes. After a time they would flex their back and sort of roll under the surface.
Like so:

If we were lucky, then after the third "step" in the diagram, we would catch a clear glimpse of the whale's fluke! Each fluke is unique and is used to identify individual whales. Following the whale dive sequence, here is what it looked like when we got lucky:

After 5-7 minutes the whales would resurface and repeat the process again. Unbelievable! I could have stayed out there all day, but unfortunately after a time we had to return to Boston. I hope you guys all had as much fun as I did!

I will leave you all with one more natural whale mannerism. I was disappointed to see nobody got a picture of it!

Good night, everyone-- Cya tomorrow!

1 comment:

Bruce Berman said...: "Cuckoo for copepods?"; August 7, 2008 at 10:48 PM

From Snails to Whales

Welcome to Snails to Whales, Bruce Berman's blog focused on both the little and the big things that make Boston Harbor such an interesting and extraordinary place to live, work and play.

With 50 miles of protected water, four sheltered bays, seven river systems, 34 islands and a nine-foot average tide, Boston Harbor is one of the most diverse urban ecosystems in America.

This blog focuses on the flora and fauna of Boston Harbor and Massachusetts Bay - on the beach, the shore, and the harbor islands, and in the cleaner waters of Boston Harbor and Mass Bay - including this ecosystems most important species - people.

During the summer, it is also a place for my Boston University Students and my colleagues at Save the Harbor / Save the Bay to share their work and experiences.

Where I am coming from...

Love that clean(er) water
Learning about the Boston Harbor Cleanup from the waterway’s eyes, ears, and mouthpiece

By Brian Fitzgerald, BU Bridge

On Georges Island, Bruce Berman talks with his students about the history of the Boston Harbor Cleanup,
which is largely complete. Photo by Vernon Doucette

Bruce Berman, aboard a ferry from Boston’s Long Wharf to Georges Island, poses a question to his students: “How clean is clean enough?”

He’s talking about the water below.

It’s a brilliant July day, with the smell of salt spray in the air. The sky is clear, and so is the ocean. But there was a time when Boston Harbor wasn’t so clean, when the stench of sewage assaulted the nostrils of anyone who went near it.

Berman is the communications director for Save the Harbor/Save the Bay, a public-interest environmental advocacy organization whose mission is to help restore and protect the harbor and Massachusetts Bay. He also teaches a Metropolitan College summer course called Politics, Public Relations, and Public Policy: The Boston Harbor Cleanup.

“The Boston Harbor Cleanup is an amazing success story, and I just love to share it with students,” says Berman, noting that the harbor’s “bad old days” weren’t that long ago. Those were the days when untreated human waste, syringes, condoms, and tampon applicators routinely washed ashore. The antiquated sewage treatment plants on Deer Island and Nut Island were so poorly designed and maintained that they flooded during even mild rainstorms, sending millions of gallons of untreated waste directly into the harbor.

Since then, bacteria counts in the water have decreased by more than two-thirds. Now the harbor teems with plants and animals, and people can legally dig for clams on Carson Beach in South Boston, which was unheard of in the 1980s.

“It was one of the filthiest harbors in America, and now it’s one of the cleanest,” says Berman. “What I’m trying to impress upon students is how this incredible comeback occurred, and how business, advocacy groups, environmentalists, and government can affect the outcome of large projects such as the Boston Harbor Cleanup through negotiation.”

Paradise regained

Berman points to the left as the boat cruises by the cleanup’s centerpiece: the gargantuan white egglike tanks of the Deer Island waste treatment plant, which in 1995 replaced the antiquated facility. The plant treats an average of 350 million gallons of sewage a day.

“And what comes out of the Deer Island treatment plant?” he asks. Berman, his booming baritone competing with the roar of planes taking off from Logan Airport, has a habit of putting students on the spot to see if they’re paying attention.

“The outfall pipe,” say several simultaneously. “Treated water,” chime in a few more.

“That’s right,” he says with a smile. “The plant separates the solid and liquid waste, and it pumps the treated water through the 9.5-mile outfall pipe, which empties into Massachusetts Bay. The resulting sludge is converted to high-grade fertilizer.”

Now Berman returns to his original question: “How clean is clean enough?” There’s no quick and clear answer to this one. “It’s a question that at the end of the day the federal courts had to decide.”

In 1985, a landmark federal court case required that the harbor’s beaches be made swimmable and fishable by 2000. Save the Harbor/Save the Bay was formed the next year to raise public awareness of the $4.5 billion Boston Harbor Cleanup. Sewer ratepayers in the 43 cities and towns financing the project cried foul over the prospect of astronomically rising bills, but because of the determination of environmental advocacy groups such as Berman’s, the cleanup was largely completed on schedule.

Berman says it isn’t finished, however. There are still frequent beach closures because the counts of Enterococcus bacteria exceed the federal and state standard for swimming. The culprit: filthy storm water and sewage, much of it from leaky pipes and illegal hookups emptying into storm sewers, and then into the harbor.

“So is the harbor clean enough,” the Springfield native asks his students, “when you can’t swim in it one out of five days in the summer?”

Work to be done

Berman and his class look out from Georges Island to Gallops Island (left) and the white tanks of the waste treatment plant on Deer Island (right). Photo by Vernon Doucette

This summer the state approved one of the last parts of the cleanup: the construction, by 2011, of a 2.1-mile tunnel near the Dorchester and South Boston shorelines that will hold sewage and storm water during bad weather. It then will be pumped to Deer Island for treatment.

Berman is ecstatic over this development, the result of “tireless negotiation and consensus-building,” he says. “After 2011, we’re looking at beach closings once every five years, when there is a major storm, instead of once every five days.”

But he is not about to let his guard down. To say that he is a man obsessed with the harbor cleanup would be an understatement. Berman is also Save the Harbor/Save the Bay’s “Baywatcher,” and he lives on his 40-foot trawler Verandah. Polluters beware: if you’re discharging oil or sewage into Boston Harbor, the Baywatcher just might be watching.

He is quick to point out that his zealotry is not just on behalf of the harbor’s flora and fauna. “The harbor is for everyone,” he says. “If you’re from a working class or poor family in Boston, and you can’t afford a Cape Cod getaway in the summer, a clean harbor is important. The same is true if you’re a tourist vacationing in Boston or you happen to live in a pricey waterfront condo.”

Accordingly, Berman, who was a political consultant and contributing editor to the Phoenix newspaper before joining Save the Harbor/Save the Bay nearly 10 years ago, also teaches his students about the harbor’s role in the city’s economy. He points out that in the early 1990s, just a few ferries cruised the harbor’s waters. Today, more than 100,000 people visit its islands each summer, discovering their ecological and historic treasures.

“The best way to protect the harbor cleanup,” Berman tells his students, “is to make sure that the public has access to the resources and can see a return on its investment.”

Trevor Kosmolsick (MET’05) has lived in Boston for seven years, but until taking Berman’s course, he had never been to the waterfront. “I’ve also wanted to go camping in the area, but I never knew that you could camp on a few of the islands,” he says. “Bruce Berman is not only a great professor, but the ultimate tour guide.”

He also backs up his words with actions. Sometimes he takes off his shirt and dives in the water to demonstrate to passing boaters that it’s safe to swim. To show people on ferries that fishing is safe, he’s been known to grab one of the bluefish or striped bass he’s caught and (very carefully) plant a wet kiss on it.

“What I want everyone to understand is that investment in the environment really does pay off,” says Berman. “We’re willing to pay for a clean Boston Harbor, so we should enjoy it.”

From Snails to Whales

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Whale Watch

1 comment:

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