From Snails to Whales: Whale Watching at Stellwagen Bank

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Whale Watching at Stellwagen Bank

Erald Pelari
Thursday August 7, 2008
Objective: See as many Whales as possible
Weather: Cloudy
Temperature: Around 70 degrees
Water: 3 Foot waves

Today we were scheduled to go whale watching at Stellwagen Bank about one and a half hours away from Boston Harbor. We got on the boat at around 9:30 AM, and began our trip shortly thereafter, since our group was last to get on board. Once the ferry left Boston Harbor we stated picking up speed, and since we were going against the waves the trip was a little bumpy. I was not feeling very good but I decided to go out on the deck and breathe in some fresh air, to help with my dizziness and my stomach. I would say that the boat was going at least 40 mph, and one could see the way it was breaking the waves and the water splashing at least 7-10 ft in the air. It was an awesome experience.

After an hour or so we reached Stellwagen Bank, and one could see that we were approaching the area where there were whales because other ships were circling the area as well with people standing on the side of the ship looking at the Whales. I had never seen a whale in person my whole life, so I did not know what to expect. I had seen them on TV and movies but I was in for a surprise. They looked defiantly bigger then when you see them on TV. The first whale that I noticed was about 200 yards away from the boat. I noticed it due to the water fuming up from its blowholes (the opening on the top of its head that releases water after they dive in).
Then we started seeing a lot more whales up close. The first one was a humpback whale. It was huge and its tail fin was humongous as well. I had never seen such big living creatures in my life. The fin on its back was also curved. Then we saw other whales mostly humpback whales on the water. Some of these whales had white bellies and black color on the back. Some of their flippers and tails were white underneath. I also saw a whale that had a black to grayish tail underneath. A couple of whales came very close to the boat about 10 ft away from the side. It was an incredible scene. Most of the whales were swimming in twos and threes.
At one time I saw a school of 7 whales swimming together side by side in rows of 2s and 3s. What a sight? I will never forget that scene. They were swimming together and dove down in motion. The first two went in first, and then the next three and the last two followed. They were incredible to look at. According to the guide speaker they had come in this area for feeding. They stay here until October and then move south for the winter. Stellwagen Bank is very nutritional with various planktons and small fish like herring. When we got there a few of the whales were laying on the water, and according to the guide woman they might have been sleeping. Apparently whales sleep in 25 minute intervals. But they still need to blow water from their blowholes. When sleeping whales shut down one side of the brain (Can not remember which side I think the left side).
I also saw a group of 3 whales swimming in a circular motion. (Please see picture below) They were all coming out from a dive, which takes them about 5-7 minutes. After they dive they need to come out and breathe air since they are mammals and can only hold their breath for so long. The three whales had white flippers, and their flippers were at least 5 ft long. I can imagine the speed the whale gets when diving down and moving those flippers.
After watching whales for half an hour or so we headed back to Boston. The ride back was less bumpy and the sun came out increasing the temperature a little bit. The ride was less bumpy due to us moving on the same direction as the waves but the waves might have died down a little bit. All in all this was on of the best days in the class. Not to take anything away form the trip to the island, but this by far out performed the other trips.

Some Tips:

Please take one of those pills that help you not throw up. (I did not puke but my stomach was not feeling very good and I wish I had taken one of those pills)
The best thing to fight seasickness is to stay outside and breathe fresh air
Make sure you bring a jacket with you, moving in Open Ocean waters tends to get a little chilly, especially in Boston
Bring a camera with you
It is best to stay on the top deck if you want to have a 360 degree view of the waters
When traveling stay on the first deck, but when looking at the whales the top-deck is best
There is no need to get all squished in one place, if the whales are in one side 5 minutes later you will see them on the other side
If you want to take a closer look at whales stay below deck, but hope one of them will swim up close to the boat.

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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 Watching at Stellwagen Bank

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