Latest Trips
By: A. H. Kopelman, Ph.D.
CRESLI 2021/2022 SEAL SIGHTINGS AT CUPSOGUE BEACH
All photos taken with 600mm lens from safe distances and did not disturb the seals
| OBSERVATIONS |
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| Monday November 15, 2021
SEAL MONITORING SESSION
21 Harbor seals hauled-out
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| Saturday November 20, 2021
SEAL WALK
We saw just 1 harbor seal in Moriches Bay near the haulout site, but weren't able to get a photo. We later searched for and found 2 humpback whales seen about 400-800 meters from shore on the ocean side.
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| Sunday November 28, 2021
SEAL WALK
43 Atlantic harbor seals (Phoca vitulina vitulina) and 2 Atlantic gray seals (Halichoerus grypus atlantica) on the new secondary haulout area of the sandbar, NNE of what was the main haulout site at Cupsogue Beach County Park. These seals were approximately 800 yards away, in an area used when disturbed and flushed from the primary eastern haulout site. We watched a the seals reacted en-masse to an unknown disturbance to their west (based upon the rapid head turns). Over the ensuing 30 minutes, we continued to remain low and quiet and watched as the seals swam past us, a few briefly looking our way.
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| Wednesday December 1, 2021
SEAL MONITORING SESSION
51 Atlantic harbor seals (Phoca vitulina vitulina) and 2 Atlantic gray seals (Halichoerus grypus atlantica) on the new secondary haulout area of the sandbar, NNE of what was the main haulout site at Cupsogue Beach County Park.
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| Thursday December 2, 2021
SEAL WALK FOR OREGON MIDDLE SCHOOL
44 Atlantic harbor seals (Phoca vitulina vitulina) and 2 Atlantic gray seals (Halichoerus grypus atlantica) on the new secondary haulout area of the sandbar NNE of what was the main haulout site at Cupsogue Beach County Park. These seals were approximately 650 yards away. I regret to note that we were TOO LOUD and the seals reacted by jumping into the water. We left the area to allow the seals to return, which they did in about 10 minutes.
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| Saturday December 4, 2021
SEAL WALK
25-30 Atlantic harbor seals (Phoca vitulina vitulina) were hauled out very far away at the tertiary northeastern haulout area.
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| Sunday December 12, 2021
SEAL WALK
We encountered about 20 seals hauled out at the tertiary far northeastern haulout area, but they were flushed into the water. Here are several of those that remained
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| Monday December 13, 2021
SEAL MONITORING SESSION
Taken over 1.5 hrs, 25 (early)- 63 (later) seals (60 Atlantic harbor seals and 3 Atlantic gray seals), hauled out at the far NE haulout area at Cupsogue
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| Thursday December 16, 2021
SEAL WALK FOR SAXTON MIDDLE SCHOOL
Once again the seals were far off on their haulout area to the NNE . Approximately 30-35 seals were observed and photographed
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| Sunday December 19, 2021
SEAL WALK
The winds were from the N gusting over 25 knots (31.25 mph), the water level was so high that the "new" haulout area was underwater.
No seals were hauled out and we were able to see 2 seals swimming.
No photos were taken. |
| Monday December 20, 2021
SEAL MONITORING SESSION
There was no wind and the water was like glass (Beaufort Scale 0). Approximately 35 seals were seen, including a few harbor seals that were photographed swimming near the "old" haulout area across from the old overlook above the rocks.
The majority of the seals were hauled out on a new spot, even further north, almost 3/4 of a mile away. They were so far away that it was impossible to get an accurate cont. The exact reasons for this change in haulout areas are unknown. We hope that the changes are temporary and that the seals will ultimately return to their normal haulout areas soon.
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| Monday December 27, 2021
SEAL MONITORING SESSION
65 harbor seals hauled out, then flushed from the "new" haulout area in Moriches Bay. Later a harbor seal and a humpback whale were seen on the ocean side as well
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| Tuesday December 28, 2021
SEAL MONITORING SESSION
75 Atlantic harbor seals hauled out, 66 hauled out in the "new" area NNE, 9 hauled out in the prior main haulout area. One seal we hadn't seen since March 2016, Lucky, was back.
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| Friday, December 31, 2021
SEAL WALK
Approximately 70 Atlantic harbor seals hauled out, in the "new" area NNE
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| Sunday, January 2, 2022
SEAL WALK
While monitoring the fog-bound haulout area prior to the seal walk we found about 30 seals hauled out in their "old place," namely the area they used from 2004-2006. 1.5 hours later, the seals were still fog bound, but at their "new" distant haulout to the NE. We waited paitiently and in a short while the fog cleared to show us ~90 seals hauled out in the "new" area.
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| Sunday, January 9, 2022
SEAL WALK
75 seals at sunrise! 29 at their main haulout area and 46 on the new area on the NE end of the sandbar.
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| Sunday, January 16, 2022
SEAL WALK
12 harbor seals observed swimming
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| Thursday, January 20, 2022
SEAL MONITORING SESSION
Up to ~41 Atlantic harbor seals hauled out on the far NE edge of the sandbar in Moriches Bay at Cupsogue Beach
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| Saturday, January 22, 2022
SEAL WALK: Seatuck Environmental Association's Greentree Foundation Teachers’ Ecology Workshop
Again to ~41 Atlantic harbor seals hauled out on the far NE edge of the sandbar in Moriches Bay at Cupsogue Beach. This time we were there for a beautiful sunset
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| Tuesday, January 25, 2022
SEAL MONITORING SESSION
113 Atlantic harbor seals (1 on rocks and 112 on the primary haulout area) in Moriches Bay at Cupsogue Beach
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| Friday, January 28, 2022
SEAL MONITORING SESSION
146 Atlantic harbor seals on the primary haulout area in Moriches Bay at Cupsogue Beach
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| Thursday, February 10, 2022
SEAL MONITORING SESSION
145 seals: 2 swimming Atlantic gray seals, 2 swimming Atlantic harbor seals, 137 Atlantic harbor seals on the tertiary haulout area on the far NE edge of the sandbar in Moriches Bay at Cupsogue Beach, and 4 Atlantic harbor seals hauled out on rocks
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| Saturday, February 12, 2022
SEAL WALK
132 Atlantic harbor seals on the secondary haulout region of the sandbar at Cupsogue Beach. They remained from about 7:00 AM until around 10:30 AM when there were spooked from the sandbar by some unscupulous person flying a drone. PLEASE NEVER FLY A DRONE ANYHWHERE NEAR RESTING SEALS!
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| Sunday, February 13, 2022
SEAL WALK
5 Atlantic harbor seals swimming and cavorting on a snowy morning
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| Wednesday, February 16, 2022
SEAL MONITORING SESSION
128 Atlantic harbor seals on the tertiary haulout area on the far NE edge of the sandbar in Moriches Bay at Cupsogue Beach.
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| Monday, February 21, 2022
SEAL MONITORING SESSION
132 Atlantic harbor seals on the tertiary haulout area on the far NE edge of the sandbar in Moriches Bay at Cupsogue Beach.
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| Thursday, February 24, 2022
SEAL MONITORING SESSION
5 harbor seals swimming (including old-timers "Starburst" and "Horseshoe," as well as the new "Theta right.". All others were gone.
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| Saturday, February 26, 2022
SEAL MONITORING SESSION followed by a SEAL WALK
No seals were hauled out on the sand bar prior to or during the seal walk. 8 seals were seen in total, 4 before the walk and another 4 during the walk, all were on and/or near the rocky haulout area.
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| Sunday, February 27, 2022
SEAL WALK
With howling NW winds, we were able to view ~42 Atlantic harbor seals hauled out in a tight group at the tertiary region of the sandbar.
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| Wednesday, March 2, 2022
SEAL WALK
We found 92-106 seals hauled out on the NE tertiary haulout region of sandbar and later found 1 seal hauled out on rocks
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| Thursday, March 10, 2022
SEAL MONITORING SESSION
101 Atlantic harbor seals on the tertiary haulout area on the far NE edge of the sandbar in Moriches Bay at Cupsogue Beach.
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| Thursday, March 10, 2022
SEAL MONITORING SESSION
101 Atlantic harbor seals on the tertiary haulout area on the far NE edge of the sandbar in Moriches Bay at Cupsogue Beach.
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| Sunday, March 13, 2022
SEAL WALK
Once again, with strong winds out of the NW, seals were swimming or hauled out on the rocks and stayed in the lee of the wind. The newly named "theta right" was seen swimming. Looking back over images, it was determined that "theta right" is the entangled seal we've seen now for 13 years. It is still being strangled by plastic
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| Wednesday, March 16, 2022
SEAL WALK
About 35 seals at the NE haulout area at Cupsogue 2022.03.16. This video was taken 1.5 hrs prior to the seals being spooked by an airplane illegally flying very low (~450 feet) overhead. The plane's ID was sent to the authorities.
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| Sunday, March 26, 2022
SEAL WALK
168 seals were seen this day, including 1 Atlantic gray seal and 161 Atlantic harbor seals hauled out on the sandbar and 4 Atlantic harbor seals hauled out on the rocks seen during our seal walk. After the walk Dr. Kopelman was told, by Cupsogue Beach Superintendant Ryan Sommerville, of a seal on the ocean side lying at the high tide wrack line. This was a yearling harp seal. The seal was reported to the NYS Stranding Hotline (631) 369-9829. All harp seal photos were taken at 200' with a 600mm telephoto lens.
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| Sunday, March 27, 2022
SEAL WALK
Interactions between ~50 Atlantic harbor seals and juvenile bald eagles on the secondary (closer) haulout area of the sandbar in Moriches Bay. Eventually all seals were flushed by the eagles. Later 1 young gray seal hauled out on the rocks
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| Wednesday, March 30, 2022
124 Atlantic harbor and 1 gray seal hauled out on the far NE edge of the sandbar in Moriches Bay
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| Thursday, April 07, 2022
1 Atlantic harbor seals swimming in Moriches Bay
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| Saturday, April 09, 2022
65 harbor seals today. 60 hauled out on the far NE region of the sandbar, 3 on on the rocks, and 2 swimming in Moriches Bay
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| Sunday, April 10, 2022
On this seal walk we encountered 81 seals hauled out on the secondary (closer) haulout region of the sandbar in Moriches Bay.
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| Thursday, April 14, 2022
On this seal walk we encountered 30 seals hauled out on the far NE region of the sandbar Moriches Bay.
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| Saturday, April 23, 2022
12 harbor seals hauled out on the far NE region of the sandbar in Moriches Bay
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| Sunday, April 24, 2022
19 harbor seals were hauled out on the far NE region of the sandbar Moriches Bay and photographed from 670 yards away prior to the seal walk. When we arrived over an hour later, the seals were gone from the NE region of the sandbar. We stayed and talked and eventually were able to watch a lone harbor repeatedly haul-out and return to the water.
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CRESLI 2021 Whale Watch Sighting Report Blog
| Saturday June 26, 2021
Brief encounter with 20 Inshore bottlenose dolphins and good variety of pelagic birds
The Viking Fleet and CRESLI began our 25th consecutive season of whale watching trips slowly, i.e., finding dolphins. While we were successful in finding cetaceans (the group of animals that include whales, dolphins, and porpoises), our encounter with 20 inshore bottlenose dolphins was brief. We saw them crossing our bow about 500 yards away, but never really got good views of photographs. The dolphins seemed to be intent on feeding and quickly moved away. While we tried to find them again, we were unsuccessful.
The pelagic bird life was quite good, seeing 5 different species including 30 Cory’s shearwaters, 8 Great shearwaters, 1 Sooty shearwater, 1 Manx shearwater, and around 50 Wilson storm petrels
A good way start to the 2021 season. We hope to find more tomorrow
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| Sunday June 27, 2021
Humpback and another day with a good variety of pelagic birds
We left the dock at Montauk to clearing skies and fair weather for the second trip of the season. Today the Viking Starship rounded Montauk Point and cruised southeast. Over the next few hours we covered a lot of ocean searching for whales. We observed good numbers and a variety of seabirds along our trip. Eventually we were excited to start seeing isolated "blows" in the distance. We proceeded to close with the whale but it was not making many visible blows and was moving, not feeding in one place. We continued to search heading closer to Long Island and saw a few blows, probably indicating more than one whale in the vicinity. At one point we saw two blows close together, one larger and one smaller, so perhaps a cow-calf pair.
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Wednesday June 30, 2021
Finback whale!
We left the dock at Montauk to look for whales and escape the heat. Once we got into water with sea surface temperatures in the 63-640F, we relished the cool air. The winds were as predicted, SW at 15-20 knots, the seas were as predicted also at 3-4 feet. We headed SW 8 for nautical miles and saw few birds and no cetaceans. We then headed due east and 3 nautical miles later, a whale blows right next to us. It was a faint blow, but a blow none-the-less. This was our first encounter with what eventually was identified as young finback whale ~45' long. We slowly followed this deep diving, 5-8 minute diving whale for 5 nautical miles, the whale was feeding near the bottom (120') on dense prey patches. The sea conditions and the speed of this whale made it nearly impossible to clearly identify (although we believe it to be a fin whale) until it steeply surfaced and we could see the unique fin whale characteristics: white right lower jar, blaze, eye stripe, chevron. This whale had distinctive killer whale raking scars on its dorsal fin, and entanglement scars across its back.
What an amazing sight! What a special day! Our 168th identifiable fin whale since 2009!
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| Sunday July 4, 2021
Pelagic birds – yes! Cetaceans – no!
After 31 consecutive successful trips since July 17, 2019 and for only the 11th time since 2009, we were unable to find a cetacean (whale, dolphin, or porpoise. The conditions were excellent, with unlimited visibility, clear skies, cool temperatures (sea surface temperatures from 52.850F to 67.730F). We traveled over 40nm and encountered pelagic birds often, we saw no whales. Their prey has begun to show up abundantly, in some areas from the surface to the bottom. We will find them again
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| Wednesday July 7, 2021
We’re back at it again: Humpback and short-beaked common dolphins!
It was the perfect day to get on the water, escape the heat, and look for whales and dolphins. The visibility was good, as were the seas and we headed out to the SSE. It was an hour before we found our first blows from a humpback whale. We traveled with this whale as it searched for food over the next 75 minutes and 2 nautical miles, sometimes being down for 7-8 minutes. This was a young humpback and one we’d not seen before, our 139th different humpback off Montauk since 2009. On our way back, we encountered a rambunctious pod of 30 short-beaked common dolphins
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| Saturday July 10, 2021
An Awesome Day of Whales and Dolphins!
We left Montauk today with overcast skies, heading southeast to where we had previously seen whales. As soon as we passed Montauk Point, we had reports of dolphins close inshore, south of the point. We headed over and soon came upon a pod of about 10 bottlenose dolphins.
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Another Awesome Day of Whales and Dolphins!
We left Montauk today with unlimited visibility and headed to where we had seen whales on Saturday. As soon as we passed Montauk Point, we looked for dolphins and continued heading southeast. Our first blows were from a whale seen on Saturday. This poor whale is identifiable because of a massive set of propeller scars on its right side and its dorsal fin was mostly gone. This is a young whale that had been seen in the NY harbor area and catalogued as NYC0224 by our colleagues at Gotham Whale. It was last seen around NYC on 6/25. We stayed with this whale for a while and headed to a second whale in the area. We ultimately met and photographed 4 humpbacks on this trip. They were busy feeding and looking for food, often times coming up right next to us to check us out. We are never in gear when waiting for whales to surface and presented no threats. After a few hours with the whales, it was time to head back. On our way in we saw a groups of about 40 bottlenose dolphins and we stayed with them for a bit before proceeded back. By the way, we did have to retrieve many balloons on this trip, please never release helium filled balloons!
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| Saturday July 17, 2021
7 Hammerhead sharks, a tail throwing/slapping humpback, bottlenose dolphins, and too many balloons!
We headed out to look for whales and once again to escape from the heat. The visibility was 4 miles at first, but continued to open up as we headed south for a while, then east and after 2 hours from the dock we found our 1st surprise - a large hammerhead shark (unsure of which species). Every direction we moved brought us new hammerhead sharks. Over 0.6 nautical miles, we encountered 7 different hammerheads. That's a record for us. As we continued on, we saw little, and picked up too many balloons (c'mon folks it's time to stop), but never stopped looking. At around 6 PM we saw a blow in the distance, and soon smelled the putrid, fetid, foul odor of a humpback with a possible lung infection (whale flu, as termed by Dr. Paul Forestell and others). The whale (NYC0084) was tail-throwing and tail-slapping (behaviors often used for non-vocal communication). We were in 130' of water, but the prey were only 35' down, so this whale did some low-fluking dives in search of food. We eventually had to leave, just as a small pod of about 20 bottlenose dolphins paid us a brief visit. We headed in through pea soup fog and returned late, but happy.
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| Wednesday July 21, 2021
Another double species day! Humpbacks and minke whales!
We headed out to excellent conditions with nearly unlimited visibility,2-3 foot seas,and reports of whales and dolphins nearby. With the predicted stormy conditions to occur within a few hours, we headed west and stayed nearer to shore than on previous trips. Spoiler alert - the predicted severe weather passed to our south. We found 2 humpbacks and a minke over a 2 nautical mile stretch. Both were young and active. One was tail throwing, and later breached right next to us. The nd whale was resting (logging) quite often, interspersed with dives and close approaches. Our 1st humpback showed up again and we watched it follow bunker (Atlantic menhaden) and lunge feed though large piles of bunker.
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| Saturday July 24, 2021
Minke whale, bunker, and Ocean sunfish!
Beautiful day to be out on the water today, calm seas of 1 – 2 feet, unlimited visibility and water temperature between 70 – 72 degrees Fahrenheit. While traveling west along the coast of Montauk we came upon a large school of bunker (Menhaden). Hoping to find some cetaceans looking for a nice meal but not luck. Traveling away from the coast, we found an ocean sunfish (Mola mola) which swam directly next to the boat giving everyone onboard a great view. Traveling further away from shore a Minke whale gave us three quick views before disappearing out of sight
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| Wednesday July 28, 2021
A special day!! 7 humpback whales,1 minke whale, 120 bottlenose dolphins!!
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| Saturday July 31, 2021
2 humpback whales
Within 20 minutes of passing the Montauk Lighthouse, we saw our first whale spout. We spent some time with this young humpback whale giving us a blow or two and before diving down. Showing us its tail fluke, presumably to forage on baitfish close to sea floor and then surfacing every three minutes or so. This humpback gave us a peduncle throw for everyone to see as well. Continuing heading west, we saw another young humpback whale giving us a blow or two before diving. This humpback only fluked once likely feeding close to the surface. Overall, a very nice day out on the water with unlimited visibility.
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| Sunday August 1, 2021
Another successful trip! 2minkes and 1 humpback!
What a wonderful day we had on the Viking Starship! Unlimited visibility and crisp cool air were perfect conditions for finding whales. Again with 30 minutes of passing Montauk Light, we found a minke whale that allowed us some wonderful views as it swam repeatedly near the bow. We headed further and 45 minutes later, another minke (larger the 1st one) surfaced within 2 yards of the starboard side of our bow sprit. Captain Davy immediately stopped and the whale dove as the crew collectively held its breath. Within 30 minutes we encountered a 27-36' humpback that was one we had seen on Wednesday, We had amazing views as this whale rolled over and was logging (resting) with intermittent low-fluking and high-fluking dive to reach the massive concentrations of prey at 40' (mid-water) and 75' (bottom)..
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| Wednesday August 4, 2021
Whales in the rain!
We headed out with excellent visibility and just a light misty rain, hoping that the rain would stay to our south. Oh well, we were wrong, although when the wind was behind us, the rain was quite tolerable. We weren’t really fazed by the rain and continued to search for whales. After about an hour, a minke whale did a full-body breach just 200 yds from then port bow. It was an amazing, yet fleeting sight that only a handful of us saw. An hour later we saw the tell-tall splash of a breach and headed to find a humpback lunge feeding and taking high-fluking dives. These were great sights that made the rainy trip worthwhile. The humpback was one we’d seen in this area 2 weeks earlier
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| Saturday August 7, 2021
Only fainting glimpses today.
Nice weather, favorable seas and 10+ miles of visibility, while traveling over 44 miles only yielding a few of us a brief view of a cetacean. We had an unidentified whale blow spotted by one of our CRESLI volunteers a mile or so behind us. We searched long and hard but never saw the whale come up again. A while later, a dolphin was spotted by a few members of the crew only to swim away and not seen again. We also had an unknown shark species swim by close to the boat, giving people on that side a quick view before disappearing. We do not get many trips like this with great conditions and little to no sightings. Our track record says we will have better days in the future.
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| Sunday August 8, 2021
Another AMAZING multi-species day!
Unlimited visibility, flat seas, gray skies, with just a few sprinkles for 2 minutes after leaving the dock - a far cry from the storm/rainy weather to our west. Our first whale was a minke, not far from Montauk Lighthouse. Within 45 minutes we saw 2 other minkes, and then the first of 5 humpback whales. Within an hour we found 3 more minkes, another humpback, and 15 inshore bottlenose dolphins and that was just the beginning. Within the next 40 minutes we encountered 4 more humpbacks and 45 more inshore bottlenose dolphins. To top it off, we found a smooth hammerhead shark on our way back in.
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| Wednesday August 11, 2021
4.5 year old humpback whale (Liner 2016 calf) again!
Today, the fog that had been around for hours lifted and we were able to head out. Our 3 miles of visibility was enough and within 30 minutes after passing Montauk Lighthouse, we found our 1st whale. This was a 4.5 year old humpback whale (Liner 2016 calf) that has been around Montauk for at least 4 weeks. It was busy feeding on prey at the bottom, spending up to 9 minutes down. At one point, it BREACHED right off our port bow (15 week away). An awesome full body breach!
After spending 50 minutes with this whale, we decided to look for others. What we found, unfortunately, was dense fog everywhere. That was it and we decided to head back to port.
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| Saturday August 14, 2021
An awesome 3 species of cetaceans day
Another great day to be out on the water. 10+ miles of visibility, calm seas, a cool breeze and plenty of sunshine. Less than half an hour after passing Montauk Lighthouse, we came upon a pair of humpback whales giving us plenty of views with short dive times due to large schools of Atlantic menhaden (bunker) at the surface. One even showed off giving us a few peduncle throws. As the Viking Starship continued heading west we found 3 minke whales with one of them giving us a couple of nice views to make comparisons of size and behavioral patterns with the humpback whales we had just seen. Next we saw a large Mola mola (ocean sunfish) just resting at the surface. As we headed further south we found another humpback whale and 30 – 40 inshore bottlenose dolphins. Continuing our trip, we found another minke whale and approximately 20 inshore bottlenose dolphins swimming in the same general area. There we several whale blows off in distance in multiple directions that we just did not have time to investigate. As we headed back to Montauk, we saw approximately 10 dolphins and another minke whale. Later approaching the lighthouse, our original 2 humpbacks put on quite a show breaching and pec slapping filling up customer’s memory cards with many pictures and videos. What a fabulous way to end a great trip.
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| Sunday August 15, 2021
Another spectacular 3 species trip! Humpbacks, minkes, and inshore bottlenose dolphins!
We couldn't have asked for better conditions - unlimited visibility, 10-15 knot winds out of the NW, and 2' seas that later flattened out as the wind changed to SW. Within 20 minutes of passing Montauk Lighthouse we were on our first whale, MTK.2021.08.15-01, a flipper slapping, rolling humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae). 20 minutes later, we are visited by a small ocean sunfish (Mola mola). 20 minutes later, we meet our 2nd humpback and our 3rd humpback a few minutes after that. 20 minutes later, we encounter our 4th humpback. It's a young whale (small) and has survived an encounter with a propeller that left terrible scars on its left fluke. It was resting periodically and feeding, but it looked to be unwell and weak, or so we thought, due to the tremendous areas of sloughed skin. We ever wrong! Five breaches followed by 10 minutes of flipper-slapping showed how much energy this whale had. Throughout our hours among the humpbacks we encountered 3 different minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata). As we headed in, we encountered an aggregation of several small groups of inshore bottlenose, perhaps 45 in total.
What a special day!
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| Wednesday August 18, 2021
Our best trip of the year!!
Once again we had perfect conditions and lots of whales reported to us. 15 minutes after passing Montauk Lighthouse, we saw our first of about 12 minke whales. We encountered our the 1st of 11 humpback whales 30 minutes later! We were able to get close to photograph and identify 6 humpbacks, while the other 5 were seen within a 800 yard radius around us as we left out last whale – we’d run out of time.
What made this trip extra special was that the last whale we were close to (the 2016 calf of Nile) was a true survivor. This young male had been severely entangled in 2900 lbs. of fishing gear and was disentangled via a herculean 4 day effort (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/humpback-whale-disentangled-new-york-all-thanks-team-effort). We were the first vessel to encounter this whale last year 3 weeks after being freed. We saw the extent of its injuries and were glad (as was all involved) to have seen it alive on August 19, 2020. To see it again 364 days later only 4 nautical miles away from where we last saw it on August 2020 was special. To see that the horrendous wounds have healed was even more special. Everyone onboard was elated!
11 humpback whales
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| Saturday August 21, 2021
Minke whale and ~100-120 short-beaked common dolphins!
So, what do you do on the day before a hurricane is supposed to hit? Go looking for whales and dolphins, of course! The visibility was good, albeit the clouds and sky were gray, while the long, rolling 5’ ground swell was very comfortable. Once again we found our first whale, another minke (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), right near Montauk Lighthouse. We also saw a blow from a humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae) ½ mile away, but that whale didn’t show up again. We headed somewhat offshore to stay in deeper calmer waters. We found no other baleen whales, but were able to spend at least on hour with a large aggregation of about 100 short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis). The dolphins were amazing, with lots of mom and calf pairs, lots of porpoising, and jumping. These were an aggregation of several social groups, and often some would come over to try and ride of bow. We made no attempts to encourage this behavior, but even when moving slowly, the dolphins came to try and catch a lift in our bow wake. The lucky people along the bow were able to hear these animals vocalize and communicate with one another. What an amazing experience to undergo.
We hope that you weather the storm well and hope to see you out there with us on future trips.
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| Wednesday August 25, 2021
Another multi-species day!
As we left the dock, a young gray seal (Halichoerus grypus)that we'd seen before was swimming around searching for food. Our trip on the oceans started out with a minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) that just a few of us saw (we call that a "stinky minke"). We then found a small group (10) of inshore bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and later encountered one large group (50) and another small group (10), about 70 in all. In the interim we spent time up close with a truly "stinky" humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae). "Stinky" due to the mildly fetid, funky smell of its blow (perhaps due to a lung infection). Stinky humpback blows are and not that common but truly memorable. The "bait" was abundant often near the sea floor (about 90 feet depth), we saw others blows in the distance, including a massive fin whale blow at least a mile further south, unfortunately we weren't able to fin it after we'd spent our time with the humpback. It was a relatively calm day but warm day, with sea-surface temperatures in the low-mid 70's.
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| Sunday, August 29, 2021
Another three species day, but a long one
The day started out with an Atlantic gray seal (Halichoerus grypus atlantica)feeding in the waters of Montauk Harbor right behind the Starship as we boarded passengers.
Conditions were excellent as we headed out to the east where humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) had been spotted earlier in the day. We didn’t find that whale, but did find a group of inshore bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), a good start. As we headed south west we came across a few minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) and a much larger group of inshore bottlenose dolphins. Late in the trip, our way back in we found a humpback whale! This was a whale we’d fist seen back in early July. It was wonderful to see and made everyone happy, but we returned to the dock 40 minutes. So, it was a long trip but worthwhile.
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| Saturday September 4, 2021
Baleen whales, birds, bunker, and a bat!
What a great day to be on the water! The weather was absolutely gorgeous with unlimited visibility and calm seas. We spent the first hour cruising near shore in search of whales. Soon, a blow was spotted by one of our volunteers and we observed a humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) casually swimming and diving in approximately 50 feet of water. Then things got exciting with a surprise breach in full view of passengers watching from the bow. Shoals of bunker (Atlantic menhaden) were visible at the surface in about 32 feet of water and the whale moved into shallower water to feed. We knew something extraordinary was about to happen when the fish began leaping from the water followed immediately by the lunge-feeding humpback. At this same time, a minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) was spotted on the other side of our vessel and was either joined by a second minke or spotted again a moment later. The humpback eventually moved on and so did we, returning along the coast looking for other mammals. Although we did not find any along our path home, we did encounter three different species of shearwater (Great, Cory's, and Manx) characteristically shearing their way across the water, adding to a bird list that already included a northern gannet spotted earlier in the trip. We also had a brief view of a bat (unknown species). With such an amazing and beautiful day on the water and only one trip remaining for the season, it will be sad to say goodbye to summer but we thankfully have many happy memories to keep us warm.
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| Sunday September 5, 2021
Our last 2021 trip was a winner!
Our final trip for the 2021 season was anopther multi-species day that started, once again, with a large male gray seal in the harbor right behind the Viking Starship.
The conditions at sea were excellent: unlimited visibility, gray skies, and no sun glare. We headed west towards where we'd seen a humpback whale the day before. We found our humpback whale there too.Today's whale MTK.2021.07.28-04 has been seen by us 3 times over the past 5 weeks, a fine example of short-term site fidelity. What a fine way to end this season with another view of one of our 28 humpbacks (including 16 new ones).
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2020-2021 CRESLI SEAL WALKS AND MONITORING SESSION SIGHTINGS
(2844 seal encounters in 46 trips)
All photos taken with 600mm lens from safe distances and did not disturb the seals
| Date | Type of trip | STATUS |
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| Sunday November 08, 2020 | SEAL MONITORING SESSION | 8 Harbor seals hauled-out and 2 swimming PHOTOS |
| Monday November 09, 2020 | SEAL MONITORING SESSION | 2 harbor seals swimming
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| Sunday November 15, 2020 | SEAL WALK | 3 Atlantic harbor seals on the far northeast end of the seal haulout sandbar in Moriches Bay (secondary haul-out site) and a lob-tailing humpback approximately 500 yards from shore on the ocean side at Cupsogue Beach during the
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| Sunday November 22, 2020 | SEAL WALK | Quick view of a large diving seal. Could not ascertain species.
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| Friday November 27, 2020 | SEAL MONITORING SESSION | 36 harbor seals hauled-out on primary area, flushed into the water for unknown reason, the swam to secondary haul-out area far to the northeast
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| Saturday November 28, 2020 | SEAL WALK | Several harbor seals seen during an early monitoring session. ~20 harbor seals hauled-out on secondary haul-out area far to the northeast.
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| Sunday, November 29, 2020 | SEAL WALK | 35 harbor seals hauled-out on primary area
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| Thursday December 10, 2020 | SEAL MONITORING SESSION | 83 harbor seals hauled-out on primary area
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| Sunday December 13, 2020 | SEAL WALK | Several swimming harbor seals seen during an early monitoring session. ~30 harbor seals hauled-out on secondary haul-out area far to the northeast.
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| Wednesday December 23, 2020 | SEAL MONITORING SESSION | 83 harbor seals hauled-out on primary area
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| Saturday December 26, 2020 | SEAL WALK | Several swimming harbor seals seen during an early monitoring session and during the seal walk
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| Sunday December 27, 2020 | SEAL WALK | Several swimming harbor seals seen during an early monitoring session. ~45 harbor seals hauled-out on secondary haul-out area far to the northeast.
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| Friday January 1, 2021 | SEAL MONITORING SESSION | ~37 harbor seals (~25 hauled-out on secondary area, 2 on rocks, ~10 swimming)
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| Saturday January 2, 2021 | NYS DEC 1ST DAY HIKE | 5 harbor seals swimming
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| Wednesday January 6, 2021 | SEAL MONITORING SESSION | 171 seals (170 harbor seals and 1 gray seal) hauled out on the primary area
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| Saturday January 9, 2021 | SEAL WALK | 50 harbor seals hauled-out on primary area, 4 on rocks
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| Sunday January 10, 2021 | SEAL WALK | 43 Atlantic harbor seals hauled-out on primary area. We watched as the approach of a duck hunting boat triggered all seals to enter the water. Several hauled out again about 10 minutes later and the same vessel caused them to scatter. The seals willrespond to the sounds of vessels that have disturbed them in the past. Unfortunately, this particular vessel has flushed seals from the sandbar on multiple occasions. We can't wait for duck season to end. While the seals don;t necessarily respond to the sounds of gunshot, they do remember the sounds of vessels and react accordingly.
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| Tuesday January 12, 2021 | SEAL MONITORING SESSION | ~10 harbor seals swimming
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| Thursday January 14, 2021 | SEAL MONITORING SESSION | 22 Atlantic harbor seals, some new and others not seen in quite a while at Cupsogue Beach. Disturbances caused seals to only haulout on the far NE area of the sandbar. Swimming seals were near shore. 17 seals hauled out and 5 swimming.
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| Thursday January 21, 2021 | SEAL MONITORING SESSION | ~7 harbor seals swimming. Once again, the expected haulout wasn't there. We assume that significant disturbance must have happened prior to our presence. By this date last year we had almost 1200 seal encounters in 14 trips. So far for this season, we've only had 802 seal encounters in 22 trips. We surely hope that the some of the disturbances will end with the end of duck hunting season. We implore all to be vigilant about NOT DISTURBING RESTING SEALS. Give seals their distance! If they react to you in any way it's time for you to STOP what you're doing, DROP down to be less visible, and LEAVE
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| Saturday January 23, 2021 | MONITORING SESSION and SEAL WALK | The recent trend of limited haulout numbers continues with just 6 seen prior to our seal walk. None were present during the seal walk.
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| Sunday January24, 2021 | MONITORING SESSION and SEAL WALK | 6 harbor seal ( 2 on rocks and 4 swimming) seen prior to our seal walk. 6 harbor seals were seen swimming suring our walk. On our way back, some of us were treated to views of a resting snowy owl
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| Thursday February 4, 2021 | MONITORING SESSION | 186 harbor seals hauled out on the primary area
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| Saturday February 6, 2021 | MONITORING SESSION and SEAL WALK | 176 harbor seals hauled out on the primary area
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| Wednesday February 10, 2021 | MONITORING SESSION | 68 harbor seals. 9 hauled out on rocks, 15 swimming, 44 hauled out on secondary are at the eastern end of the sandbar
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| Wednesday February 17, 2021 | MONITORING SESSION | 78 harbor seals hauled out on the primary area of the sandbar
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| Saturday February 20, 2021 | SEAL WALK | 43 Atlantic harbor seals hauled out on sandbar in area used through 2006
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| Sunday February 21, 2021 | SEAL WALK | 65 Atlantic harbor seals hauled out on sandbar in area used through 2006
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| Wednesday February 24, 2021 | SEAL WALK for Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library | 195 Atlantic harbor seals hauled out on sandbar in area used through 2006
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| Saturday March 6, 2021 | SEAL WALK | 49 Atlantic harbor seals hauled out at two distinct regions of the sandbar. 29 at the far NNE end, and 20 at the now recently being reused 2006 area
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| Sunday March 7, 2021 | SEAL WALK | 85 Atlantic harbor seals. 2 on rocks and 83 hauled out at the now recently being reused 2006 area
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| Tuesday March 9, 2021 | MONITORING SESSION | 134 Atlantic harbor seals hauled out at the now recently being reused 2006 area
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| Saturday March 20, 2021 | SEAL WALK | 128 Atlantic harbor seals hauled out at the now recently being reused 2006 area
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| Saturday March 21, 2021 | SEAL WALK | 12 Atlantic harbor seals swimming
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| Wednesday March 23, 2021 | MONITORING SESSION | 168 Atlantic harbor seals hauled out at primary haulout area
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| Saturday April 3, 2021 | SEAL WALK | 153 seals including 132 Atlantic harbor seals and 1 juvenile Atlantic gray seal hauled out at the reused 2006 area, and 20 hauled out further east near the Moriches Coast Guard Station
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| Sunday April 4, 2021 | SEAL WALK | 192 seals including 189 Atlantic harbor seals and 3 juvenile Atlantic gray seals hauled out at the reused 2006 area. We watched as they reacted a sound to the west, most of the seals turned to their left (west) and half entered the water, then the rest went in. Most seals headed to the inlet and about 60 swam to the tertiary haulout area nearer the Moriches Coast Guard station
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| Sunday April 18, 2021 | SEAL WALK | 93 seals including 90 Atlantic harbor seals and 3 juvenile Atlantic gray seals hauled out at the reused 2006 area when we arrived. They were flushed into the water, but began to return within a few minutes. 11 minutes after being flushed,there were 69 seals (1 juvenile Atlantic gray seal and 62 Atlantic harbor seals hauled out on the sandbar with 6 harbor seals swimming). In about another 20 minutes they will be flushed again by a kayaker. KAYAKERS, STAY AWAY FROM RESTING SEALS!!
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| Saturday April 24, 2021 | SEAL WALK | An Atlantic gray seal pup and an Atlantic harbor seal juvenilePHOTOS |
| Sunday May 2, 2021 | SEAL WALK | We weren't sure if the seals were still around. From a great distance, we saw an Atlantic gray seal pup move into the water. Slowly,as we walked to our viewing area (600 feet from the sand bar), we found that the seal had returned. Later it would ultimately be joined by 3 other Atlantic gray seal pups and 2 Atlantic harbor seal juveniles. Patience and quite observation led to our success.
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2019-2020 Seal walks
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2019-2020 SEAL SIGHTINGS AT CUPSOGUE
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- Seal Walk Registration is required, go to https://forms.gle/28ArTe9YQ6DSWSsU8
- Massive seal haulout at Cupsogue, February 2, 2020. 157 seals from CRESLI_ Inc. on Vimeo.
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SEAL WATCHING CRUISES TO THE PRISTINE AREAS OF PLUM ISLAND, GREAT GULL ISLAND, AND LITTLE GULL ISLAND
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THE VIKING FLEET AND CRESLI ARE TEAMING UP FOR SOME WONDERFUL WINTER AND SPRING SEAL WATCHING TOURS ABOARD THE FAST AND LUXURIOUS 125 FOOT VIKING SUPERSTAR. WE WILL GO TO THE PRISTINE AREAS OF PLUM ISLAND, GREAT GULL ISLAND, AND LITTLE GULL ISLAND FOR BREATHTAKING VIEWS OF HARBOR SEALS, GRAY SEALS.
- Reservations are available at https://vikingfleet.com/activities/seal-watching-tours/
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2019 CRESLI/Viking Fleet whale watching
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Best of the 2019 Montauk Whale Watch Photos
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- 2019 - 95.8% SUCCESS (23 OUT OF 24 TRIPS)
- 97.67% SUCCESS SINCE JULY 2017 (42 OUT OF 43 TRIPS)!
- SINCE 2009 - 93.38% SUCCESS RATE IN FINDING CETACEANS (141 OUT OF 151)
- Join the crew with over 30 years of whale watching experience. Come away with geat memories, great photos and videos, and an education about whales, dolphins, sea turtles, and marine life that is second-to-none.
- The Viking Fleet and CRESLI are offering special family friendly marine cruises focusing on the sights of the ocean! Enjoy a day on the water with your family looking for whales, dolphins, sea turtles, sea birds and sunfish. Along the way you can view the Montauk lighthouse and all the landmarks of the east end.
- A qualified naturalist / marine biologist will narrate the tour and answer all of your questions!
- The Viking boats are equipped with clean restrooms, comfortable seating and full galleys onboard. We recommend reservations. You can either do so by phone (631-668-5700) or https://vikingfleet.com/activities/whale-watching/
- The trips will depart the dock at 2:00 PM and return at 7:00 PM Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from July 3, 2019 - August 28, 2019
- The fare for these trips is $75 for adults, $49 for children 5-12y/o, FREE for Children under 5y/o
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Best of the 2019 Montauk Whale Watch Photos
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CRESLI/Viking Fleet 2019 Whale Watch Reports
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Wednesday July 3, 2019
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Basking shark, Ocean sunfish, and dolphins!
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A Big Minke Day
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Sunday, July 7, 2019
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Humpback whales, Kemp's Ridley sea turtle, and ocean sunfish!
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Wednesday, July 10, 2019
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Finback whale! 1st of this season, and another ocean sunfish
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Friday, July 12, 2019
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Minke Whale on a Beautiful Day
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Sunday, July 14, 2019
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Humpbacks Galore! Lunge-feeding, breaching, flipper slapping, and more
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Wednesday, July 17, 2019
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Friday, July 19, 2019
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Back with the Whales!
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Sunday, July 21, 2019
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Humpback action!
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Wednesday, July 24, 2019
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100 bottlenose dolphins to start, humpback and more bottlenose to end!
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Friday, July 26, 2019
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Bottlenose dolphins, Minke whale, and Finback whale!
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Sunday, July, 28, 2019
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Bottlenose dolphins to start; humpback to end
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Wednesday, July, 31, 2019
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3 Humpbacks, pod of bottlenose dolphins, and a minke whale!!
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Sunday, August 4, 2019
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Whale Trifecta! 2 Minke whales, 5 humpback whales (including a mom and calf), and a finback whale! 8 whales in all!
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Wednesday, August 07, 2019
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Breaching Humpbacks, Minkes, and a few Great shearwaters and a mature Northern gannet!
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Friday August 9, 2019
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Whales and Dolphins Too... Again!
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Wednesday, August 14, 2019
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Finback whales and humpback whales
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Friday, August 16, 2019
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A Humpback, a Minke and a Fin Whale...
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Sunday, August 18, 2019
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Spectacular Humpback Whale Breaching
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Friday, August 23, 2019
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A Spectacular Day with the Whales
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Wednesday, August 28, 2019
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Whales Close to Montauk
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Friday, August 30, 2019
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A Beautiful Day with Whales all Around
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Sunday, September 1, 2019
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Great way to end our season!
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