[SEMCO] June 23 All Day Whale Watch with PCCS

Mon Jun 11 07:58:13 EDT 2007

Tickets are still available for the June 23 All
Day Ecological Whale Watch Adventure with the 

Provincetown

Center

 for Coastal Studies aboard the
Portuguese Princess Excursions. 

The trip departs 
Provincetown Saturday, June
23
 at 8 AM and returns at 4 PM.  Tickets are
$85/person.

            PCCS's highly
experienced Marine Educators, Research Assistants, and
Scientists will explain the ecological significance of these
different habitat areas and offer training into collecting
sightings, behavioral, environmental and atmospheric
data. 

            This trip will take
you to explore offshore habitat areas not accessible during
3-4 hour trips which are  frequented by birds, endangered
large whales, sharks, seals and many more species of
interest., including possible visits to:

            „h  Great South Channel

            „h  Jefferies Ledge

            „h  Platts Bank

            „h  Wildcat Knolls

            „h  Nearshore and offshore
habitats east of 
            Cape Cod

            „h  the Gerry E.
Studds-Stellwagen Bank

            PCCS&rsquo;s
humpback whale experts will provide individual identification
and history of humpback whales seen, training passengers on
photo-identification and whale matching.  PCCS curates
the catalog for humpback whales throughout the Gulf of Maine,
with over 2000 individuals identified and cataloged.  To
date, over 150 individual humpback whales have been seen this
season in the Gulf of Maine feeding and nursery area,
including 23 mom/baby (cow/calf) pairs.

            Additionally,
plankton nets will be deployed and samples will be viewed
using microscopes.

            RECENT SIGHTINGS:

            On Thursday, June 8,
PCCS Research Vessel Shearwater with the humpback research
team spent the day offshore near the BC buoy in the Great
South Channel in the company of 60+ endangered humpback
whales, including 9 mother and calf pairs, half a dozen
finback whales, and minke whales.  Groups of 20+ humpback
whales were bubble net feeding in coordination.  Hundreds
of birds were also observed, including northern fulmars,
immature northern gannets, shearwaters, and petrels.

            Additionally, large
numbers of whales have been seen regularly on the southern
edge of Stellwagen Bank, including endangered humpback and
finback whales, minke whales, shearwaters, northern gannets,
and 
            Wilson
            &rsquo;s storm
petrels.   On
Sunday, June 10, over 2 dozen humpback (including 3
cow/calf pairs), finback, and minke whales were seen. 
Behaviors included bubble cloud and kick feeding and
breaching.

            Space is
limited.  For reservations, please
contact:  
Portuguese Princess Excursions at
1-800-442-3188 or www.provincetownwhalewatch.com

            For more
information, please contact: Joanne M. Jarzobski, 
whalewatch at coastalstudies.org or call at 508-487-3623 ext. 107.

The Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies one of
the founders of whale watching on the east coast of the United States, has
spent over 30 years conducting whale research and education programs in
the waters surrounding Cape Cod, guiding over 25,000 whale watch trips
since 1976 and educating nearly 2 million passengers about the endangered
whales, birds and other marine animals that depend on the Stellwagen Bank,
Cape Cod Bay and Gulf of Maine ecosystems for their survival.

********************************* 
Joanne M. Jarzobski

Marine Education Director 
Provincetown Center for Coastal
Studies 
5 Holway Avenue 
Provincetown, MA 02657 
509/487-3623 x107 
whalewatch at coastalstudies.org
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