Tuna Fishing and Marine Wildlife 7/31/22

 This past weekend a friend invited me to join him on his boat for a tuna fishing trip.  I didn’t hesitate to take his offer.  The trip offered me two of my favorite activities - fishing and wildlife viewing.  Luckily, the weather, the tuna and the marine life all cooperated for me.  We caught yellowfin tuna and saw plenty of dolphins, whales and a few pelagic birds.

We left my friend’s dock at around 1 a.m. aboard his 36-foot fishing boat.  The boat, all decked out with offshore fishing gear, headed out of Barnegat Inlet on a course about 90 miles to the northeast.  We arrived at the fishing grounds around 5:30 a.m.  I can’t identify the exact location because my friend, like any other dedicated fishing captain, doesn’t give out his secret GPS coordinates.  But eBird decided to place my checklist in New York waters.

Left, Wilson's storm-petrel.  Right, Cory's shearwater.  © S. Weiss

Left, great shearwater.  Right, great shearwaters resting on ocean.  © S. Weiss

We would spend the day trolling the area, but it didn’t take long for us to see marine life activity on the surface.  As expected, Wilson’s storm-petrels were the first birds to show.  The small black and white birds appeared a few at a time and morphed into dozens bouncing off the water's surface.  Captain John calls them tuna chicks.  Soon after, I spotted a few great shearwaters on the horizon, backlit by the rising sun.  Not too long after, we spotted a frenzy of activity ahead of the boat.  There were birds gathered, shearwaters and storm-petrels, with dolphin cruising through the area.  Then we saw blow spouts in the distance, indicating that whales were there.  There was bait (which turned out to be sand eels) near the surface and the birds, dolphin and whales were converging into a big feed.  Captain John knew that the tuna would also join in on the chow down.

Humpback whale possibly lunge feeding.  © S. Weiss

Humpback whale raising its tail, or fluke, out of the water.  © S. Weiss

As we got closer, I could make out great shearwaters by the dozens, with a couple Cory’s shearwaters mixed in, flying and sitting on the water. Short-beaked common dolphin also by the dozens were zipping through the area, at times in front of, behind and alongside the boat.  But the showstopper was the humpback whale that was poking its head up through the frenzy.  I presume the whale was feeding and spy hopping, a move where the whale positions itself vertically in the water with its head out of the water to check out its surroundings.

Humpback whale rising up through surface with its mouth wide open.  © S. Weiss

The dolphin and whale show continued throughout the day.  During the whole day, I estimated there were at least four humpback whales and two, maybe three, fin whales in the area.  My estimate was based on seeing multiple spouts, and different colored bodies.  They were not shy of the fishing boats in the area and, likewise, the fishing boats gave the huge mammals their space.  We trolled in loops through the area most of the day, so there were periods of slow activity and periods of increased activity.  In one of the feeding forays, we saw a few shark fins mixed in with the action.  At one point a rather large shark swam near the boat.  The best photo I could get was its fin slicing through the surface of the water.  Captain John, from his spot up top of the boat, was able to identify it as a tiger shark.

Tiger shark passing by the fishing boat.  © S. Weiss

Everyone on board the boat caught a yellowfin tuna, but by 2:30 in the afternoon, the tuna bite had tapered off and it was time to take the four-hour ride back to the dock.  As we pulled away, I could still see some blow spouts off the stern’s horizon.  It was a good day.  I caught some fish, saw some birds and saw some of the biggest and most intelligent creatures in the sea.  I can’t wait for my next day out on the ocean.

Short-beaked common dolphin.  © S. Weiss

Possibly two different fin whales.  © S. Weiss

Blow spout of a whale about to surface.  © S. Weiss

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