Whales, Shearwaters and Some Tuna. 7/27 - 7/28/25

     Last week I was able to get out on the water twice.  Sunday afternoon I met my friend Jason in Keyport, Monmouth County and we took a whale watch outside of the Sandy Hook area.  Less than 12 hours later I joined my friend Captain John on a tuna fishing trip out of Barnegat Inlet, Ocean County.  During the 24-plus hour span I was treated to several up-close whale interactions, saw hundreds of shearwaters and dolphins, and even caught a few yellow fin tunas.

On Sunday the whale cruise took us out of Sandy Hook Bay to just a few miles east of land.  Other than the usual inshore seabirds, there was not much marine activity.  But from inside the harbor and out to the ocean we saw many pods of Atlantic menhaden, or bunker as we call them in New Jersey, which was a good sign.  The juvenile bunker is a targeted food for much of the local recreational and commercial fish species.  It is also a favorite food of our whales.  The captain said he would head towards a spot he was at earlier in the day when he spotted a whale during a fishing trip.  As we neared that same spot we saw the familiar blow spout of a humpback whale.  The captian brought his vessel as close to the whale as legally and ethically permissible.  During the whole time we were watching and enjoying this interaction, the whale was lunge feeding on bunker.  Jason and I got some excellent photos of the whale lunging headfirst out of the water, with its huge mouth wide open, gulping tons of water and fish.  We also got some nice tail fluke photos that will be used by organizations like Happywhale and Gotham Whale to identify, track and study the animal.
Humpback whale feeding off Sandy Hook, NJ, 7/27/25.  © S. Weiss

By 2 a.m. Monday I was heading out of Barnegat Inlet as part of a group of Captain John’s fishing pals.  We went out about 60 to 70 miles in search of yellow fin tuna.  We spent the day trolling the waters for tuna.  During the lulls of hands-on fishing activity, I spent my time scanning the open sea for marine activity.  Things for the most part were slow.  I spotted individual or small groups of great shearwaters and Wilson’s storm-petrels.  Occasional pods of common dolphins also crossed our trolling paths.  Later in the day, activity picked up when we came across to separate, large feeds.
Dozens of shearwaters, almost all great shearwaters, gathering to feed, 7/28/25.  © S. Weiss

The feeds are awesome sights when sea life comes together to join in on a large school of bait, such as bunker or sea lances (locally called sand eels).  Working together at these feeds were whales, tuna, birds and dolphins.  Specifically, there were humpback whales, fin whales, common dolphins, great shearwaters, Wilson's storm-petrels and just a few Cory’s-type shearwaters.  The whales and dolphins rounded up the bait from below the surface while the shearwaters attacked from above the surface.  Adding to the mix were about four or five recreational fishing boats trying to troll through the activity hoping to pull a tuna or two out of the fracas without tangling fishing lines and avoiding each other.  We don’t come upon these feeds very often, but they are a welcome sight for both the fisherman and naturalist in me.
Several marine species gathering to feed.  © S. Weiss  
Included in the photos are a humpback whale, two fin whales, common dolphins, great shearwaters, Wilson's storm-petrels, and one or two Cory's-type shearwaters.

By the time we headed back to home port we had boated four yellow fin tunas.  In between the third and fourth fish caught, we hooked onto five other larger tunas. We fought them hard to bring back to the boat but lost them all to sharks.  Unfortunately, the feed actively also triggered a dinner bell for the sharks.  The sharks don’t always show up on our trips, but when they do, they are hard to avoid.  All said in done, it was a couple good days on the water.
Left, one of just a couple Cory's-type shearwaters among the dozens and dozens of great shearwaters.  Right, all that's left of a yellow fin tuna after a shark took the rest.  © S. Weiss


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