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We have a new dolphin in our Cape May waters! On May 31st, 2016 during our 10:00AM trip, we spotted a pod of our residential dolphins. We recognized a few of the different dorsal fins, including our catalogued dolphin, Triscuit (Tt0008). While watching the pod feed, we noticed another dorsal fin that was very mutilated….

02/08/2016 Our pelagic out of Cape May on Sat, Feb 6, 2016 was a resounding success with the best bird of the trip being, hands down, a GREAT SKUA. The last accepted record for New Jersey was in 2000. Great Skua by Thomas Gleason This was not the only highlight, though. We had a gull…

The Blue Whale  General Facts: The Blue Whale is the largest animal in the world, growing up to 110 feet long (33 meters), they are larger than the biggest dinosaur. The blue Whale is a baleen whale, like the humpback whale we see in Cape May, New Jersey, it has no teeth but it has baleen plates at the top of its mouth. The baleen plates allow the blue whale to eat up to 2,200 pounds of food a day, keeping their weight consistent at 330,000 pounds. How many blue whales are there? At one time blue whales were hunted for their blubber to make oil for clocks and lamps. They were almost hunted to the point of extinction but due to the U.S Endangered species Act it became illegal to hunt blue whales around the world. Over time, blue…

Click here to view a detailed article about our intern, Emily Duggan’s final internship project!

Figure 1; Credit to Cape May Whale Watch and Research Center Database; Photo taken by Victoria Reader Throughout the summer, I have been researching the patterns of the Scalloped Hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini) in the waters of Cape May and Wildwood from this year compared to last year’s data. Last year the American and Atlantic Star…

Portuguese Man o’War seen by Cape May Whale Watch and Research Center The Portuguese Man o’ War is one of the most infamous jelly fish in the world. People who may know only the most simplistic facts about the ocean will be able to tell you that it is one of the most deadly jelly…

Credit to Cape May Whale Watch and Research Center Database Introduction Collection of opportunistic  data during  whale watching trips can offer a wide range of insights into cetacean behavior.  In addition  to spatial information and long term tracking of individuals through photographic methods, notable short-term behaviors of individuals are recorded during sightings (Hauser 2007). Feeding…

The NJ Audubon’s Nature Center of Cape May asked one our of naturalists and marine biologists, Melissa Laurino of the Cape May Whale Watch and Research Center to be a guest speaker at one of their themed education camp weeks, “Diving into the Deep.”  The presentation was given to pre-K through 7th graders and focused…

Photo credit: Cape May Whale Watch & Research Center Database Far out in the Atlantic lurk strange creatures considered to be the deepest diving of all mammals. These record setting animals are Cuvier’s beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris). Normally found far from shore, the Research Center has encountered and photographed individuals of this species during pelagic…

Last week on Sunday, June 21st, at around 6:30 PM, a one-year-old Minke calf (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) had washed up along the Delaware Bay within Cape May Court House, New Jersey, and was still alive at the time of arrival. This was reportedly the third time the calf had been beached. One-day prior, the whale was found…

The migration route of the Atlantic bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) is seasonally motivated, wintering in North Carolina and further south, followed by an occupation of the coastal habitats of the nutrient-rich, warm watered Jersey shore from early April through early December. This movement is accompanied by shifts in the dolphins’ social behavior, feeding patterns, mating opportunities,…

05/25/2015 Now that I’ve caught up on sleep a bit, here’s a more elaborate description of the successful Cape May overnight trip. See Life Paulagics ran a highly successful overnight trip that racked up 4 NJBRC review species! (Yes, Mr. Boyle, I will be writing them up.) We left Sunday night a little after 10:00…