February 22. A two-day window of good weather allowed the aerial survey team to obtain excellent coverage of Cape Cod Bay. Unfortunately, no right whales were seen in Cape Cod Bay on either day. During a single survey of the Bay, it is possible for a whale to be missed because it happens to be on a long dive while the airplane passes overhead. The plane also has a blind spot, in that it is impossible for the observers to see a whale directly below the plane. These are a few of the limitations of aerial surveys. To decrease the effects of such limitations, our survey track lines are spaced 1.5nm apart. At this distance, the observers can see a whale surfacing on the previous/next track line. Surveying the Bay two days in a row also decreases the chances of missing a lone whale that may be hanging below the surface of the frigid water.

February 23. In the afternoon of the second day two fin whales were spotted off of Race Point. From our aerial perspective, the fin whale's asymmetrical coloration is distinct as the white right jaw glows in contrast to the gray left jaw. Taking a few minutes to appreciate the sighting, the observers watched the fin whales until they gracefully dove out of view. Anxious to find right whales, the aerial team headed to the east of Cape Cod. The team's perseverance paid off as a right whale was finally sighted about five miles east of Highland Light. This right whale proved to be difficult to photograph as it dove for twenty minutes at a time surfacing briefly to breathe. As the plane circled over the evasive right whale, the afternoon sun continued to lower in the sky, giving less light for photographing. After 45 minutes, the team had to accept that this whale wouldn't be photographed today and headed home.

February 16. Heading to Chatham airport this morning, the aerial survey team found themselves facing spring-like conditions. While spring's warm weather can bring relief from winter's storms, it also brings fog to Cape Cod. Luckily the fog cleared quickly and the survey team was able to take flight before 11 o'clock. With exceptionally calm seas, sightings of seals were abundant. The long silhouette of a fin whale was spotted early in the day, off of Race Point. After two hours of surveying, the black body of a right whale was spotted below the water's surface. The right whale swam slowly subsurface, making it difficult to locate and even harder to photograph. After numerous circles over the whale, identifying photographs were obtained and the whale was identified as #2223, a whale nicknamed "Calvin". Calvin is a regular in Cape Cod Bay and very familiar to the survey team. One of her recognizable features is the multitude of scars on her flank, tail-stock and flukes. These scars are the result of an entanglement in fishing gear some years back. With help from the Center's disentanglement team she successfully shed the gear in the spring of 2001. Calvin arrived in Cape Cod Bay last winter with her first calf in tow. While she was sighted alone this year, calves are usually weaned before they are a year old and we are hopeful that her calf will visit Cape Cod Bay on its own this year.

February 16. R/V Shearwater left the dock this morning as the fog cleared under a bright sun. The crew looked forward to a pleasant day collecting plankton samples and sighting for whales on Cape Cod Bay. Winds were light and air temperatures were above freezing-quite a relief after the rough seas and freezing spray of our previous cruise! The birds, too, seemed to enjoy the changes in weather conditions, as we observed rafts of birds resting and taking flight from the water's surface throughout the day. Our sightings also included several seals, eiders, loons and ....balloons. Plastics like these can be disastrous to all kinds of marine life-seals, sea turtles and birds alike. They can cause animals to drown, or can poison them when the ingested plastics slowly release toxins into their system. We dutifully took the time to retrieve many of these holiday relics.

In the mid-western portion of the bay, we caught a glimpse of the long, dark back of a whale. We waited for the whale to surface again, hoping that it would be a right whale, but it turned out to be a fin whale. Fin whales, the second largest baleen whale in the world, inhabit these waters year-round. This sighting turned out to be the highlight of our cruise, despite our best efforts to spot a right whale.

February 9. The weather forecast promised a good flight day for this Thursday with medium winds between 10 to 15 knots. Yet when we got out over the water we realized that the waves were a bit higher then we had thought they would be. With a Beaufort sea state of 3 for the whole day we were at the upper limit of our allowable sighting conditions. With increasing sea state and more and more white caps at the surface of the water it gets harder and harder to spot marine mammals from the plane, even if they are as large as a right whale (up to 64 feet maximum body length). Having seen not much more than a lonely seal bumping amidst the waves, we headed back home early, completing our survey in less than 3.5 hours.

February 4. Reenergized, the aerial survey team rose early this Saturday morning to conduct another survey. The team climbed into the airplane hopeful that they would see more then just the frigid waters of Cape Cod Bay. Their efforts were quickly rewarded with sightings of Atlantic white-sided dolphins, multiple seals and a fin whale. While recording these sightings, the observers kept a keen look out for the species they were especially looking for, the right whale. Halfway through the flight a log-like shape was sighted barely breaking the surface of the water. We broke away from our track line to have a look and the log-like figure proved to be a right whale logging at the surface. Logging, described as "resting at the surface with no forward movement", is a common behavior for right whales. This behavior can make right whales very difficult to detect (especially for mariners in a boat). As the airplane circled the whale, the observers took identifying photographs of the callosity pattern on the whale's head. Callosities are patches of raised, hardened skin, similar to calluses. Each individual right whale has a distinct callosity pattern by which it can be cataloged and identified. Through this photo identification, the observers were able to identify this individual right whale as #1027, nicknamed "Admiral". Admiral, an adult female, is a regular visitor to Cape Cod Bay. She is famous among right whale researchers for her enormous size.

February 2. The aerial survey team took flight this morning eager to see which cetacean species were utilizing the waters of Cape Cod Bay. Survey conditions were ideal. The calm sea would allow the observers to easily notice any disturbance caused by a whale or dolphin's movements. The sky was covered with high clouds, which decreases the sun's glare. This makes searching the water easier on the observers' eyes. Despite these great conditions, only a few seals were sighted within Cape Cod Bay. Disappointed by the scarcity of marine mammals, the survey team completed the survey and headed for home.

January 31. The right whale aerial survey team began its ninth field season early this January. Amidst the winter storms and winds of up to 40 knots, the survey team completed seven surveys within January. Six of these surveys covered the waters of Cape Cod Bay, while the seventh allowed our observers to search for whales off the eastern shore of Cape Cod. Numerous seals and dolphins have been spotted within Cape Cod Bay throughout the past few weeks. A few sightings of the elusive minke whale kept our observers' anticipation high. The survey conducted to the east of Cape Cod granted the observers the opportunity to practice their photographic skills on humpback and fin whales. Even with the numerous storms this winter, the overall warmth of the season is evident from the air. The survey team, with their bird's eye perspective, has seen no sea ice this winter. This is a stark contrast to the past few years where there was extensive freezing around the southeastern portion of the Bay. Excited by all our sightings to date, the aerial survey team still waits with anticipation for the right whales to return to Cape Cod Bay.