This tuna fishing trip began like any other just before sunrise on Tuesday November 3rd.
We launched my friend Jason Mazzola's 23 foot SeaCraft from a boat ramp we use often and enjoyed calm conditions on the ride out.
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I spotted mackerel on the surface during the ride out and it was obvious there was a lot of life in the area.
The weather was perfect and it was soon time to set the lines and start fishing.
Our boat was in the midst of a healthy ecosystem.
Thousands of mackerel swarmed all around us and it wasn't long until we spotted our first school of bluefin tuna thrashing on the surface.
Discover Where We Were Fishing
Later in the trip we would hook a tuna.
The fish pulled 100 yards of line from the reel within a matter of seconds. The fish then stopped and I was able to recover a few yards before he took off again.
The fish pulled another 50 yards before we broke it off. One of the crimps used to secure the leader had failed.
Then the whales moved in...
That Thing Is Freaking Huge
Off in the distance about one mile away I watched a full grown humpback whale propel its massive body two thirds of the way out of the water and into the sky.
The massive animal came crashing back down into the sea, sending whitewater flying high into the air. The humpback continued breaching like this 6 or 7 more times before taking a break to rest on the surface.
Inspired by the breaches I began to share the story of the Essex with Jay and Todd. The Essex was a Nantucket based whaling ship which was sunk by an angry sperm whale in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in 1820.
During the heyday of American whaling, whales were often feared and known for aggressive behavior. The Essex was sunk by a huge bull sperm whale after the whalers had harpooned other whales in the same pod. Photo courtesy of American Gloom
The twenty man crew of the Essex spent months at sea, having to resort to cannibalism to survive, before the final eight survivors were rescued.
Sperm whales are a rare sight in the area we were fishing. Nevertheless the humpback whales nearby appeared to be at least 40 feet in length and probably weighed close to 60,000 pounds.
The humpbacks were certainly large enough to sink our 23 foot center console.
Oh My God!
After finishing my story of the Essex we got back to catching bait, setting lines and waiting for that elusive bite from a giant bluefin tuna.
When out of nowhere this happened...
The huge whale soon disappeared.
I know that for the most part these are gentle and kind animals, but they are incredibly powerful creatures which are easily capable of capsizing and sinking vessels much larger than the boat we were in.
Just when my heart rate had returned to normal, the "leviathan" appeared again.
We were drifting all alone. We had not approached the whale, instead the whale had approached us.
The questions began to arise:
- Could the whale being trying to protect a calf which we had not yet seen?
- Was this whale just curious as to what we were doing?
- Were there multiple whales?
- Was this whale about to get aggressive?
Finally the whale sounded and swam off.
We figured the encounter had finally ended.
Lets Get Out Of Here!
Another 3 or 4 minutes go by and the whale is nowhere to be seen. My heart rate begins to return to normal and the adrenaline rush starts to wear off.
Whatever this whale was up to, I hoped it would leave us alone. I have seen hundreds of whales in my life and I know they are gentle giants, but this particular whale was making me nervous.
Just then the animal appeared and headed straight towards us...
At this point we all decided the best thing we could do was to get out of the area.
We turned on the engine and cautiously made our way out of the zone. Finally we looked back to see the whale swimming on the surface heading to the west.
Our close encounter was over.
It Pays To Play It Safe
Yesterday I received a report of a whale almost sinking a boat off the Cape.
The incident happened when a humpback whale dove just off the stern of a fishing boat. The diving whale "sucked" the stern of the boat beneath the waterline, and seawater gushed into the vessel.
The captain saved the boat from sinking by quickly throttling the boat forward, which swept the seawater back out the stern. It was a close call for the captain and his crew.
Of course that incident was most likely unintentional. I am sure the whale did not "mean to" cause any trouble.
However, lets not forget that American commercial whaling ended less than 100 years ago. Cape Cod boats used to ruthlessly hunt the grandparents and great grandparents of the whales now swimming off our coast.
I do believe that most whales are harmless, gentle creatures that just want to go about their business.
However...
Could certain whales have animosity towards fishing boats and vessels as a result of past whaling practices?
What do you think?
Let me know
by commenting below
I’ve had numerous similar experiences out on Stellwagen. The humpbacks are very curious and we’ve had them approach our boat often. Once we had a moderate sized whale with its’ tail out of the water on or starboard side and its’ rostrum out on the port. Pretty magical. I believe they know exactly what they are doing. They, in fact, have an additional lobe to their brains. Probably smarter than we’ll ever be!
Wow that does sound magical. Sounds like that whale was having fun checking you guys out.
They are definitely “smarter” than us humans. After all they navigate the world’s oceans without a GPS! Awesome creatures.
I too have had whales come right up to my 24′ Scout while fishing. They have gotten so close that I could almost touch them. At all times they know exactly where the boat is and how to avoid touching it. I have been sprayed when they have exhaled to take a deep breath of air. It smells real fishy when they exhale, trust me. I have also had them come right at my boat and at the last minute dive under it. In one experience several years ago I held onto the posts of the hard top of my boat thinking for sure this one huge humpback was going to ram me but again it dived just prior to reaching my boat. The resemble submarines cutting through the surface of the water with their massive backs exposed and pushing water to the sides as they head straight toward you.
This year while fishing for tuna on the bank I had two lines out the back with macs on them. At about 100′ in front of my boat I saw a bubble net which whales make to scare small schools of fish to the surface and then engulf them with their mouths open as they come up under them. Expecting this to happen I grabbed my camera and began to take video, to my surprise three huge humpback whales surfaced not more than 10 yards ahead of me. They immediately noted that I was there and all three dived under my boat. The next thing that happened is one of my lines off the starboard side started singing as the drag was screaming out. Figuring one of the whales was pulling my line with one of its large fins I grabbed my filet knife and cut my line immediately. I was very concerned about this incident because I in no way wanted to injure such a creature. In thinking about it and knowing that a size 7 or 8 hook would most likely not harm such a huge animal I still felt uneasy about it and decided that if whales come near me from now on I will give them plenty of lea way because I never want to harm one of those wonderful creatures.
They are a very curious creature. There are so many occasions where I have seen them up close and in one instance they came up to my boat and raised their huge heads up out of the water to check me out. In that case I was truly humbled and waved at them in hopes that they knew I was as curious about them as they were with me. I think it makes real good sense if they are acting aggressive to head out and give them plenty of room.
Great comment Jerry and thank you for sharing your experience!
Awesome stuff. Sounds like you have had some pretty incredible fishing adventures.
I look forward to hearing more!
If it’s not seals it’s whales !
We actually had a seal chasing our kite bait for a little while too!
Ryan,
Great report ! I think you guys made a good choice by getting out of that whales “space”. Seemed like some odd whale behavior ? I’ve never encountered one that curious and I hope I don’t ! I think of them as gentle giants also, but you never know if its a “mad” whale ? Certainly a wild place with ocean life out there at Stellwagon. I was out on Monday 11/2 and we found the same with mackerel tinkers up in the top of water column and huge horse macks down below them. Slow day for us, one bite off on a RonZ, vertical jigging and no takers on the live lined macks.
Mark
Yep I think they are gentle giants and just curious for the most part. However they are so powerful that it would not take much to get into some trouble, if a whale knocked the boat or did a big dive too close for comfort.
Glad you at least got a bite on the vertical jig. Were you seeing a lot of fish on the surface?
We didn’t see any fish break the surface all day. Just mack dimples everywhere ! Good luck if you get back out there.