Brookline Bird Club’s 7 Seas Whale Watch Trip Report, 2024

Photo: Black Guillemot, Johnny Owens

On a beautiful Saturday morning July 27, 46 club members and friends boarded the 7 Seas sailing vessel Privateer IV out of Gloucester Harbor on a whale watching and sea birding adventure!  We traveled along the coastline up into Ipswich Bay to Halfway Hump.  To our delight there were great looks at many birds, including 4 species of Shearwaters, and even a few species of mammals.  Photos were shared to the Brookline Bird Club Facebook page.  Here is a listing of what we saw:

What we saw – birds, whales and more!:

• American Black Duck – 32
• Common Eider – 13
• Black Scoter – 1
• Black Guillemont – 1
• Laughing Gull – 1
• Herring Gull – 300 (underestimate)
• Great Black Backed Gull – 42
• Common Tern – 18
• Wilson’s Storm Petral – 6
• Cory’s Shearwater – 14
• Great Shearwater – 26
• Sooty Shearwater – 1
• Manx Shearwater – 3
• Northern Gannet – 1
• DC Cormorant – 500 (underestimate)
• Little Blue Heron – 1
• Great Egret – 21
• Tree Swallow – 3
• Great Blue Heron – 1
• Humpback Whales – 2
• Minke Whale – 1
• Harbor Seal – 1
• Atlantic White Dolphin – 30 (estimate)
• Mola Mola – 2 (awesome looks right next to boat)
• Harbor Porpoises – several small pods