Out on the American Princess Cruises whale and dolphin adventure with Gotham Whale, ocean conditions were challenging but manageable! Waves were a very choppy 3-6ft with a solid wind at 20mph out of the SSE with gusts over 30mph. The ocean kept building with the wind on it hard, but it was an awesome trip! I love it when it gets snotty out on the ocean. You get thrown around, and it’s very hard to shoot and keep the long lens steady. It’s a challenge but it’s so much fun!

We headed out of Breezy and went on a whale watch. I was in my usual spotting position on the AP, upper left. Now, this is my theory on when the ocean is rough: the whales like to get out of the water. I don’t mean lunge feedings I am talking chin slaps, breaches, tail throws and maneuvers. Yes, they do it when it's flat, but I see these types of maneuvers more when it's snotty…I could be wrong, Just sayin’.

On lookout, I see a very big splash about two miles away followed quickly by two more big splashes. I tell the captain and yell down to the passengers on the pulpit, “We have a Whale between 12 o’clock and 2 o’clock!”

We were far away, and we could lose this whale if we don’t get there quick, so the captain speeds up. We get to the spot where the whale should be, and this whale could be anywhere by now. All eyes on the boat looking out, a passenger says “10 O’clock!” and we have our whale.

The conditions made it tough to spot the whale because the ocean was very rough. The whale can get lost in an angry sea, but this whale started lunge feeding so that’s our saving grace. The whale was going at it, gobbling up as much bunker it could on each lunge feeding through the large waves. We really don’t know if the breaching whale we saw in the distance and this whale we are following now are one and the same whale? After just saying that to the passengers below BOOM! this whale shoots out of the water in a full breach, directly in front of the AP 100 feet away and lands with a spectacular splash. The splash was large and the sound of the whale hitting the ocean sounded like an explosion! The whale did another spectacular breach and then another, followed by about 10 chin slaps. IT WAS NUTS AND it’s what I am here for!

The whale continued to lunge feed after the breaches and chin slaps for a bit and then threw in an epic peduncle throw. I mean this whale committed! It happened so quick and the whale looked like it was going to spin out of the water sideways. The best peduncle throw I have seen to date and he/she only did it once.

The ocean was getting larger and choppier by the minute. Funny thing about angry seas, they don’t translate into photos well. If you look at the photos below it really doesn’t show that the sea was that rough, but it was. So, when you see a photo and say “wow the ocean looks crazy,” it really must have been crazy!

We see a few blows from another whale, then another and then another. A few big splashes here and there away from the boat at distance. We moved over to see the second whale, got a few shots of it and it was time to go in.

YES, "The sea was angry that day, my friends, like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli." But it still was a good day, 4 humpbacks seen.  

I say this to anyone who will listen. There are whales in the waters of NYC and Nassau County and the American Princess is the boat to go on to see the action! If you haven’t gone out on the AP, what are you waiting for? Book your trip here.

FYI, I have no skin in the game, I just think it's incredible that we have a whale watching boat here in NYC and promote because of this!