I went out on the American Princess Cruises with Gotham Whale on Saturday Aug 3, Noon push off. Capt. Frank at the helm. The AP crew - Capt. Jack, Mitch, Christine Naturalist Celia and a special guest appearance by PJ Sieswerda, President of Gotham Whale.

Conditions - SW winds 10 to 15 kt with gusts up to 20 kt. Seas 4 to 5 ft and building. Wave Detail: S 5 ft at 8 seconds with a wind 2-3ft chop on top. Visibility 1 to 3 nm with a haze, air temp 88, water temp 70ish.

The whale watch started off at the dock before pushing off, a bunch of Baby Cownose Rays were around the boat. We pushed off and charged out of Sheepshead Bay, passing through Rockaway Inlet and met up with the whales as soon as we hit our destination. On the way out we saw so many Cownose Rays, a small shark, and a few turtles.

A big tail throw was the first interaction followed by some really good lunge feedings. 3 Whales were around the boat at one point with other blows way off in the distance. One of the whales off in the distance did a spectacular breach, the splash was like 20-30 feet high and the slap from the whales crashing on the surface sounded like an explosion, it was impressive. The boat was rocky due to ocean conditions, so I missed the breach and the tail throw but overall, did well capturing a few close passes and lunge feedings. As we exited the 3 whales, we came upon one more humpback zigzagging back and forth subsurface and lunge feeding. Time was up, we motored back to Pier 3 in Sheepshead Bay.

A great trip out on the American Princess Cruises today, 4 whales (probably 7 with blows seen way off in the distance), many rays, a shark, and some turtles.

Click on the name to go to the Facebook pages for Gotham Whale and the American Princess Cruises. If you want to see this action live, with the NYC skyline as a backdrop, go here, scroll down to the bottom and book a trip on the American Princess Whale Watch, the first NYC Whale Watch.