Whale Breath Photography By Mandy Houston, 415 Main St, Gloucester, MA (2026)

05/04/2026

This weekend was opening weekend for Cape Ann Whale Watch and what a spectacular weekend it was! My mind is blown at the number of whales out there. I've been whale watching since the 2001 season and have never experienced a season opener like this one. It didn't matter which direction you looked in, there were whales everywhere! We saw dozens of Humpback Whales (including a few calves which was amazing as we didn't a single calf last season!), a handful of Fin Whales, and few Sei Whales as well. It was pure insanity to say the least!

I haven't even made it through all of my photos yet, but here's a little preview. I'll be trying post more over the next several days.

If you're interested in going out on a whale watch this season now may be the time to book! With the high number of whales out there I'm sure that they'll deplete the food sooner rather than later and then they'll move on to the next hot spot.

Photographed on Saturday, 5/2/26 aboard the Hurricane II with Cape Ann Whale Watch out of Gloucester, MA.

03/29/2026

I've been quiet for months and with the 2026 season quickly approaching I wanted to share something to try to get back into the swing of things.

Last year was different. Life changes prevented me from getting out on the ocean as much as I normally do, but they were good life changes so all is well in that regard. I expect this season to be about the same although I'm hoping to get out more.

Whales aside, my family suffered a great loss on December 10, 2025 when my father passed away. I won't get into too much detail here other than to say that although he'd been sick for months, we were not expecting or prepared for this loss. He went in for a pretty significant surgery that morning and despite everyone including his team of doctors and nurses having a very optimistic outlook, things did not go as planned. He went into cardiac arrest while in surgery and they were unable to bring him back. To say that having someone who's been a permanent and constant fixture in your life ripped away so suddenly is incredibly hard is an understatement. It's something that you can't even find the words to explain. My entire family has been left with so many questions and so little answers.

My dad was a homebody. He didn't come out whale watching with us (my mom and I go together frequently) very often, but he did enjoy it when he was out there. He also got some pretty incredible photos over the years which I'm sharing in this post. Looking back at his photos I'm grateful that he got to see such great activity.

My mind is still in a blurred state at times and my family is still trying to come to terms with everything. Grief is a weird thing. One day you're fine. The next you get a random reminder and it hits you like a freight train all over again.

With the 2026 season inching closer and closer we're starting to get a little antsy and are itching to be back out at sea. Last season was unusual in that we didn't get to see a single Humpback Whale calf all season. It was seemingly a very low calving year, but reports from the breeding grounds this winter look a lot better and more promising so we're hopeful it'll be a great season.

I hope to stay more active and up to date this season. We'll see what life has in store for me as far as that plan goes! Until then... I hope you're all well and had a great winter.

With all of that said, here are some photos that my father took over the years out at sea.

08/02/2025

Life has been a whirlwind these days and I haven't been able to get out to sea as much as I'd like, but for very good reasons so it's all good. Last week I was on vacation and went whale watching a couple of days during the week. Very different trips, but I was able to meet (4) new whales! This is one of the newbies... a yet to be named very small youngster. This whale stole the show on both trips.

In the morning one day, we were traveling along parallel as we're supposed to do and it sank just far enough beneath the surface to where we couldn't see it. All of a sudden it popped up right in front of us and cut us off. The next thing we knew, fish were frantically leaping out of the water right off the bow and it was very clear why when the whale suddenly lunged through them.

In the afternoon we had just gotten to the area where he was last seen and we were waiting patiently for it to resurface when all of a sudden he breached no more than 50' from the boat! It was completely unexpected so no photos, but I did see it and it's all in my memory!

The "ironic" thing about this whale is that it should (in theory) be afraid of boats. This whale is likely no more than 2-3 years old judging by its size and it has already had a very unpleasant encounter with a boat at some point as evident by the severe scarring on its left side. Yet... he (or she) chose to approach us on its own very closely. Amazing encounters with this youngster, but I wish it would keep its distance from boats going forward!

Photographed aboard the Hurricane II with Cape Ann Whale Watch out of Gloucester, MA.

05/29/2025

Boy... I've been slacking lately. Ok, maybe not slacking but just flat out busy with life. It's rather ironic that my last post from 2024 was about Tear because guess who today's post will be about? If you guessed Tear, you guessed right!

I think I'm just gonna go ahead and just slap the "he's my favorite whale" label on him. This whale never disappoints! He's been ONE of my favorites for years as I have so many incredible memories of him. As whale watchers, we all have different experiences with different whales. In my personal experience, I've always known Tear to be very charismatic and full of energy. He tends to be on the more active side and more times than not I've seen some type of surface activity out of him.

Today was different though. In all the years and times I've seen him, I don't recall ever seeing him feeding at the surface. At least not like was today! Every whale has its own unique feeding style and it's fun to see. Tear's style consists of blowing bubbles, surfacing through them with his mouth open, and then rolling to the side. A few times we could see him flick his tail with some force beneath the surface as he was starting his next feeding sequence. It was truly remarkable to watch! There were several other individuals in the area, but my attention was primarily on Tear as he was so much fun to watch!

Huge thank you to Cape Ann Whale Watch for going the extra mile(s) for us whale heads! You guys are amazing and your effort is greatly appreciated! ❤

PS... if the colors or lighting looks off on these it's because I'm working on a new monitor which just got delivered today. You wouldn't think it's a big difference, but yeah... it is!

09/01/2024

Incredible encounter with Tear, an adult male Humpback Whale yesterday! This whale is one of my favorites as he has a more charismatic personality, and in my experience, has a reputation of being a more surface active individual. I've seen him many times over the years, but this was only my second time seeing him this season. I lost count of how many times he breached, but if I had to guess I'd say 8-10 times.

Cape Ann Whale Watch went the extra mile(s) to ensure everyone onboard had the best sightings possible and I can say with 100% certainty, we all got off the boat very happy and in awe!

Photographed 8/31/24 aboard the Hurricane II with Cape Ann Whale Watch out of Gloucester, MA.

08/25/2024

This has been such an odd season for whales! June is usually our "quiet" month, but this year we were hoppin'! August is normally a really busy month, but this year it's been super quiet. Our bigger whales have all but scattered and moved further away from home. It's been very, very unusual and actually kind of worrisome to me.

Thankfully, while the bigger whales have moved out of the area for the moment, the smaller whales have moved in! We've been seeing Dolphins on more trips than not. I'm not complaining at all. They're always a crowd pleaser and so much fun to be around.

Yesterday we had a large pod of White-sided Dolphins passing through on our way back in from the morning trip. We had perfect lighting and flat, calm sea conditions which allowed us to follow them as they frolicked beneath the surface. There were several tiny calves in this pod and even some mating behaviors! It was truly a special encounter that I'll never forget!

Photographed 8/24/24 aboard the Hurricane II with Cape Ann Whale Watch out of Gloucester, MA.

08/15/2024

Yesterday was one of those days you just didn't want to end. From start to finish it was just incredible. We had beautiful weather and flat calm seas and of course the whales didn't disappoint either.

The highlights from our sightings included a pod of Common Dolphins to start our day in the morning trip. These dolphins are so beautiful and so much fun to watch. They tend to be active and are very fast! They're normally a challenge to photograph, but everything just aligned perfectly yesterday allowing us to get some amazing up close and personal looks! Some of the calves within this pod were very young as they still had some visible fetal folds.

Our day ended further away from home, but it was well worth going the extra miles! We came upon one Humpback Whale which turned into two and then a third one popped up! They were doing some napping (or logging) as they rested quietly at the surface. Once they woke up, feeding was on their agenda as they began bubble feeding! The first bubble net that they blew was right off our bow giving us an unforgettable look at this incredible behavior!

We were able to identify two of these individuals pretty quickly; Crown and Nile. The third took us some time, but eventually we were able to determine it was Scylla. It was pretty incredible seeing this trio of adult female working in unison to feed.

Throughout the day we also spotted Harbor Porpoise, White-sided Dolphins, Finback Whales, and another juvenile Humpback who has yet to be named. I'll be posting more photos soon.

A HUGE thank you to Cape Ann Whale Watch for an INCREDIBLE day! You never disappoint! :)

08/15/2024

Such a great day to be offshore! Our morning started with an incredible pod of Common Dolphins - which despite the name, are not that common here! My last sighting of this species was in 2019. This pod consisted of several mom and calf pairs with many of the calves still having fetal folds! More photos to come. I just knew I wanted to spot check this specific photo. Thanks as always to Cape Ann Whale Watch for a spectacular day at sea!

08/04/2024

Yesterday was hot! Way too hot to stay on land! Even being offshore didn't offer much relief when the boat stopped, but the sea conditions were picture perfect!

Here are some photos from the afternoon and sunset trips with Cape Ann Whale Watch. :)

All photos taken 8/3/24 aboard the Hurricane II out of Gloucester, MA.

07/20/2024

A HUGE thank you to Cape Ann Whale Watch for going the extra mile(s) to give us an unforgettable look at the largest animal to have ever roamed the planet!

If you've been following local whale news you've probably heard that there's been a very rare (to our area) Blue Whale seen a few times off our coast. It's been almost 2 weeks since its last sighting, but today the stars aligned and we were able to see it again as it was likely taking advantage of the abundance of krill in the area.

I've seen this species before, but of course I was hoping to see this individual as well. The best part of today's sighting was being able to share it with my mom who's never seen a big Blue before! I was so hoping she'd get her chance and am so grateful we were able to experience this one together!

Photographed 7/19/24 aboard the Hurricane II with Cape Ann Whale Watch out of Gloucester, MA.

Whale Breath Photography By Mandy Houston

05/04/2026

03/29/2026

08/02/2025

05/29/2025

09/01/2024

08/25/2024

08/15/2024

08/15/2024

08/04/2024

07/20/2024

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