To some on the East End, whale watching is considered a rite of passage.
A time honored experience that connects us to the original settlers of these seaside towns. This year the Coastal Research and Education Society of Long Island (CRESLI) partners with Montauk’s Viking Fleet for its 27th year of seaworthy adventure— and the only whale watching tour on the East End. On most excursions, spectators will have an opportunity to see many of the extensive species that reside in our waters starting with the crown of the Atlantic, the whale. In 2021, CRESLI had a 92% success rate of whale sightings including Finback, Minke, North Atlantic Right, Sei, Sperm, and of course, the celebrated Humpback whale. Other cetaceans boaters will commonly see during the approximately five-hour tour are the Short-beaked Common dolphin, Bottlenose dolphin, and Atlantic white-sided dolphin. There will also be sea turtles such as the Leatherback, Green, Loggerhead, and Kemp’s Ridley. Get those jaws ready, there are several shark species to encounter—the Blue, Basking, Great White, Hammerhead, Thresher, Shorten, and Mako. Some tours report sightings of the other-worldly Ocean Sunfish (which weigh between 540 and 4,400 pounds!), several kinds of tuna— Bluefin, Albacore, Yellowfin, Bigeye, Atlantic Bonito, False
Albacore, and Skipjack— along with Mahi Mahi, White and Blue Marlin, Atlantic Sailfish, and Swordfish. Beyond what’s below, there are various Pelagic birds on the ocean: numerous types of Shearwaters, Storm-Petrals, Fulmar, Gannet, Phalaropes, Jaegers, and several types of Gull. Since 1989, Arthur H. Kopelman, Ph.D, president of CRESLI and now retired marine mammal professor, has been conducting whale watching tours. “It never gets old. Watching interactions between dolphins or between whales, watching them feed or nurse. Or seeing Humpbacks breach. It’s just mind boggling,” Today, the scientist and educator still brings his four decades of expertise to the tours twice a week to keep the tradition alive. We also suggest packing your binoculars when heading to the beach, as many have recently reported sightings along the southern shoreline between Ditch Plains and Sagg Main beach– another exhilarating experience not to be missed. Whale watching tours begin July 3, 2022 and run Wednesdays and Sundays from 2:00-7:00 pm through early September. To learn more about CRESLI’s conservation efforts and educational programs, visit cresli.org.
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