Feeding Herring

These pictures are of herring we saw all over the surface one night on the edge of dark. In the first picture you can see all the bunches of herring around the boat in the distance. The second picture is a close up of the dark patches you can see in the first picture. The herring are feeding on some sort of small organisms that are up on the surface. This tends to happen right at dusk as well as during the night. In the third picture you can see a basking shark cruising around in the distance. While it looks scary and is 30 ft long, it has no teeth and is eating the same tiny organisms the herring are eating. (Click image to enlarge)

What We're Looking For

The first picture below is of a bunch of Northern bluefin tuna milling around on the surface late in the afternoon, around 6 PM. While the second picture is of a pair of bluefin tuna floating down wind on a calm day (the two dark wakes are the two individual fish). No one is quite sure why they come up to the surface, but as harpooners this is the only place we can catch them. I am not sure how many people will appreciate the sight of tuna as much as me, but if you do you will probably like these pictures. Both of these pictures were taken in the gulf of Maine, about 20 miles off the coast. (click image to enlarge)

Right into a Rainstorm

These pictures are of my father up in the tower as a rainstorm barreled towards our boat. Since there was no lightening,  we stayed in the tower until there was too much rain. As you can see in the first picture, there was a distinct line of wind in the distance. We had to hold on to your hats (literally) once the line of wind reached us. (Click images to enlarge)

Moby Dick

These are a few pictures of a sperm whale that we came across out fishing yesterday. This is only second sperm whale we've ever seen out fishing. They are very rare to see in the waters off of Maine. Unlike most whales that stick their back out of water when they release/take a breath, the sperm whale has its blowhole way up on the tip of his nose so when it lets out a breath of air it looks like it is blowing bubbles. Seeing these weird blows off in the distance is what made us suspicious it was not a normal whale. Sperm whales are notorious for not letting you get very close to them before diving down for hours. As you can see from the second picture we were not able to get very close to this one before it took its dive.  We are guessing it is around due to the fair amount of squid in the area, the sperm whales favorite food. The last picture (not taken by me, clearly) is just to give you an idea of what these strange, dinosaur-looking whales look like under the water. (Click images to enlarge)

Dodging a Storm On The Way In

These pictures were taken yesterday on our way in from tuna fishing (July 13th, 2011). As we started for home we encountered some unexpected thunderstorms. Luckily we were able to outrun/dodge the worst part of the storms. The first picture is of another storm off in the distance, making a path for the one that almost hit us. As you can see in the last four pictures, the heart of the second storm just missed us. (Click the images to enlarge)

These are a few pictures I have taken since tuna season started on June 1st. The first photo is of my father, Steve, going up on a bunch of about 15 Northern Atlantic Bluefin tuna. The second and third photo are of my brother, Chris, going up on two separate pairs of tuna (you can't see the second fish in the third photo, it is off to the left). My father and brother are standing out on a pulpit in these pictures, about 25.5' off the tip of the bow. In all the photos, there are purple blobs beneath the V-like wakes. Those are the individual tunas. In the second pictures, you can see the left fish very clearly. My first photo on the blog was similar to these photos but shows a much more detailed look at the tuna itself. 

Hungry Sea Hags

These photos were taken a few days ago while I was a cleaning one of the tuna we caught. These sea hags (commonly known as Greater Shearwaters) often follow the boat looking for scraps of guts and meat that get thrown over. These particular ones must have been pretty hungry as they got very close to the boat. (click image to enlarge)

Te Apiti Wind Farm, New Zealand

The pictures below were taken at Te Apiti Wind Farm in New Zealand. The fist picture was taken from the backside of the wind farm, while the second was taken from the frontside. In the second picture you can see a bunch of white dots on the hillside. Those are all sheep. Sheep outnumber people in New Zealand. (click images to enlarge)

New Years Recap-2010

It's the New Year, so why not have a recap of what I posted in 2010 and post the first picture of the year in the same post. The picture below was taken in the botanical gardens in Sydney Autralia last year. Below the picture is a list of what I shared with you all last year/ever. I hope you have enjoyed all the pictures so far. If you have any interest in ordering any prints don't hesitate to email me at bweiner21@gmail.com. Happy New Years!

September:
Gotta Start Somewhere
Sunrise in Southwest Harbor, Maine
A Trip to Tapotupotu Beach, New Zealand
Bursting with Sulfur
A Lost Frog
A Small Swarm of Mosquitos
Fin and Tail

October:
A Stack of Rocks
Scanning the Ocean
A Frond of Ponga Tree Fern
The Silver Lining Goes For a Sunset Cruise
Baby Geese
Herring Carrier Ship
My Grandfather's Garden
Steaming In
Stormy Seas
Lined Up
Sinking Away
Close to Home
Weapon of Choice
Lake Taupo Sunset
An American Goldfinch

November:
The Bean
Boon Island Light
Mt.Tauhara Hike, New Zealand
Moonrise
Harpooning Sequences


December:
My First Turkey
A Young Humpback
A Pod of Pilot Whales
The Swell of Earl
A Lone Giant

A Lone Giant

This picture of me was taken last summer by my brother Chris. My father is steering me up behind a crazy, giant single that we ran across on our way in. As you can see from the big, zig-zagging wake in front of me, this tuna was big and smart, just trying to watch its own back. In the end, this tuna's survival tactics paid off as we did not get a great chance with the harpoon. (click image to enlarge)

The Swell of Earl

This picture was taken the day before Hurricane Earl "hit" the Gulf of Maine and Cape Cod. While Earl died out and did not wreak as much havoc as everyone had anticipated, the swell was still great. This picture was taken at my home break, the Ogunquit Rivermouth, just as the sun was rising. In the picture is Jack Phinney, a Rivermouth local, checking out the swell before he heads out. (click image to enlarge)

A Pod of Pilot Whales

The pictures below are of a group of pilot whales we stumbled onto one day while we were out fishing. Pilot whales, also known as blackfish, tend to travel in pretty big groups. As you can see in the third picture, this group was especially tame, as one of the pilot whales got on its back and tried to wave to us. (click images to enlarge)

A Young Humpback

This picture is of a juvenile humpback whale that we saw out fishing one day. We were about 40 miles off the northern coast of maine when we saw it. Despite being a juvenile, the whale is about 30 feet long. (click image to enlarge)

My First Turkey

These pictures are of the first Thanksgiving meal I have ever prepared. Considering it was my first time, it went about as well as it could have, everyone enjoyed the food and no one got sick. The pictures below are of the  turkey before and after it was carved and put on our plate.

Harpooning Sequences

The collage of pictures below consists of a series of shot taken of my father harpooning an Atlantic Bluefin tuna. You can see the fish under the water (purple blobs) if you look under the the little V shaped wakes in front of my father. In the last shot of the sequence, you can see the fish swimming away with the rope coming out of its back (look to the left of my fathers left knee). It may help to click on the image below to enlarge the photo.

The link below is to a video photo compilation of a longer sequence of photos in which my brother harpoons another Bluefin tuna. The fish in the video compilation was about 300 pounds and was caught in the Gulf of Maine. The quality of the pictures below are not great given the movie making program, but one can get an idea of the practice of harpooning by watching the film.

Harpooning Atlantic Bluefin Tuna -- Video Compilation