Here we go again. It’s like the movie Groundhog Day, where the same scenario keeps playing over and over again in an endless loop.
Once again, we got the fish and weather settled back in after a northerly cold front. Then, just when we got back to normal, another wicked summer nor’easter descended on us, dropping water temperatures dramatically and sending the bass and bluefish packing.
The water temperatures have barely risen as I write this after a weekend in which bass and bluefish were still pretty much nowhere to be found. What did get pushed into the bay with the northeast winds, however, was a big group of fin whales, along with miles and miles of mackerel, which the fin whales were more than happy to dine on.
Giant bluefin tuna fishing sounds like it’s getting going, with fish being seen and caught in the bay and up on Stellwagen Bank.
An aerial survey conducted by the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy last Tuesday spotted 10 white sharks in Cape Cod Bay. The bay is turning out to be as much a hot spot as the oceanside beaches for shark watchers.
Meanwhile, the largest Atlantic white shark ever tagged on the East Coast is heading in our direction from points south, according to data its tag is sending to researchers at the conservancy. The tag data can also be followed on the nonprofit Ocearch website. Researchers placed the tag off Florida in January and have nicknamed the shark Contender. They put it at 13.8 feet long with an estimated weight of over 1,600 pounds.
Whale watching has been good, and there has been much excitement lately regarding the appearance of the humpback whale Salt, which was the first ever to be named by observers. Center for Coastal Studies researcher Charles “Stormy” Mayo first saw her in the mid-1970s, and Aaron Avellar, who was among those running the early whale-watch expeditions of the Dolphin Fleet, named her because her dorsal fin looked to him like someone had shaken salt over it. (He named another whale Pepper.)
This whale has been returning to our waters for decades — I first saw her while running the Dolphin VI in 1987. She also is quite the prolific mama, with 16 calves that we know of. All of them have been given names related to the mineral in some way. Take a ride on a whale watch boat and check her out while she is still here.
The artists’ shacks on the wharf have been given a makeover. Jerome Greene did a portrait of some of the more colorful characters of our town titled Musicians, Muses, and Mentors. One of those is of Joe “Bones” Basine, who died in 2021. He was a very good friend and someone who certainly deserves a spot on the wall. Joe was an outstanding whale-watch captain who ran both Dolphin and Portuguese Princess vessels and was also an accomplished musician and member of the Jug Band that played many nights at the old Surf Club.
Joe sailed his boat, The Dove, to Haiti, fell in love with the island and its people, and ended up spending most of his time there. Joe hated wearing shoes and walked barefoot almost everywhere he went. In his early days hanging around Key West, he befriended Jimmy Buffett and is mentioned in Buffett’s song “My Head Hurts, My Feet Stink, and I Don’t Love Jesus.”
If the fishing hasn’t given you reason to smile this week, maybe now’s a good time to give that song a listen and then, if you get a chance, walk down to the wharf and look at the murals.
