Ok, I've never seen whales in the "wild" before --- oh, wow! We are in Gloucester, MA tonight, a 55 mile sail from P'town. The route takes us over the Stellwagen Bank, the northern most migratory route for several species of endangered whales, including the Right Whale, Fin Whale, Humpback Whale and Minke Whale. The southern most point ends up in the Dominican Republic. Both sites are designated whale sanctuaries.
Check out the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary http://stellwagen.noaa.gov/
Anyway, at the point of the sanctuary closest to Provincetown, we saw several Fin Whales, ones that don't flap their fluke, but glide gracefully into the water. They have a dorsal fin that reminds me of a VERY large dolphin. They reach 80 ft in length, and can weigh 70 to 80 tons! We saw multiple blows from them.
At the end of the sanctuary nearest Gloucester, the whales were more active, Fin Whales and others that did that fin flip that looks so cool. They were probably Humpback Whales.
We turned off the boat motor and drifted gently with the whales. Over a period of over 1/2 hour we saw at least 20 whales. Some approached the boat so closely that we were stunned. You could hear the blow, and they would surface. One surfaced and blew upwind, so close that I smelled his breath!!!! Think 3 day old fish breath!
Look at how close this guy is to the boat --- that's our solar panel!
It was an amazing experience.
4 comments:
Amazing! Even the 3 day old fish breath part ...
OMG!!! That's SOOOOOO freakin' cool!!!
I am thoroughly enjoying your trip. Seeing the whales is a dream of mine and to be right out there with them is just the coolest thing ever!!!
I was out of town for the long weekend, so I just caught up with you. Believe it or not, I have a picture of me standing by the Pt. Judith lighthouse! The pictures of the whales are fantastic! I am having a great time on your trip!
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