I saw 18 humpback whales yesterday, up close. It was fantastic!
Posted by
CovingtonCat
Aug 21 '12, 04:01
|
It was another perfect New England day with very calm seas - almost completely flat. We were told we should start seeing whales about an hour out from Gloucester but about 40 minutes out we started seeing them in the distance. We were able to get quite close to the 18 we saw, one breached about 30 feet from us. There was a naturalist from the Whale Center of New England on board who was able to identify the whales by name. We mostly saw whales in two or threes, working together to corral fish. They dive, blow bubbles around the fish, then scoop them up. Some whales come to the surface while 2 others do the corraling. The one on the surface slaps his/her tail on the surface to stun the fish, then they dive and scoop them up.
We were on Stellwagen Bank which is only about 150 deep in places so the dives of the whales were quite short. (A 40 ft whale doesn't take very long to reach bottom and come back up.) There were whales *everywhere*, many more in the distance. It was very cool.
If anyone is ever in the Boston area I highly recommend Captain Bill's Whale Watch. The boat is smaller than most whale watches so you're not jostling anyone to get to the rail. And they work with the Whale Center. Take the morning tour since whales will be more active. The drive to Gloucester from Boston is worth it because you'll spend less time getting to the feeding grounds by boat.
Today we'll be in Salem. My friend got passes to a bunch of places, including the Peabody-Essex Museum, which I never visited in all the years I lived in Boston. Maybe I'll see a reference to one of my ancestors at one of the sites dedicated to the witch trials.
It looks like it will be another great day, weather-wise.
|
Responses:
|