Whales!

The waters off Cape Cod are a great place to see whales-- humpbacks, gray whales, finbacks, sperm whales, minke whales, pilot whales, and right whales, which were spotted in considerable numbers this year. Recently an Arctic-dwelling bowhead whale was spotted in the Cape's waters.

It's always a thrill.

The nearby Stellwagen Bank is a primary feeding spot for North Atlantic whales.

Whalewatching boats leave Plymouth on the mainland and Provincetown on the tip of the Cape from mid-April until the end of October. Fares are less than $50 and whales are almost always spotted on the 3-4 hour cruises.

Last Thursday I boarded the Dolphin X in Provincetown for the 1:30 pm cruise. The day was warm and sunny, but I knew from experience I would need a jacket.

We saw plenty of humpbacks, and I took lots of photos.

Humpbacks are baleen whales, meaning they have no teeth. They get their supper by ingesting huge amounts of water and forcing it out through the bony baleen, trapping fish and other creatures, which are then swallowed. Humpbacks are 30-50 feet in length and can weigh more than 80,000 pounds. They live solitary lives, but can often be seen feeding together, and females are often accompanied by nursing calves.

Here are some of my photos:

Provincetown's Pilgrim Monument Can Be Seen for Miles
The Pilgrims' First Landed Here, But Left for the Mainland
Because of Lack of Fresh Water. Water is Still a Problem;
It's Piped in From Down Cape

P'town Was Once a Center for Whaling and is Still a Working Fishing Port
The Town is Half Portuguese Fishing Village and Half Resort

The Whalewatch Boats Hold More Than 100 People

Thar She Blows!

Humpbacks!

Wow!

Note the Green. That's the Pectoral Fin

Oceanographers Can Identity Individual Whales By their Scars...

... And by Patterns on Their Dorsal Fins

Note the Barnacles

Humpbacks Can Hold Their Breath for As Long as 45 Minutes

When Feeding, They Surface, Take Several Breaths, and then Dive To Feed

The Location of the Dive is Marked by a Slick Spot

Which Can Last For Several Minutes

I've been on a half-dozen whalewatching trips over the past twenty years and have always seen whales-- usually humpbacks, but often minkes and finbacks. Once I saw a pod of pilot whales (unlike the baleen whales, they are social and live in groups that persist over their lifetimes), and once a whale shark, which was  awesome. And once I saw a right whale in the harbor, just half a mile from the pier!

I'll close with some shots from my 2003 trip. The broaching animal is a right whale; the whale showing its tail in the sunset (the last photo) is a humpback.