We have made a Whale Watch a part of our Cape Cod vacation for the last couple of years. Each time is slightly different. This year we witnessed a large number of Humpback whales feeding. Several were feeding with their calves.
We booked our trip with the Dolphin Fleet in Provincetown. They have been in operation for over 45 seasons and were the first to offer this service. A naturalist was aboard who knows the individual whales (as identified by the patterns on their tail fluke). She provided a running commentary about where to look for the next appearance and such tidbits as identifying whale poop (see video).
Cormorants
Even before leaving the harbor, we saw a bit of nature along the breakwater. Cormorants drying their wings in large numbers. I learned that day that they lack oil gland and don’t shed water as other seabirds do.
There were a lot of birds, The naturalists mentioned that she could smell them, a fishy odor.
Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary
All Whale Watch vessels from Cape Cod, Boston, Cape Ann and Newburyport travel to a common location where the underwater topography favors an upwelling of deep cold water which produces a tremendous food supply for the whales, fish and birds.
Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary is located completely within federal waters. The 842-square-mile (682-square-nautical-mile) marine protected area stretches from three miles south of Cape Ann to three miles north of Cape Cod. It is approximately 21 miles from Boston to the sanctuary’s western border. Sanctuary headquarters are located in Scituate, Massachusetts.
Stellwagen Bank is one of 15 sanctuaries and two marine national monuments in the National Marine Sanctuary System that stretches from the Gulf of Maine to the South Pacific, from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the Florida Keys to the Pacific Northwest. It is New England’s only national marine sanctuary.
Bubble-Net Feeding
It is quite easy to spot where the whales will break the surface. They create a blast of bubbles which confuse their prey so they can travel upwards to grab a large mouthful of food. The birds know this and gather in huge numbers.
A few times I managed to get a photo of a Humpback whale with an open mouth. You can see the baleen filter inside the whales mouth. The birds were very active at this time.
No whales breached, but I did get a wave.
Video
“Whale poop, you don’t see that every day”
Naturalist aboard the Dolphin XI
Thoughts
It is really special to see these magnificent animals. What was special about this trip was hearing a low frequency vocalization from one of the whales. The naturalist mentioned that you could smell the exhalations but I’ll have to wait for the next time I do this.
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EXCELLENT pictures and video . It was an amazing trip. I did smell the exhalation!