Travel Tips & Adventures

Go on a whale watch and it might change you for life.  Why?There is something amazing about seeing another species of mammal (we are mammals, too, of course) up close.  Once you’ve seen whales just beyond your boat, you can sense their intelligence, humor and curiosity.

There are many locations from which you can experience a whale watch. There are whale sightings on the east and west coasts of North America (US and Canada), and Ireland noted on the Web.

Why watch a whale? As a species, humans tend to be very self-involved.  By watching whales, we can see them up close as they venture near to see us.  We become aware of another life, another way of looking at the world.  Also, with the current concerns about global warming, it can give us ocean creatures’ perspective on life.

First whale watch

My first whale watch left from Provincetown, Massachusetts at the tip of Cape Cod.  After what seemed like a very short time, we were in the open water in a large day boat that held dozens.  Major amenities were available with an inside cabin, always a plus.

Anyone who tends to get seasick probably needed to take a motion sickness pill before we ever left the pier, but most people seemed to be weathering the jouncing up and down with the waves.

Before we knew it, we saw dolphins and then, – “Thar she blows!”  We saw whales “breeching,” so they could breathe out of the water.  Some began to come close to our boat.

A whale tail

Several of us were trying to get photos of the experience, but the whales were too fast for us.  Back in the water they went – with only a tail to show for our incredible view.

Coming right up to the boat to check us out, they sensed how interested in them we were.  They would come up multiple times before getting bored with us.We could hear sounds, noises, which our tour director told us was the whales’ communication.  It is amazing to think that these creatures weigh over 20 tons (over 40,000 pounds!) and they have a grace about them as they skim through the water and dive.

Multiple times the whales came up to visit us near the boat.  I was enthralled.

A distinctive humpback whale tail -

We could see that each whale’s tail was distinctive.  Some looked weathered, as they had been around a long time.  The director told us they had names for some of the whales that they were tracking, that they had seen before.

Come back on Friday for more photos and tour details.

Tags: Cape Cod, Nature, Provincetown Massachusetts, Scenery, Travel, Whale watches, Whale watching, Whales

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 13th, 2010 at 6:00 am and is filed under Adventure, Family Fun, Scenery, Travel, Whales. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.