We really wanted to see the whales so we checked and found that most of them were feeding at the northern end of Stellwagon Bank that week (click here for a map). So we drove up north of Boston to Gloucester and took a boat from the Yankee Fleet for another try at spotting them.
This time we were successful. We saw about a dozen whales. Most of them were huge (60-70 foot) humpbacks. There was one mother with her calf. We also saw some smaller Minke whales and several white-sided dolphins. The whale in this photo came up right next to the boat to check us out. You could look right into his eyes. The light patches on either side are his long fins.
When a whale goes down for a deep dive his tail fins or "flukes" extend up into the air briefly. We think it's sort of like waving good-bye.
Looking for more information?
Check out these links:
Cape Cod Visitors Directory
Cape Cod Hiking Trails
Cape Cod Recreation Guide
Martha's Vineyard Chamber of Commerce
Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Dolphin Fleet Whale Watching (Provincetown)
Yankee Fleet Whale Watching (Gloucester)
Captain Ezra Nye House (Sandwich)
Dan'l Webster Inn (Sandwich)
