Two things we will remember about Cape Cod......traffic and whales!
Let's focus on the better of the two.....the whales! We cruised out to the eastern tip of the Cape and got ourselves a morning charter out to see the whales. This would be a first for both of us, and we were anxious to see these large marine mammals up close!
An hour boat ride before we finally started to see the whales appear. There were approximately four whales that surfaced around our vicinity and two more in the distance. You could see where they were based on the color of the water and all the birds hovering near the surface.
It's no coincidence that Moby Dick and much of America's historical whaling culture is centered in Cape Cod. Gone are the whalers, but the Cape is still considered the best place on the East Coast to watch whales, especially in spring and summer. It's all thanks to the Stellwagen Bank, which is a massive underwater plateau off the Cape's northern tip. Because of currents pushing down the coast from Nova Scotia, the bank is home to a rich food chain that makes it a three star feeding ground for whales.
Whale watching is a science and tourist attraction started right here in Provincetown in 1975, when scientists from the Center for Coastal Studies teamed up with our charter fishing captains to observe and study the three species of whales which are found in the waters nearby. Finback and humpback whales are regularly seen from April to October, and scientists have discovered that the waters of Cape Cod Bay are also an important breeding ground for the extremely rare North Atlantic right whale.
Let's focus on the better of the two.....the whales! We cruised out to the eastern tip of the Cape and got ourselves a morning charter out to see the whales. This would be a first for both of us, and we were anxious to see these large marine mammals up close!
An hour boat ride before we finally started to see the whales appear. There were approximately four whales that surfaced around our vicinity and two more in the distance. You could see where they were based on the color of the water and all the birds hovering near the surface.
It's no coincidence that Moby Dick and much of America's historical whaling culture is centered in Cape Cod. Gone are the whalers, but the Cape is still considered the best place on the East Coast to watch whales, especially in spring and summer. It's all thanks to the Stellwagen Bank, which is a massive underwater plateau off the Cape's northern tip. Because of currents pushing down the coast from Nova Scotia, the bank is home to a rich food chain that makes it a three star feeding ground for whales.
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