This has got to be one of the most memorable things I’ve done in a while.:) Matt and I drove to Gloucester, and went on a 5.5 hour whale watching trip on Saturday afternoon. The experience wasn’t easy though. What was supposed to be a 4 hour trip turned into a 5.5 hours long. This period – July to October – is when whales are most active and sightings common. But we had no such luck. In most cases, sightings were supposed to have started from as early as 45 minutes out into the sea. But 2.5 hours into the trip we still saw nothing. And to add onto the misery, waters were terrifically choppy.
Then finally a pair of whales appeared – a mother and her baby, the former teaching the latter breaching!
This was also the toughest photographic subject I’ve done so far. It was very hard to tell where the whales were going to surface or breach next + choppy waters = boat was unstable + a lot of water splashing about. The D300 was weather proof, but not the lens.:(
One of my video segments next. The whales breach a total of four times in the about 2 minute video clip. The last two times were captured better than the first two.
Still, it was well worth the effort to get to the place and the difficulties of the shoot. There weren’t a lot of persons with zoom lenses on the boat, so I think I came up lucky.:)
OK; lots of additional exploration between the whale watch expedition and the days before. I’ll fill up the posts later.:)
Whales dear, I’m so envious! I want to see them too. But I’m glad that you’re enjoying yourself :) *kiss*
Great pictures and video footage too, given that you have a tendency for motion sickness :)
Are those humpback whales? Their fins and ventral body suggested so.
Sorry, one more question. Were you guys in the Atlantic ocean?
Yep; they were humpback whales dear.:)
I’m not sure what direction we sailed towards, but I think it was in the general direction of the Atlantic Ocean. We didn’t go too far out though – maybe just about 80-100 km from shore.:)
Whereas it seemed there were fewer breaches of the water by lovesick humpbacks whales than the projections of vomit by seasick passengers, I confess the 5-plus-hour trip was well worth the steep price of admission. The water was so choppy on this otherwise beautiful New England afternoon that it felt we were all aboard a 50-foot long drunken horse galloping through the streets of San Francisco. The voyage began under a uniformly blue sky occupied by nothing more than the sun. As we boarded the vessel passengers rushed for prized positions deck side to soak in the sunlight. However, shortly after setting off and achieving full speed along the choppy waters, the wind roared and pales of waves spritzed coolly and wetly over and into the vessel’s side thresholds, and passengers ducked for cover into the sheltered cabin. Minutes later a whale enthusiast Gloucestered (my newest euphemism for projectile vomit) her lunch into — well, almost into — a trash bin, resulting in the most profitable protein spill I ever did witness, one which BP would no doubt appreciate. The smell, however, was so repulsive that nearly everyone evacuated the cabin in favor of wearing bucket loads of Atlantic Ocean on their clothing.
Hours later, and still nothing. Children amused themselves singing We Are the World. I suggested the theme to Free Willy would be more appropriate, but no one could remember the lyrics. While the more talkative of my fellow passengers attempted to guess others’ ages, I sought to obtain items with which I could fashion a harpoon. In the event that we did see one of those bastards, I wanted to be fully prepared to eat it.
But yes, we finally did see some whales. They breached, bandied about, paddled the water with authority and left us all thoroughly entertained, if but for 15 minutes. And yes, it was worth it. No one was harmed, even the whales. Though most of us did learn a bit more about the contents of half-digested lobster rolls and cole slaw than we thought proper for such an occasion.