Whales...er Whale

I finally made it up to Provincetown, at the end of the earth, to look for north atlantic right whales. There are about 300 left in the world and each year, they come close into Cape Cod to feed on the baitfish-rich (krill, sand lances, etc) water of Cape Cod Bay. Last year they were in very close, and I saw a few feeding off Herring Cove beach, near Race Point in Provincetown. I got a late start, and arrived at the beach well after sunrise, missing all the magic of the sunrise over the sand flats. Still, the long shadows of the morning made for some great light and I had the entire beach to myself (except for a couple and thier dog that disapeared over the dunes into the National Seashore's "Beach Forest."

The colors and patterns were amazing on the sand and I had a hard time focusing on the horizon, where I hoped to see a whale. I did look up occasionally and eventually saw one whale. It looked like a finback though. It rolled to the surface, blew out a huge puff of spray and disappeard, rolled again another hundred feet in front of where it did the last time and then disappeared for good. The one big puff and straight line, deliberate path it made is why I think it was a "finner." The right whale has a very distinctive "V" shaped spout of water vapor, and they tend to roll around in the same place for a bit. So... one whale, and a hell of a photo trip. More photos on flickr later this week.