We had an opportunity to take the 6+hr drive on up to Provincetown, MA and do some sightseeing and whale watching. The main draw was to get a chance at seeing the north Atlantic right whales. There are less than 500 of them left and decreasing due to ship strikes and inbreeding. They are high on the conservationist and are in dire need of constant protection. They lumber atop of the waters and are slow moving. Making them easy targets. One of the reasons there are so few of them with us today. Unfortunately they are so rare that we didn’t get a chance to see them. We did however have some incredible experiences with humpback whales. Provincetown is just a fantastic location. From the ambiance, to shopping, culture, people, FOOD, The Cape Cod National Seashore, and a fantastic proximity to the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Provincetown is much closer in proximity to the sanctuary then Hyannis and provides more time spent with the whales. Historically Provincetown is also the first place where the pilgrims first landfall occurred represented by the pilgrim monument. Oh, the irony if you know a little about the local culture. 
Our trip up was a leisurely one. We stopped in Rhode Island to visit a REI store (none where I live; I know; we are deprived.) Then stopped off at Pirates Cove for a bit of mini golf. Miniature golf is another big draw all along Cape Cod. Enough about that though.
We had one night to spend there and it was definitely worth it. We woke at 8am gearing up to have everything ready to go and still fit in breakfast. Had a great meal made from scratch at the cozy Carriage House and headed down commercial street toward the Macmillan Wharf. One of the few wharfs of 54 originally left. We boarded the ‘Dolphin Fleet of Provincetown‘ and headed out toward the sanctuary. We were a bit worried as a big storm was moving through and a precursor to the storm sure was heavy overnight. They assured us that rain wasn’t the issue, it is the wind we should be worried about. Thankfully it was the first day of the season, researches were aboard with us to collect data, and they were just as tough and willing to take on the elements. We had our waterproof shells and baselayers thinking it was all we would need. Turns out we were wrong. After the nice 20min overcast skies heading out of Cape Cod bay we were greeted with heavy freezing rain, occasional hail, 30+mph winds, and 40 degree temperatures not counting the wind chill. It was brutal, but sure did we eat it up. As Moose has stated before, “Some of the best photography is in some of the worst weather.” It sure as heck is true. Your fingers go numb, your face is soaking wet and your determination stays strong as your gear is sticking it out with you. It was time to make some photographs!
When schools of fish were found from the air these northern gannets would dive bomb their way into the Atlantic for a meal. Unfortunately these smaller images don’t share with you the expression of these birds, but they were hungry and not afraid to show it.
Another treat was locating a small pod of Atlantic white sided dolphins. A species that has now been added to our checklist. They weren’t up for bow riding, but a pod of 30-40 individuals were happy to say hello while passing through.
Believe it or not this is a baby calf humpback whale. Mating in the Atlantic occurs down in the tropics where the mother will nurse and care for her calf all the way toward New England and watches out for them. They continue to watch out for their calves even during the spring and summer seasons when they are feeding to make the trip back down to the tropics to do it all over again. They normally only have a single calf during pregnancy. To think how long we nurture our young until they are ready for the real world compared to Humpbacks or any other species. We are the only ones with such a long parental period.
This is the same calf as seen above. You can see their white pectoral fins through the water. This is a characteristic of the Atlantic humpbacks where the Pacific Humpbacks do not have this feature. It would be as dark as their overall skin. Keep in mind you are missing the calves dorsal in most of these pictures. There is also a fluke to follow as well. They may be called babies, but they are no small mammal. They are up 16ft when born and can weigh up to 3,000 pounds at birth! Keep in mind they grow larger as they travel and feed on their trip north.
This adult humpback came up right near the boat and tail lobbed thrashing a huge wave of water. You can just see here the huge tail muscles that are required to put that fluke (whale tail) to work and move this graceful giant.
This was a photograph I wanted to include to give you an idea of the boat rocking. The horizon was not auto corrected in anyway and this has not seen photoshop other then being created for the web. You’re looking at the rows of seats and rear of the boat shifting sideways as we cruise back ashore.
Now photographically speaking I approached this overcast sky not expecting much on the side of appealing photography. Boy was I wrong. All of these photographs seen above have only had a black point and white point set using levels and a saturation point used to boost the color of the American flag a bit. I shot under exposed by -.03 the whole time using ISO 200, WB was on auto, and aperture was at it’s lowest possible for the Nikon 80-400mm; which was used the whole time. There is a bit of motion blur on the fluke photograph toward the end of the tail due to the force that the whale was smacking the waters surface. In a last ditch effort I did put the ISO up to 320 in a want to freeze a bit more action as 1/320th of a second wasn’t cutting it. However soon after the change was made we started heading back and no opportunities arose to use the boosted ISO.
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