It was a warm summer day in August and the Cape never looked so beautiful. The cool, sweet-smelling ocean breeze swept across my face as I stared off into the horizon. The water was a brilliant shade of blue and the sky was bright and clear, with only a few clouds present. The quiet drone of chit-chat in the background seemed to be tuned out by my absorption in the nature around me. The boat was charming, much like that of where it came from. It would take an hour to make its way out of the harbor, and soon come to a halt. As it floated there in the water, a booming voice interrupted my serenity with nature. "We are now at the feeding grounds of many of the whales seen here near Cape Cod" it said. As the voice went on about why we were here and what we may see, a feeling of excitement had come over me. I could not wait to see one of these mysterious creatures. In the middle of his speech, the "voice" stopped in mid-sentence to tell us of a whale, a few hundred feet away from the boat. People quickly scrambled to see the animal. All that was visible was the blowhole and the very top around it. They were able to see the whale from its spout of water it blows out when coming up for air, and identified it as a finback whale. Yes! Finally! A whale! I was so excited now. I wanted to see as many as I could. .
As the trip continued, the staff on the boat continued to educate us about whales and inform us if one was seen. We saw several more whales including finbacks, minke, and even some dolphins. My interest peaked when I heard them say there was a humpback whale to the left of the boat. A humpback whale? No way. These whales were not often sighted. There could not be one. They must have made a mistake. I scanned the water for any signs of life, and to my amazement, a gigantic humpback whale poked his head out of the water, and then quickly dived back down, showing off his huge tail.
