Dave's Travel Adventures: Cape Cod – May 1999 (Part Two; Whale Watching in Provincetown)

WHALE WATCHING

One of the great things which can be done in the Cape Cod area was getting on a boat to go on a whale watch. We hoped on the Mid-Cape Highway to take us all the way to the end of the cape for this. The cape is shaped like an arm when come body-builder is flexing his muscle. Not far north of where the “elbow” would be, the highway becomes a regular two-lane road. That took us all the way to Provincetown, otherwise known as “P-Town” to the locals. Provincetown is a sleepy little coastal town, whose population jumps up dramatically during the summer (kind of the way Lake George’s does). P-Town is also supposed to be “east coast San Francisco” as far as the gay community goes, but in the entire time there we didn’t see anything different than what I’ve any other place I’ve been.

When we got to the long dock which jutted far out into Provincetown Harbor, we saw there was a good amount of people awaiting the whale watch tour. Put on by Cape Cod Whale Watch (also known as the Dolphin Fleet of Provincetown), they had a decent-sized boat which could hold a hundred or so people, which is smart, because anything smaller would probably get dunked by the passing of multi-ton beasts. Whales are extremely intelligent, and would be completely justified in taking out a few boats full of human as payback for our hunting of them. The day was nice, the water clam, and the sun was bright, but it wasn’t too hot. The sea breeze made it comfortable, so a light jacket was all you needed.

Organizers of any whale watch tour preface the journey by letting you know there’s no guarantee that you’ll actually see any whales on the trip. They don’t want to be sued for false advertising by stupid people. They let you know you’ll be driven out to an area where whales are known to be, and you hope that some will be there when you arrive. Whales are migratory, so they don’t stay in one place too long (except for birthing season, which this was not). Even you happen upon a location where the whales are, these fickle creatures might be playful and splash around, or bashful and not make much of an appearance.

While I really wanted to see some whales, I figured the boat ride around the area would be worthwhile in itself. We had a half-circle loop which brought us the “hand” of the cape, and out into ocean. The boat had spotters to look for the pods of whales, although I’m sure there was some sort of radar at work too to help locate them. The other passengers stood on either side of the deck scanning the seas, looking for the whale-shaped bumps, water-spouts (the animal exhaling and/or blowing it’s nose), or other signs. Some had binoculars, which was a good idea.

As we got out in the open water, you could feel the waves gently rock the boat. There wasn’t much motion, but it was present (this will be notable later). Chaz hung out inside under cover a good chunk of the trip, as he didn’t want to soak up a bunch of sun like he did the other day. Brian and I stood out on deck, as we both have pretty good balance when walking. Brian said he was really hoping to see a whale breach, which is when they jump out of the water, and come down with a big splash.

Eventually the first sighting happened, and we got closer to where the animals were. These were humpback whales, still riding high on the popularity from their Star Trek movie a decade earlier. What we could see mostly was the dark sleek heads which came to the surface. As air breathers, that’s where they spend most of their time travelling, even though they can hold their breaths and descend to great depths. Instead of teeth, most whale species have some comb-like filament which strain the water out, and retain the food in their mouths. A sea gull was sitting on the water watching the proceedings when a whale came up from beneath. There was a lot of splashing which happened, but I didn’t see the gull after that. It’s doubtful the whale ate it, but not impossible.

Remember what I said about the whales potentially dunking boats? I don’t think they actually tried to do that to our boat, but it was a pretty good attempt. Tag team whales versus a boatload of tasty humans. One whale came swimming towards the boat’s left side; he wasn’t charging it or playing chicken, but some thought he was trying to ram us. A few dozen feet before we would’ve hit, the whale goes into a dive. The waves from that tilted the boat in the direction he’d been heading (so we listed to the right). Just as that was happening, a second whale came to the surface on the right-side of the boat, which made waves that tilted us back in the other direction. I’m sure it was good timing on the whales’ part, something coincidental, as I don’t think they were purposely trying to take us out. Keep in mind, I wouldn’t put it past them to try. Who knows what they’re saying with that sonar of theirs?

The whales then congregated in an area, and rolled on their sides or backs. That showed the whiteness of their bellies, and front flippers (which are called flukes). A few waved their flukes back and forth in a playful manner as they rolled. One or two reared up a bit before splashing back down, but not actual breaches as Brian had hoped for. As they sank back down into the water, the tails lingered for a moment before sliding beneath the waves. The various white spots on the whales allowed them to be identified by the watch crew, who had given cute human-sounding names. No George and Gracie here, but you get the idea. Only a fraction of the whales they see ever get named, only because those are the ones that have regular confirmed sightings from year to year.

The whales frolicked for a bit, and then they swam on, continuing on their destination. Our time seeing the whales had been about a half-hour. Not a lot of time, but time well spent. Our tour boat arced around, and returned to Provincetown. When we were departing for the whale watch, we could see a tower jutting over the town. It clearly wasn’t a light house, but we weren’t sure what it was. Now that we were back, we were able to get a closer view of what it was. This was the Pilgrim Monument.

Completed in 1910, the tower is over 250 feet high, and made to remember the Pilgrims which landed here hundreds of years earlier. There was some controversy when it was built, because in addition to looking similar to a tower in Boston, there’s nothing about this uniquely reflects the Pilgrims it was supposed to be honoring. I gathered perhaps this was done as more of a “feel-good” political statement than an actual historical marker. I’ve been to Plymouth Rock, and it’s no where near here (it’s on the other side of Cape Cod Bay). Unfortunately, the Monument wasn’t open, so we couldn’t get inside. The view from there would’ve been fabulous.

CAPE COD NATIONAL SEASHORE

After the whale watch, we explored the nearby Cape Cod National Seashore. This is a stretch of beach which encircles the tip of the cape from P-Town Harbor clockwise until the northeastern portion. It covers a length of about forty miles, and was one of the first places the Pilgrims got to see the New World back in 1620. While this had many desirable features for them, they decided to settle across the bay in Plymouth.

This area was formed at the end of the last glacial period about 15,000 years ago, so Cape Cod is young (geologically speaking). While “beach” is a correct term here, what this looks like is more sand dunes, punctuated by some small bushes and scrub grass. Some life does exist out here, as evident by the bunny that tried to run out in front of us, so it’s not a coastal desert. We were able to have a local take us on a driving tour of the area in his four-wheel drive.

Dotting the landscape were large numbers of shacks. These were squatter huts, also known as the Dune Shacks of Peaked Hill Bars Historic District. At some point, someone would decide they wanted to live out on the beach in semi-seclusion, and build a shabby dwelling out of whatever they could find, had brought with them, or had picked up at a hardware store. They’d live out on this 1900-acre parcel of public land for a period of time, and then leave, returning to whatever life they’d needed a sabbatical from (sounds like Thoreau’s summer at Walden Pond, doesn’t it?) In later years, people would come out, and just assume a shack which had already been built (doing whatever improvements were needed to make it habitable again).

Since Provincetown was a hippy haven, there were a number of people who’ve inhabited these shacks over the years, including writers, painters, musicians, and philosophers. I pictured Hemingway having a place like this on a Caribbean beach. We were told some of the more notable dwellers were Tennessee Ernie Ford, and Norman Mailer. Even though this is a national area, some people still come out for short periods to use the shacks, but for the most part they remain as they are.

At certain times, the jeep stopped so we could get out and wander around the dunes a bit. We didn’t walk up to any of the squatter hits though. I know I was in no mood to pull my shoes off and shake sand out of them, and I had my hiking boots on. While not the easiest to remove, boots do a pretty good job at keeping sand and crap from getting inside in the first place. Chaz didn’t care about the sand, as he had sandals on.

The trail we were on didn’t bring us too close to the water’s edge, as our guide stayed on the established tour path. It was getting dark during our tour. While there wasn’t a good sunset view available, how the remaining light reflected off the clouds in the twilight hours was still pretty to look at.

The lighthouse off in the distance was one of two here. This was called Highland Light, which was built back in the 1850s, and stood on the Truro bluffs. (The other, which I didn’t get a picture of, was called Nauset, and was constructed in 1923.). But due to concerns these historic buildings being damaged or destroyed as the sea encroaches and erodes the coast, these were moved further inland by a few hundred feet just a few years ago. While Nauset is privately-run, Highland Light is still in official navigation use by the Coast Guard.