Video: Michael DiGioia - Whale footage provided by In the Wild Productions
Provincetown's Largest Tourists
Catch a Sight of Them on a Whale Watch Tour
By Kahrin Deines
June 25th, 2007
Provincetown could be said to have multiple personalities – take arts colony, gay and lesbian tourist destination and fishing village to name just a few. And along with these diverse identities, has also come a diversity of visitors. Some come for the art, some come for the entertainment, some come for the isolation of the dunes or the beauty of the beaches, some come for the shopping, and some come for the plankton.
 | Provincetown's whale watch company, the Dolphin Fleet, offers tours from mid-April through October. |
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Yes, the plankton. Each spring hundreds of whales make their way to the rich feeding grounds of the Stellwagen Banks, a series of underwater plateaus located about six miles north of Provincetown that provide habitat for an array of marine life.
These plateaus and the myriad creatures they house are a smorgasbord of sorts for the world’s largest mammals, whose magnificence in turn attracts another set of visitors – humans who hope to catch sight of them as they go about their feasting and their water play.
|  A humpback fluking. Photo by Kahrin Deines. |
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There was a time, of course, during the heyday of Yankee whaling captains on the Outer Cape in the 1800s, when ships departing from Provincetown in search of whales were after more than a sighting. Whale oil and ambergris were the stuff of their dreams.
But these days, the whaling industry just tries to give people a glimpse of these majestic mammals. Provincetown is home to one such whale watch company, the Dolphin Fleet, which will again begin offering tours for the 2008 whale-sighting season in mid-April.
Whales are almost always seen on these cruises, especially humpbacks, but also finbacks, minke, and even the very rare right whale, whose worldwide population is estimated at less than three hundred. In addition, cruise goers are also often treated to sights of harbor seals, Atlantic white-sided dolphins, porpoises and a wide variety of birds.
The tours run from three to four hours and are arguably an activity that any and all of Provincetown’s many different visitors would enjoy. Excitement runs high, as the humpbacks often come up right next to the boats, and the tour-goers run from one side to the other to ooh and ahh at their greatness.
To find out more about the Dolphin Fleet’s whale watches, call 1.800.826.9300 or visit www.whalewatch.com.
Other Useful links:
Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies
In The Wild Productions
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Arts & Theater
Bike Rentals
