We got an early start to beat the traffic and find parking in Provincetown for our 10 am whale watching tour with Dolphin Fleet. We had enough time to grab breakfast at Provincetown Portuguese Bakery near MacMillan Pier before checking in for our tour. On the ride out to Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary we learned about humpback whales from the naturalist in preparation for spotting whales. The whales spend the winter months in the Caribbean, their breeding grounds, and then migrate north for feeding in the summer (humpbacks can be seen mid April through October). They will migrate over 5000 miles! The whales don’t eat on their journey north (including the mothers birthing and nursing), so I’m sure they are eager to reach the nutrient-rich waters of Stellwagen. Stellwagen encompasses 842 square miles (about the size of Rhode Island) and its nutrient-rich waters are the result of geology and water dynamics. A process called upwelling occurs due to the tidal fluctuations and currents and this brings nutrients to the surface, where plankton thrive in the sunlit waters and support marine diversity.

I wasn’t sure what to expect on our tour - maybe a few whales here and there, maybe off in the distance? Boy, was I pleasantly surprised. We saw between 20-25 whales, including calves with their mothers and we had great views. The captain would hold the boat steady so we could watch and once a whale came up right beside the boat. We got to witness a range of whale behaviors including bubble nets, cooperative feeding, diving, rounding out, spyhopping, spouting, and lunge feeding. What amazing animals and an awesome experience - it was definitely a highlight of our trip!

After our whale watching tour we walked around Provincetown and had lunch at Far Land Provisions Deli. In the late afternoon we drove to the Province Lands Visitor Center to check out the exhibits and continued on to Race Point Beach where we watched a reenactment of the Old Harbor Lifesaving Drill. The shallow sand bars and nor-easters around the Cape were a hazard to ships (3,000 shipwrecks in 300 years of recorded history on the Cape) and in response life saving stations were built around the Cape. The Old Harbor Life Saving Station was in operation from 1898 through 1915. A crew lived at the station to conduct patrols and rescue missions. If a stranded or wrecked ship was spotted, the crew would jump into action. They rolled out the heavy beach apparatus cart and a surfboat would be launched for rescues. If the surf was too violent, the crew instead used a breeches buoy to rescue one man at a time. They would build an anchor, erect a wooden crotch, fire a rope to the ship using a lyle gun (like a small cannon), and construct a pulley system to bring a man to shore using the breeches buoy. While the reenactment took longer, the original crews were a well oiled machine that could set up the system in five minutes. Impressive! After the reenactment we were able to tour the Old Harbor Life Saving Station. This was a neat little slice of history.

We took a short walk on Race Point Beach and decided to head back south (the other option was hanging around to watch sunset at Herring Cove Beach). We had another tasty dinner at the knack, watched sunset at Skaket Beach, and had dessert at Hot Chocolate Sparrow. It was a great day!