"Thar she blows! Whale at one o'clock! Looks like a hump back!"
That's not the call of a nineteenth-century whaling boat off Hawaii; rather, it's a cry that can be heard with increasing frequency in the western North Atlantic off the coast of Gloucester, Massachusetts.
Each summer over one hundred thousand humans school to the small fishing town to catch a glimpse of the nearly five hundred individual whales known to feed and play in Massachusetts Bay. At $15 a head, that's not just plankton for the six companies operating whale watch tours from the region known as Cape Ann.
Finback whales off shore means "fins" back in the pockets of whale-watch captains. Last year they sold about a million dollars worth of tickets, comprising about 95 percent of their income. The rest came from galley, film, photos, and T-shirt sales.
Dozens of other local merchants also benefit from whale watching. Many tourists who come for the day, discover whale-watching, get "harpooned," and end up staying in town an extra night.
"I'd estimate the total economic impact of the whale watch industry at $8 million," said Mike Linquata, owner of the Privateer, the largest whale-watch boat in Gloucester.
But why Gloucester, and not Portland, Baltimore, or Staten Island?
"Gloucester is probably the closest landmass to a large seasonal population of whales," said Linquata.
Indeed, there are very few places where whales congregate. The one Linquata talks about, the Stellwagen Bank, is less than a dozen miles from Gloucester. This rich underwater feeding ground harbors whales from April to October.
Boat captains are so confident about finding whales there that they offer a money back guarantee. Linquata admits there have been some close calls, but he could only remember one time when he had to pass out the rain checks.
Once you know where to look, the boat captains say, whales are relatively easy to spot. After all, they are…well, whales. A fully grown hump back, the most common of the four species seen in Massachusetts Bay, can reach 50 feet in length and weigh in at a hefty 45 tons. That's larger than most of the dinosaurs that walked this planet.
On a clear day, you can see for miles in every direction. The sight of a spout 13 feet high on the horizon is usually the first indication that you're in whale-watch territory.
Once a spout is spotted, its full speed ahead. Our whale-watch captain steers the vessel toward the last sighting. Then he cuts the motors to idle. From here on, it's a waiting game.
Sometimes, on a quiet day, you can actually hear a whale before you see it. The sound of a humpback blowing as it surfaces next to the boat is often more starting than the damp spout that fogs
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