My Whale Watch Cruise on the S.S. Rebel

Day 1: We are leaving the harbor to watch for whales.

The Stellwagen Banks off of Cape Cod are the summer feeding grounds for a variety of whales. ©Karen Smith and J. Michael Williamson and WhaleNet

On the way to the feeding grounds, we see a lot of seagulls.

Finally at “11:00” off the bow, we spot the distinctive blow of a humpback whale. © Commander John Bortniak, NOAA Corps (ret.)

After a busy day of identifying whales by their fluke patterns, we are ready for dinner. ©Diane Schulte, Senior Naturalist

After dinner, we are going to read some from Moby Dick by Herman Melville. The book is the story of the pursuit of the great white whale, Moby Dick by Captain Ahab. ©Gansevoort-Lansing Collection, New York Public Library

My favorite quote from the book is “What do ye do when you see a whale, men?” “Sing out for him!” “And what do ye next, men?” “Lower away and after him!” “And what tune is it ye pull to, men?” “A dead whale or a stove boat!”

Day 2: Another beautiful day at sea

The first whale we see this morning is a minke whale. ©Amy Van Atten, NMFS

The minke is the smallest of the baleen whales. ©The Mammal Society

Tonight we are going to listen to sea shanteys which are songs that sailors used to help them do their work. Tonight after dinner I am going to write my own sea shantey.

Day 3: Another day and we are having fun, but we are getting a little tired of eating fish. How did the sailors ever survive on hardtack?

Today, we saw a gray whale. He is looking around in a maneuver called spyhopping. © NMFS

Tonight, we learned how to do scrimshaw. The sailors carved on pieces of whale bone during their free time.

Day 4: This is our last full day at sea, I wonder what we will see today.

Wow, we got to see a sperm whale breaching. ©Hal Whitehead

Tonight, we are going to talk about tattoos. I wonder if Mom will let me get a full body tattoo. ©Philnet

Day 5: Our last day at sea. I wonder what we will see as we head to our home port.

On the way home, we see dolphins frolicking in front of our ship. ©Colley’s Fin to Feathers

We decide to tow a plankton net and see what the baleen whales are eating ©NOAA Research Cruise 2000

It is hard to believe that these small organisms are the food for the baleen whales like the blue whale, the largest animal in the world. ©Image Quest 3-D

As we sail home, we have had an incredible voyage. We have seen several varieties of sea life and we have learned something about the life of whales and whalers. Pencarrow Lighthouse ©Photo: Grant Amelung

Works Cited Page Amelung, Grant. "Eastbourne Online." Pencarrow Coast.. Eastbourne, Maine. 07/10/03. Barstow, D.r Robbins. "Director Emeritus." Whales Alive. 07/01. Cetacean Society International. 07/10/03.

Bortniak, John. "NOAA Photo Library." 10/92. NOAA. 20/10/03. Canadian Wildlife Service. "Hinterlands Who's Who." Seabirds Minister of Supply and Services Canada. 20/10/03..

Colley, George and Scarlet. "Colley's Fins to Feathers." Nature Photography Workshop. 07/10/03. "Gray Whale." U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2/10/03. "Humpback Whales." Hawaii Whale Research Foundation. 02/10/03.18.html>.

"Image Quest 3-D." Microplankton.. Image Quest 3-D. 08/10/03. "John F. Kennedy, Man of the Sea." John F. Kennedy Museum. 07/10/03.. Melville, Herman. Moby Dick. New York: Doubleday,

"Minke Whale." Mammal Society. 2/10/03. "Phil Net on Line." Marquesan Tattoos. 27/04/99. Phil Net. 07/10/03. Schulte, Dianne. "Humpback Whale." Newburyport Whale Watch. 20/10/03.

"Songs of the Sailor" CD Mystic Seaport "2000 Summer Research Cruise." 5/6/00. NOAA. 08/10/03. Van Atten, Amy. "Marine Mammal Strandings." National Marines Fisheries Service. 20/10/03.

. "WhaleNet." Wheelock College. 02/10/03.