Mom's last few hours with us in Boston were fantastic...we were on a whale-watching cruise to the Stellwagen Bank, miles out into the Atlantic. The bank, a protected marine habitat and a favorite feeding ground for three species of whale and many other creatures, is a large shelf (19 miles wide, six miles wide) 100 feet below the surface; in areas around the shelf, the ocean is more than 600 feet deep. In the bank's crill-plentiful waters, it was thrilling to see four gentle, enormous humpbacks blow and breach the surface, at times only feet from our boat.
The cruise was hosted by whale researchers who fed us many interesting facts about the humpback, an endangered species. There were more than 100,000 of them in the world's oceans prior to their near-obliteration by whale hunting, now a banned practice. The humpback population has been slow to recover, now numbering 35,000. Each one has a black and white pattern on the underside of its tail that is as unique as a fingerprint, allowing the bank's migrating population to be catalogued. Newborn babies are an average 10 feet long and weigh a ton--literally! It's estimated that more than 60% of humpbacks have been ensnared in some type of fishing apparatus. The four we saw today, identified by their tail patterns as Draco, Jabirus, Shuffleboard and Banyan, had various scars to prove the point.
Following the cruise, we made our way to the airport and said our sad goodbyes to Mom. Then we put Kelsey in charge of our journey to the Aquarium via the subway--a complicated route. She successfully directed us through three transfers and in the right direction on four different lines. Stan and I love cities with a subway option, and Kelsey seems to have inherited our enthusiasm. We've definitely made good use of our multi-day passes for Boston's "T".
The New England Aquarium was a great way to end our exploration of Boston. Our encounters with seals (they reminded us of our dogs!) and sea turtles were favorites. One of the giant, 550-lb. turtles, Myrtle, is around 80 years old and has been in this particular aquarium for 30 years. Even in a city that's all about history, such longevity (in an animal that can live past 100) seems extraordinary. We hope she's still around the next time we're in Boston...because we're sure there will be future visits to this great city. We've loved every minute.
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| Banyan, Shuffleboard and Jabirus feeding on crill |
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| a whale blow |
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| Draco diving |
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Touching rays in the aquarium's huge touch-tank
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| shark in the four-story coral-reef tank |
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| This seal could be a behavioral twin of our golden retriever, Bella. Even the toy ring in its mouth looks familiar! |
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| And this sea lion made us think of Midnight, our "Labradoormat". :-) |
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