Cape May, Naturally is a bi-weekly column written in the Herald, written by the folks at the New Jersey Audubon, about our ever-changing wildlife.
We just returned from an amazing two week visit to the magical Azores Islands. If you are not familiar, the Azores are an archipelago consisting of nine islands approximately 900 miles off the coast of Portugal. Although they were settled and claimed by Portugal, today they are an autonomous region. The Azores are magical for many reasons: their breathtaking beauty, comfortable climate, friendly people, interesting and varied cuisine and whaling history… past, present and future.
Subsistence whaling was carried out here until the mid-1980’s. Unlike the New England model where crews went in pursuit of whales aboard large ships on journeys that lasted years, Azoreans whaled from shore because the whales literally came to them. Spotters in lookout towers scattered along the coasts located migrating whales and then directed the Azorean crews in long “pulling-boats” to intercept those whales. Interestingly, early whaling in Cape May County followed precisely the same methodology…until the whales were hunted to near extinction. One hopes that a whale population resurgence could be in our future.
When whaling was outlawed in 1985, the Azoreans adapted overnight and instead of hunting the migrating whales with harpoons and lances aboard long “pulling-boats,” they started “hunting” the migrating whales with cameras and video gear aboard Zodiacs. Today, whale watching in the Azores is an amazing experience. Virtually every whale species migrates past the archipelago at some point so the likelihood of an observation is excellent. And since these are volcanic islands that drop off rapidly, the whales are relatively close to shore. Whale watching in the Azores is very popular and is certainly more lucrative than had been the killing of whales.
We did not take a whaling excursion on this trip since ours was more of a culinary adventure with a bit of wine tasting thrown in. But we discussed it at length because my own personal goal has always been to observe and photograph a Blue Whale, up close for myself, and I always thought if ever I’m going to see a Blue Whale, it will be in the Azores.
Imagine my surprise and unabashed envy when I saw Michael O’Brien’s post on September 15th in which he shared that while on a pelagic birding outing aboard the Cape May Whale Watch and Research Center’s vessel their group not only spotted but photographed a Blue Whale. Just think, a Blue Whale off the coast of Cape May. His post was even complete with photographs. Did I say envy?
Three years ago, I had a spotting adventure as I traveled back home across the Delaware Bay on the Cape May-Lewes Ferry. The ferry boat captain slowed the vessel as we came upon two huge finback whales crossing our route as we sailed back towards Cape May. For at least 20 minutes we ferry riders were entertained by the display of surfacing and spouting by a mother and her calf only a few yards away from the Cape Henlopen. I have a surfer friend who also shared a story of hanging out on his board just a few hundred yards off the Queen Street beach waiting for that perfect wave, but instead being treated to one of those once-in-a-lifetime encounters with nature’s spectacular creatures. Yes, that close to the beach!
So why bother paying for a special whale watching excursion when such interactions with our marine mammal cousins can happen just about any time off our coast? My answer to this is that the Whale Watch operators have the technology and knowledge to almost guarantee sightings and to take you to the places where an encounter is most likely. In addition, the journey is usually a nice boat ride where the captain and crew narrate facts about our shared cultural and natural history as you glide along hugging the Jersey Cape shoreline. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon. Maybe, you’ll even get to enjoy a Delaware Bay sunset.
Whale and dolphin watching resources in Cape May:
Cape May Whale Watch and Research Center
South Jersey Marina, Cape May
609-898-0055 Cape May Whale Watch & Research Center | Cruises in Cape May, NJ
Cape May Whale Watcher
Miss Chris Marina, 1218 Wilson Drive, Cape May
609-884-5445 www.capemaywhalewatcher.com
