To: Journey North
From: Anne Smrcina
Stellwagen Bank National
Marine Sanctuary
Here are some journal entries written by students from the Nathaniel H. Wixon Middle School in South Dennis, Mass. These are the students who first saw the right whales off Race Point on February 27.
These students, along with other fifth graders in several communities on Cape Cod, spend from 3 to 5 days out at the Cape Cod National Seashore as part of an environmental education program sponsored by the participating school departments. Students get to take a late night walk to see bioluminescent animals found in the sand, study coastal plants and animals during a series of nature hikes, and learn a bit about the geology, geography and history of Cape Cod
From Dominique Donovan:
"Today was cool. We went on a four-mile walk along the salt marsh
and the bay. My friend Tommy was the first person this year to see
the North American Right Whale [up here in Mass.]. It was really
neat. First we saw spouts, then they got closer and we saw the head,
back tail and fins. Before that, we saw tons of seals lying ont he
beach."
From Sonia Martin:
"This morning we took a big hike. We walked quietly to a part of
the beach where there were about 40 harbor seals. I got a look at
them through binoculars that were handed out. I liked a whitish one
I saw. Then Mr. Coleman [one of the nature guides/educators] said
to Mr. Beatty and Mr. Berrin [teachers from the school] 'I think I
saw a spout.' Of course we ran over there and took a break to watch
for whales. When Tommy said 'I saw one' I just couldn't see them
for the first few minutes. Then I saw them. It was beautiful! We
saw plenty more. We saw a North Atlantic [or Northern] Right Whale.
One whale liked to show off. It was funny. It kept on poking its
head out of the water. Ron got a picture of a whale's tail. He was
the only one of us to get a picture of it."
From Meaghan Oickle:
"I thought it was phenomenal when we saw the North Atlantic Right
Whale flip up its fin for the first time. After, when we were
walking down the beach, the whale stuck his head up and opened his
mouth. The whale kept on blowing air out of his hole. One went all
over the place. We also got so close to the harbor seals. There
were at least 20-30 of them."
From Kandice Wood:
"Today we walked a long hike between 3-4 hours. They [the
naturalist guides/educators] talked about everything about the sea
and that we might get to see harbor seals -- and we did. While
walking up along a hill we saw this spout. The teachers said, if we
were lucky enough, we might see North Atlantic Right Whales. As we
watched we saw another spout so we sat down and ate a snack and some
water. We got up and started walking again. Suddenly we saw a huge
blackish, greyish, blueish, humungus, tail. We saw it. It was a
North Atlantic Right Whale. After awhile we saw his head pop out;
he was feeding. That day was so exciting."
From Laura McInnes:
"Today we hiked 4 or 5 miles for 3 hours. We saw the rarest whales,
with only an average of 300 left -- the Right Whales. While I was
looking through my binoculars I saw whales. The first one I saw was
going in slow-mo with its tail going in the water. The next one I
saw was practically on the shore. Its head was out of the water.
He/she had baleen. It also had what looked like barnacles, but it
was lice. He/she was spitting out water. I feld sooooo happy! It
was sooooo spiritual!"
From Ron Haydek:
"Today our class and I saw some North Atlantic Right Whales off the
beach of Race Point in Provincetown. It was really cool because I
have never seen a whale this close before. We are the first people
this year to see the Right Whales. When we saw the tail of one of
them, everyone took out their cameras and took as many pictures as
they could."
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