Excursion boat full of whale-watchers off the coast of Province- town, Mass., near Long Point Light Station on Cape Cod Bay.

MD. MISSES OUT ON LATEST CRAZE,
SETTLING FOR ‘FRANKENFISH’
AND SHARK SIGHTINGS

Seasickness is unwelcome part of the excursion
as tourists get more than they bargained for

A HEIGHTENED APPRECIATION FOR DRY LAND
 
By David Maril
 
Most of the summer crowd squeezing across the Bay Bridge in stifling traffic to hit the beach or spend hours in boats on the Eastern Shore don’t know what they’re missing.

Maryland, with warm, swimmer-friendly ocean water, will never offer whale-watching, one of the biggest and fastest-growing attractions in New England.

Oh, occasionally it will be big news when a dead whale washes up on a beach at Ocean City.

Most of the big fish headlines, however, relate to occasional shark-sightings.

Perhaps if the threat of the snakefish, or “Frankenfish,” as they are more affectionately called, spreads, there will be boats hauling tourists around on fishing safaris to hunt down these mini- monsters of the sea.

In the meantime, the Maryland beach/tourist industry is missing out on the profitable whale-watching phenomenon.

If you spend more than a day or two on Cape Cod, it is a certainty you will consider paying to spend several hours on a boat, with 100 or so other tourists, staring at whales.

For those visitors who don’t own boats in New England, whale-watching has become one of the most popular tourist attractions. It’s become so big, in fact, that many commercial owners have converted their ships from sport-fishing to whale-watching boats.

It sounds very appealing, providing a chance to spend several hours at sea on a safe, well-equipped, comfortable charter boat and absorb an education on nature and whales.

TOURS HAVE WELL-TRAINED LECTURERS

Most of these tours have well-trained lecturers who will make you feel as if you’ve become a marine biologist by the time the excursion ends.

Sometimes, however, whale watching is a lot more than what you bargain for.

A few years back, I went out with some friends on a whale-watching trip off the Cape. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the water in the Provincetown Bay harbor was a crisp, sparkling blue and as calm as a small pond.

The 50 or so people on board were in a festive mood as the 75-foot boat motored through the harbor toward Long Point Light Station, the historic lighthouse at the edge of Cape Cod Bay.

When a cash snack bar opened in the main galley many of the passengers, working up appetites in the salt air, gobbled down greasy donuts, thick muffins and icing-covered pastry.

As the boat rounded the point and headed out to open sea, the sound of cheers and laughter could be heard as the waves increased and saltwater spray began flying over the deck.

     Dramamine:  A Cape Cod whale-watcher’s best friend!

Most of the passengers reacted like children on a turbulent ride at an amusement park.

But when the waves continued to grow and the boat’s lurching became more pronounced, the cheers were replaced by groans.

Some of the passengers, suddenly developing green complexions, headed to the rail, giving their breakfasts and snack bar purchases back to the sea.

More than half of the passengers were sick. The other half were in almost as much discomfort, fearing they were also going to be stricken.

It makes you wonder why every boat doesn’t include Dramamine on the snack bar menu.

I believe four factors saved me.

I hadn’t eaten any of the greasy snack bar delicacies.

I stayed on the deck in the fresh air instead of going into the galley area and looking at a ceiling and walls coming at me at strange angles while the boat was lurching in different directions.

I remained up front at the bow of the boat, watching each wave, so I knew how the boat was going to react.

Last, but not least, I believe the fact I was soaking wet from the cold spray where I was standing kept my mind distracted enough to prevent the thought of seasickness from setting in.

The boat’s crew, used to this type of seasickness scene, remained oblivious to the discomfort all around them.

The lecturer, speaking into a loud-speaker microphone, cheerfully introduced each whale that surfaced, and offered a college-level graduate course on their characteristics, even though few people were paying attention.

We saw at least a dozen whales that day.

A DECISIVE TRIUMPH FOR CUTTING AND RUNNING

However, if the captain had asked for a vote on whether the passengers wanted to shorten the trip and head back to the wharf, the vote would have been a decisive triumph for cutting and running.

But he never asked and the passengers accepted it as fate that they were serving out a four-hour boat sentence.

I kept wondering if watching the boat filled with suffering seasick people provided entertainment for the whales.

When it finally was time to return to the harbor, most of the passengers let out a sigh of relief.

The boat seemed much steadier as the throttle opened up and we began our return trip.

Most of the ailing passengers began to lose some of their queasiness.

However, five minutes into the return trip, the motor suddenly shut down and the lecturer grabbed the microphone again.

In the hushed tones of a network TV commentator on the 18th hole of a major golf tournament, he proclaimed, “We think we’ve sighted the elusive and seldom seen ‘such and such’ whale species.

“We are going to pause for a few minutes to see if it comes to the surface,” he intoned.

Oftentimes the whales “perform” for the watchers, who, unlike the whales, often- times get seasick, debarking the excursion craft with a renewed appreciation for dry land & a resolve never to go whale-watching again — at least not for a while.

As the boat resumed bobbing like a cork, a couple of passen- gers began muttering the whale wasn’t going to show and to forget it.

Although a minute or so later, when the elusive whale did surface, I don’t think many of the passengers paid much attention. They just wanted to feel the vibrations of the motor starting up and know the boat was returning to the peace and tranquility of the harbor.

You never saw so many happy faces when the boat docked and people set foot on the wharf.

It’s amazing what a land cruise can do for your health and appreciation of firm footing.
 
davidmaril@voiceofbaltimore.org
 
“Inside Pitch” is a weekly opinion column written for Voice of Baltimore by David Maril.
 
CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S “INSIDE PITCH” COLUMN:  click here
…and read archived Dave Maril columns  by clicking here.