Page 62 - Travel + Leisure India & South Asia (January 2020)

YOUR
TRAVEL

TALE

THE CURIOUS HUMPBACK

This month, Travel + Leisure India & South Asia reader NANYA SRIVASTAVA brings us an
exciting close encounter with humpback whales in the waters off the Boston coast.

The whale-watching season here begins in
E ven though the pamphlets guaranteed sightings, Instead of teeth, the April and ends in October, when the whales
the lady at the ticket counter says I can come back
humpback whale
any other time in case we don’t see one today. has a bristle-like gather to snack on mackerel, herring, krill,
“The tour would be free,” she assures me. But this isn’t an mat on its gums and other small fish, storing all that abundant
encouraging thing to hear for someone who is due to called baleen that fat as blubber. During the winter months, they
separates prey from
leave the country in nine hours. sea water. migrate to warmer waters for mating.
On a whim, I have chosen to spend my last day in An hour later, we arrive at the feeding
the US on the Boston Harbor Whale Watching Cruise ground, but there are no whales to be seen.
(bostonharborcruises.com). As the catamaran speeds We do, however, spot a pod of dolphins
towards the horizon on Massachusetts Bay, I sit on the moving towards deeper waters. There are
deck under a scorching sun, wondering why I didn’t young calves in the pod. “To estimate the
bring a hat. The tour guide tells the group about the number of dolphins in a pod, count the ones
different kinds of whales that thrive in the region—mostly on the surface and multiply the number by STEPHENALLEN75/GETTYIMAGES
humpbacks, though finback and minke are also commonly three,” our tour guide gives us a handy tip,
sighted. We are heading to their feeding ground, where while expressing her surprise at spotting
a humpback whale was spotted the previous day. dolphins in peak summer. This is a pod of

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