NEWBURYPORT — Bill Neelon guarantees you will see a whale on The Prince of Whales, Newburyport Whale Watch. Even if it takes a couple of tries.
Neelon said the whale-watching off the Newburyport coast this season has been the best in 10 years, just not yesterday.
More than 50 people spent the first day of summer yesterday traversing the rocky waters and thick fog off the coast of Greater Newburyport in search of whales. But for the first time this season, no whales were spotted. The passengers will receive vouchers for a free trip. Last year, out of 110 whale watching tours, only two resulted in no whale sightings.
"It's pure luck some days," Neelon said.
Since the season started at the beginning of the month, Neelon and his crew have been seeing around a dozen whales on each time out.
"We have been seeing juvenile and some adult humpbacks this season in groups and alone," said Dianna Schulte, Prince of Whales naturalist and president of The Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation. "They are all right here. It's just a question of seeing them."
Roughly 20 miles off the coast of Newburyport, Jeffrey's Ledge is a popular feeding ground for humpback, minke and finback whales. The underwater ledge sits beneath the ocean's surface, creating a upwelling that stirs nutrients, making for a fertile feeding ground for whales as fish congregate there.
"The two types we see here are tooth and baleen whales," Schulte said. "Toothed whales, such as the dolphins, swim in pods and the baleen whales are at least 20 feet long and swim solitarily."
On yesterday's tour, thick fog created only a one-eighth of a mile visibility, which resulted in a dark, gloomy and wet tour.
Once out near Jeffrey's Ledge, the Prince of Whales slowed, listening for the splash of a whale's water spout.
"It will sound like a deep breath," Schulte said.
Earlier that day, two fishing vessels had radioed The Prince of Whales alerting them to a whale in the area. According to the fishermen, the whale had come up to the side of their boat before swimming away.
After more than 10 minutes of silence, no whales where spotted, and Neelon took an alternate, longer way home in hopes of catching a glimpse of a whale.
Neelon makes sure each guest receives a coupon for another trip so they are guaranteed to see a whale at some point.
"It's hard when you don't expect it," a disappointed Neelon said. It's been so good lately, and the weather forecast said the fog would burn off. It never did, though."
He said last year, the two days whales were not seen were foggy, much like yesterday.
Schulte said sometimes on foggy days whale watchers can get lucky.
"The whales have been moving a few miles each day, so moving two miles or so around the ledge has been successful," Schulte said. "Of course visibility helps. You have to be able to see them sometimes a mile away."
But even on days whales cannot be found, the Prince of Whales' trips are worth it for the crew.
As part of The Blue Ocean Society, college interns work with Schulte collecting data to help them in their research.
From locating trash, which could potentially be hazardous to whales, floating in the ocean to answering questions from tour-goers, the interns say it is all in the name of marine awareness.
"Raising awareness is good as to how and why we do what we do," said intern Mike O'Boyle from Severna Park, Md.
O'Boyle spends the summers in Newburyport helping run the whale watches.
"We are looking for marine debris as well as taking behavioral notes about the whales we do see," he said. "We note if they breach and how often, and what birds are surrounding them."
Intern Kelly Houghs of Amesbury, a student at the University of Maine, says part of the fun of working with the Blue Ocean Society alongside the public are the questions asked of her from whale-watch participants.
"Sometimes they ask really thought-provoking questions," Houghs said. "It's also good when they see a pile of trash floating by and realize it's a problem."
Houghs noted that 78 percent of whales have scar marks from marine debris or nets, which harm the whales as they swim and feed.
Sarah Donaghy, 12, of Nashua, N.H., was on the tour with her grandparents and mother. She craned her neck, trying to spot a whale through the thick fog once the boat made its way to the ledge.
"We gave Grammy a coupon for a whale watch, and we have been checking the weather to decide when to go," Sarah said. "It was supposed to be better today. I want to see a humpback."
Paul Piraino of Newbury brought his nephew Nathan Bonsignore, 4, of Wakefield on his first tour. Piraino charters tours out of Newbury and had been promising Nathan for more than a year that he would take him on his first whale watch.
"I said when he turned 4 I would take him," Piraino said.
Though Nathan didn't see any whales, his uncle did commemorate the occasion by buying him a blue whale stuffed animal.
The Sherwood family from Merrimac delighted in touching a piece of baleen from a fin whale that O'Boyle placed in their hands while teaching them how whales receive nutrients through the baleen.
Kyla, 14, and her brother Logan, 12, are already out of school for the summer, but parents Dave and Viky took the day off to spend time with the family.
"This is our first family outing of the summer," Viky Sherwood said.
As the Prince of Whales pulled back into Hilton's Fishing Dock after a more than five-hour search that came up empty, Paul Nassor, 8, his sister Raquel, 11, and mother Stacey of Newbury said even though all they saw was seaweed, driftwood and seagulls the trip was still worth it.
"I'm really interested in fishing, so I like to get close so I can tell what fish it is," Paul Nassor said. Stacey added, "It's only the first day of summer."
