HAMPTON, N.H. — A flick of a tail, a sudden splash, or even spinning clockwise through the saltwater like a plane performing a barrel roll — each movement is like a raw display of nature etched across the ocean’s surface. Standing nearby, a boatload of voyagers equipped with cameras and binoculars are eager to catch glimpses of the sea behemoths.
Like most Saturdays this season in Hampton, droves of swimsuited visitors set foot for the coastline, many veering toward the sand. A sea of colorful umbrellas and beach towels were scattered along the shore, with all taking part in the summer migration toward Hampton Beach.
But just a few steps away from those chasing sunrays, another adventure was awaiting folks keen to go deeper. Across Ocean Boulevard, with tickets in hand, many were more prepared to trade the certainty of a beach day for the mystery of the open Atlantic.
Tucked between apartments along the roadway sits Al Gauron Deep Sea Fishing & Whale Watching, a family-owned and operated recreational business that has hosted expeditions outward for more than 75 years. The company’s fleet carries thousands of passengers every year, offering fishing trips and whale-watching excursions from Hampton Harbor into the Gulf of Maine.
Capt. Al Gauron first set sail, and started to take people recreational fishing, in the summer of 1934. By the 1950s, the business had flourished to include two boats, along with an expanding family. This included four sons: Ricky, Rocky, Randy and Ronny.
Today, the waterbound business has reached its fourth generation, with Gauron’s great granddaughters April and Angel at the helm.
All aboard
People lined the metal gangway from the parking lot, down the dock and all the way to the side of Saturday’s vessel, “Big Rock.” The 88-passenger boat was sold out.
On board everywhere you looked there was a couple armed with binoculars, grandparents bringing their youngest out for an ocean adventure, or a foreign friend group diving head-first into New Hampshire tourism.
Down below folks settled into seats, while on the upper deck they crowded along the railings, scanning the waving distance for any signs of movement. At 1 p.m., all were aboard, the lines were untied and the Big Rock was onward and out.
At the wheel was Capt. Riley Cheever, who guided the group through the four-hour expedition. Beside him was Amanda Couto, a marine biologist who shared her wealth of knowledge over the vessel’s public address system, explaining the behaviors, habits and identities of any creatures passengers hoped to encounter.
Cheever said their whale-watching season typically runs strongest from May through September, when the Gulf of Maine becomes a feeding ground for enormous humpbacks. Saturday offered more than ideal conditions.
The skies were bright, while the temperature was comfortable, with a light wind skittering across the water. Cheever added that fog can be an occasional challenge during a whale watch, as it becomes an impediment for those looking to spot the animals from a distance.
Big Rock pulled away and suddenly the shoreline began to fade from behind. The vessel headed roughly 10 miles offshore in search of the whales.
You never know what you might spot, the crew explained: Some days you could encounter nearly nothing, and others might give you a glimpse of dolphins, porpoises, seabirds, ocean sunfish and several species of whale. For Cheever, the unpredictability is what keeps the job exciting.
“There’s so much stuff that you can see, and you have no idea what’s going to happen,” he said. “It’s a natural beauty unlike anything else I’ve experienced.”
A ‘fantastic’ season
This summer scratches his fourth year with Al Gauron, and the New Hampshire-native who grew up fishing in Seabrook said it was the close-knit atmosphere with the family business that had him reeled in.
Cheever mentioned that this summer has proven to be a “fantastic” season, with the whales showing off plenty of surface behavior. The captain often communicated with other vessels over the radio system, where crews shared information to help pinpoint exactly where the sea creatures were paddling.
“They are southwest here,” Cheever called out on the radio system to captains of other vessels setting out to catch a glimpse of the whales as well. “We got a pair here. I have no idea who they are yet.”
Eventually, the Big Rock found its answer as two humpbacks broke the surface, moving together like an underwater duo. Every now and again, the couple would dive and disappear back into the blue.
For the crew, these whales are no strangers. Humpback whales live roughly 45 to 80 years, and researchers can identify them by the unique markings on the undersides of their tails.
Each whale carries its own signature, and Saturday’s stars were known as Orion and Pixar.
Inside the wheelhouse, they keep a catalog filled with photographs of the whale tails and their names, helping them point out the individuals upon every encounter.
First came a sighting to starboard, then another toward the bow. Passengers rushed across the deck, gripping the railings and jutting their pointer fingers out toward the water upon the sight of the sea mammals.
The whales repeatedly surfaced slowly, arching their backs above the waves before curling downward. Then came that iconic moment everyone waited for — the rise of the black-and-white tail flukes before the whale vanished.
It makes for quite the show, but the whales were not performing; for many appearances, they are actually feeding. The humpback whales use lunges, accelerating forward with open mouths to capture schools of fish with a healthy side of saltwater. Those are rare moments where the group spotted whales’ heads breaking the surface.
More tails flapped into the air, some blowholes spouted water upward, and one of the whales even spun its body. With each movement, the crowd “ooh”-ed and “aah”-ed.
As the creatures dove, they sometimes left behind what whale watchers call a “whale footprint” — a smooth, circular patch of calmer water. But as they slipped back underneath, it would only be moments before Couto or Cheever called their next appearance.
“11 o’clock,” Couto said over the PA, pointing all lines of sight directly to the animal. “Doing some flipper flapping at 1 o’clock!”
Observation, not interruption
There are three main types of whales commonly seen on Al Gauron trips: humpback whales, minke whales, and fin whales. Saturday was an unusually successful voyage as passengers saw all three.
Cheevers called out to those aboard that it was the first time he had seen the full trio of species on one trip. It was evidently one of those days where the ocean decided to cooperate.
Not every whale encounter is common, though. Couto explained that another species found in these waters — the North Atlantic right whale — is far more difficult to see.
The species is among the most endangered large whales in the world, with fewer than 400 remaining. Right whales migrate through areas including the Bay of Fundy between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and waters farther south, including near Cape Cod.
But whale-watch crews like Al Gauron do not chase them, they protect them as they make a point to do for all sea creatures.
“And there’s a reason why you rarely see them,” Couto said. “You never go looking for them. You leave them alone.”
The goal of whale watching, Cheever said, is observation, not interruption.
After hours offshore, Big Rock turned back toward Hampton. As the harbor grew closer, passengers looked over their camera rolls for all the up-close flicks they got of the aquatic beasts.
{p dir=”ltr”}{span}Carefully, visitors tiptoed off of the vessel in their return to land, bound for their sunbeamed cars. Floating between the beachgoer traffic, Al Gauron’s Saturday whale watch party traveled across Mile Bridge, passing over the blue abyss they just finished exploring, a{/span}nd in that journey found all the fins and tails they had set out in search of.