An Easier Way to Find a Good Whale Watch on the East Coast?

Picking out a whale-friendly East Coast whale watch just got a little easier. NOAA and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society just started Whale Sense, a voluntary program to ensure tours from Virginia to Maine don't bother whales.

The rules are complicated--more than just stay back 100 feet, though that is the basic distance. (If the whale approaches you, stay put. If it's a right whale, back off 1,500 feet.) What I found more amusing were the rules against advertising showing whale watchers touching, swimming with or even chasing the whales. Is Jerry Bruckheimer running a watch somewhere?

So far the group has signed up five companies, mainly in Massachusetts. I count at least 30 tour companies from Virginia to Maine, with 18 going to Stellwagen Bank--not included the odd charters that line the whole coast. So what about the ones not on the list?

Even Frank Kelley, operations manager for Mass Bay Lines (listed) says that right now the program is so new that you can't judge an operation for not participating. Lots of the tours work with other whale groups. For example, Bar Harbor Whale Watch Company is tied to Allied Whale. The New England Aquarium's whale watch, which I just went on, isn't part of the program yet (they're still examining the details), says spokesman Tony LaCasse. But since they already do most of it and they helped push voluntary standards decades ago, they'll probably be part of it.

When you're out on Stellwagen it's not the commercial whale watching boats you see encroaching on whales, but the tiny recreational fishing boats. Kelley says many tour operators worry that the small boats don't understand the protocols (which is elaborate when it comes to many boats wanting to see the same whales). NEAQ's LaCasses says that personally he'd like to see an enforcement presence on the water--like the Coast Guard is for boating regulations.

When I talked with marine mammal expert Toni Frohoff (she's a behavioral biologist and research director at TerraMar Research) she mentioned that generally it's better to have one big boat in the water around a whale instead of a bunch of little ones. At first that seems counterintuitive; we normally don't think of going out in a big, hulking, Hummer of a boat as being eco-friendly. But that's what it is, at least to the whales.

The tricky thing for whale watchers is picking tours that won't annoy--or hit--the whales. In Puget Sound tour boats are known to crowd the orcas, which could interfere with their eating or mating. I haven't seen that on the vast waters East Coast boats troll.

Consumers can't easily tell from an ad or website that attitude of operation. (Well, ok, I am a little skeptical when I read "Imagine the sight of dolphins dancing and frolicking right alongside The Silver Bullet. See whales surfacing and breaching...[from a] shiny, brand new 70 ft. long ocean going projectile." But most whale watches at least claim to be whale-friendly. But is that like a processed cereal labeled as organic? I hope the Whale Sense program grows and offers up an easy way for wildlife watchers to pick the responsible tours.

• Here's Where You Can Go Whale-Watching
• Want to See More Animals in the Northeast? Click Here.

Moose Alley, NH Tips: 10 Things Locals Won't Tell You

Believe the name. When you visit Moose Alley, New Hampshire,
(not an actual town, but Route 3 north of Pittsburg up to the Canadian border) you will see moose. It's like magic; you just always see moose. I was skeptical, too--the victim of too many parks boasting of animals I would never see. But Moose Alley, way up in Coos County, has never failed me.

I kept asking the locals for moose-watching tips--since moose follow routines. Usually I got nowhere with that line of questioning--lots of encouragement to look "anywhere," "any road" at "any time." So I came up with what I would tell a friend visiting Moose Alley.


1. Look for Roadside Wallows.
Moose hang out by the side of the road to drink from ponds and puddles with salt run-off. You can spot the wallows because they tend to have trampled mud around them and a moose trail leading away from the road.


2. Look for Roadside Parking.
Where there are established wallows there is effectively wallow parking. Moose return at the same time every day. Moose watchers follow. One particularly popular wallow has a lot next to it--and still gets an overflow crowd parking on Route 3 at dusk. For that matter if you see a roadside parked car, as you will quickly figure out, it's probably your fellow moose watcher. Just ask if they've actually seen a moose there and are not just acting on a hunch that "that looks like a perfect place for a moose"--a phrase you will find yourself using repeatedly.


3. Moose also like recently cut trees.
Georgie Lyons told me that a logger off Route 26 says that a dozen moose appear in the morning when they hear him start his chainsaw. (She's in the visitor's center near Colebrook, but in the Chamber of Commerce back office. She knows everything about the area and is happy to share it.)


4. Timing matters, but not completely.
You will be exhorted to Go at Dusk and Dawn. Moose are crepuscular--meaning most active then. I've had the best luck seeing them in the hour right before dark. But they're also really active at night. A truck driver reports he recently saw 27 moose (not all at once) along a nearby road at 2 a.m. The problem with this--as with dusk--is that if you get any picture, it'll be lousy. And for that matter, you may see them during the day, too. Locals stress that they see them all times of day. I had my best sighting at 10 am. Moose's Hours Inconvenient? Go Anytime.

5. Route 3 is the best, but any area road will do.
The heart of Moose Alley is Route 3, but Routes 145, 26 and 16 all are local hotspots. So are the logging roads off Route 3, especially one marked Gate 137. For that matter, the people I talked to just said to drive any local road, especially ones bordering wilderness. The thoughtfully-built official viewing area on 26 hasn't had moose in a while, locals say. (We rented a house at a delightful Poodle Farm in Colebrook, a good mid-point.)

6. Lurk.
Once you find a moose spot, come back at the same time tomorrow. And if the moose get spooked by watchers, just sit and wait. You'll have the moose all to yourself.

7. You may not see any antlers.
First off, you're going to see more cows than bulls because the bulls are more wary. Second, the antlers fall off after the fall mating season, then resprout in early summer.


8. Your moose call is only going to work in mating season.
Moose don't just call each other to figure out where everyone's at--like some species do. They only call in season. Experienced moose hunters say it really works--and may even work a month or so after the season because some females may be late. But moose hunting seasons are timed to coincide with the rut. So you may just draw in hunters. And the moose catch on pretty quickly to the hunt and become much more cautious about people, hunting guide Larry Adair told me last year.

9. The logging drivers hate you.
They're trying to work and here we are trolling around for moose, half stopping. If you go on the logging roads, you have to be ready to get out of their way. They show their annoyance by driving fast past you.

10. The moose aren't that fond of you, either. And they really hate your dog.
Moose will run off if you get too close--or they may warn you off, but the signs may be too subtle: they raise the hackles on their rump, point ears back and lip their lips. Also, they give you a dirty look. They can bluff charge, charge for real and go out of their way to kick a dog. You car is actually a pretty good wildlife blind, especially if you've got a sun roof. Though when there's a Moose Jam, families will get out. You'll feel like a chump staying in your car. But the moose will eventually get spooked by people on foot.

For all that, it's still a thrill to get to watch one of these giant animals eat. I've been trolling likely looking bogs throughout New England and the Maritimes and Moose Alley is about the easiest place to do it.