The ice we skate is getting pretty thin The water's getting warm so you might as well swim My world's on fire, how about yours? That's the way I like it and I never get bored
Ignore the absence of ice, presumed ban on swimming whilst whale watching and apparent dislike for the conspicuous lack of air conditioning in most Winthrop rooms, the lines above rather nicely summed Sunday 21st July. The world was indeed on fire* and we were far from bored. Abstract deadline looming and the water inviting, one hundred members of the research village descended on Boston harbour in pursuit of some fabled sea creatures. We were assured that our 140ft, 216-person capacity tourist boat would go unnoticed by any humpback whales lurking in the area and we would get a true glimpse of them in their natural habitat. For all their probable irritation with being chased by many hundreds of tons of riveted metal, the whales were very sporting. With a lifespan of up to 85 years some could probably remember a time when they were pursued with a nets and harpoons rather than Nikons and Cannons. Life could be worse. Consuming 1m calories a day according to our knowledgeable commentators, they were in fact probably more focused on trawling the underwater plateau for snacks. The aforementioned plankton turned the water a brilliant green when it was briefly churned up by our engines in reverse. Rumour has a seal was spotted to the left of the boat though your correspondent is unconvinced of this as it would be out of character for a navy seal to expose themselves to the public in this fashion.
Occasionally we saw a whale’s tail ascend majestically out of the water though your correspondent never obtained the promised cover photo of a whale leaping full length 10ft out of the water behind him. When you’ve got 1m calories a day to source there’s apparently no time for such frivolous behaviour. Nevertheless, the sun-scorched top deck provided an ideal viewing platform for whales chugging merrily along just beneath the surface and popping up to breathe from time to time. As the clock crept closer to 5pm we picked up some speed and made out way back against the wind this time. Despite the heat the only casualties of the day were a couple of caps whisked away in the wind and any carefully crafted hairstyles dismantled on the top deck. The eighty or so mile round trip by water made us grateful for several thousand horsepower of propulsion which brought us back to Boston in time for some well-deserved dinner.
*for posterity, temperatures in Boston hit 98°F this weekend though the world was not literally on fire (for the most part). Apologies for any confusion this has caused.