Call me Ishmael. No seriously, call me Bobby. We just got back from our whale-watching trip to Gloucester, MA, and are currently awaiting a delicious dinner of pancakes and eggs....yum! Honestly, if we had traveled all the way to New England and only did today's activities, it still would have been worth it!

Today's chapter of "Real World: New England" took us about 20 miles off the coast of Massachusetts looking for some big mammals-No, not the women on "The View"- real whales! If you're like me, your experience of whale-spotting begins and ends with that magical place called Sea World. Today was an opportunity to see these animals in their natural habitat without the glass tanks and the screaming children.

The trip out to the spot where the whales would be feeding took about an hour. The weather was extremely fickle; the sun would poke its head in and out, and we even had about ten minutes of fog cover. Our group was nervous about the forecast for the afternoon, but the day turned out to be ideal whale-watching weather.

First, we saw Fin Whales swimming at a distance. You just can't imagine how big whales are until you're floating alongside of them as they slide beneath the sinews of the waves. Our tour guide constantly pointed out the unique "Chevron pattern" on the backs of the whales, identifying that species. Everyone on the boat was just as excited about the whales as the seagulls were which hovered above them waiting for a chance to snatch up a fish or two.

After several moments of "oohs" and "aahs", the boat headed out for different waters, looking for a second type of whale common to the area-the Humpback Whale. According to the guide, the Humpback Whale is a favorite of watchers because they're so playful. They certainly lived up to their reputations. Once we came across a group of Humpbacks, the fun really began. The first real sighting of them happened when our guide pointed out a "bubble net" off to the front of the boat. Suddenly, three large whale heads rose up out of the waves, taking a big gulp of salt water and fish and sending the seagulls in chaotic disarray. Shortly thereafter, we were surrounded by Humpback Whales feeding. We followed a group of three as they chased down a school of fish. Every once in a while, they would dive down to the bottom and give us a flash of their massive tail fins, also known as their "flukes."

While most everyone was looking off the left side of the boat at the feeding, I happened to glance off to the front right where, in the distance, I caught a Humpback Whale actually jump up out of the water and come down sideways with a huge splash. That moment really made this trip twice as great-I've seen pictures of whales jumping like that but I never thought I would ever see it with my own eyes. Later on, a baby whale came up beside the boat and playfully shot mist out of its blowhole. Even as it dipped below the surface, you could see its characteristic white flippers flashing.

I immediately wanted to read the entirety of Herman Melville's Moby Dick (which is a near-impossible feat). Honestly, you can read a book like Melville's novel and get a tiny sense of its adventure, but without actually experiencing events like encountering a whale at sea, it's only as exciting as your imagination will allow. Now I understand why Melville saw this kind of expedition (even though our purpose wasn't the same as Ahab's) as worthy of a story of epic proportions. I couldn't help but feel the overwhelming presence of the ocean and these amazing animals that swam around us. Times like this can really bring out the poet in you.