The plankton was plentiful for the whales on Friday, and people enjoyed the show in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
It was a feast fit for a pod as a crowd assembled, enjoying its whale watch from land, looking through binoculars from Manomet Point.
"Didn't know that there was anything happening, [we were] just coming home from school and they were there," said Keri Johnson.
"We've seen it spouts a lot, and we've seen the black with the white. And it's been pretty cool," six year old Colleen Johnson said.
The migratory North Atlantic right whales were passing through. It's low tide and they were about 300 yards off shore.
Thursday, a pod with those characteristic growths on their heads was spotted at the mouth of the Cape Cod Canal.
Then Friday, up the coast, skimming plankton and spouting, they were not in any distress.
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"I would say maybe six or seven at a time I could see within my lens, there would be a group of four, then from the other direction there'd add two. We'd see some tails," said Chris Giacomozzi.
The Center for Coastal Studies says it observed 72 right whales from a plane. That may seem like a lot, but make no mistake - this is among the most endangered species of whales in the world.
Fortunately, there's not a boat in sight. Mariners are required by federal law to keep 500 feet away.
"We don't have that many left in the world, so while you do watch them, watch them from land. Don't watch them from the water. We want to keep them protected and safe and keep the population growing," said Leah Horeanopoulos who works at Captain John Whale Watching Tours.
"The crowd's been like this all day," said Pam Finn.
She lives right nearby.
There was a great white attack here last summer, but she said she hadn't seen a whale from land before Friday.
"This is the first time we've seen whales, right off the point here so, it's pretty exciting," Finn said.
Much better?
"Yes it is, absolutely," she said with a laugh.
As a 9-year-old named Caroline, who was there with her mom, noted that right whales sadly got the name because they were the "right" whales to hunt historically, swimming near shore and floating after they were killed.
Now, with only a few hundred that remaining, everyone needs to keep a distance.
