For whales, Boston's the right place

The bad news is that the Atlantic right whale is highly endangered. The good news is that it's congregating off Boston in record numbers (a record for the post-whaling age, anyway), attracting scientists and spectators. Off the shore near Provincetown and Truro are as many as 200 whales - half the species population. It must be a magnificent sight in person. When I whale-watched off California, the grays and humpbacks were playing camera-shy - they never got close enough to show up as more than a small hump.