Thar She Blows

This is the money shot! As the whale goes down she arches her back and her tail comes out of the sea. Water pours off while her body straightens then disappears from sight.

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Helaine and I went whale watching this afternoon. We’d been before, in Alaska. A trip in shirtsleeves under sunny skies sounded very appealing.

IMG_3184_5769We headed out Newport Bay and into the open Pacific. Seas were light. Santa Catalina and San Nicholas Island were both visible in light haze.

Finding whales is part instinct, part deduction and part luck. Our ship was aimed where whales were seen headed a few hours ago.

IMG_3237_5822It didn’t take long. No one shouted, “Thar she blows,” but that’s what happened. A quarter mile off the bow a cloud of mist was thrown up from the sea.

From the bridge the captain started talking about the whale, but she was still invisible to me. All I could see was that blow!

She began to rise. A blue whale, she was around 100 feet long. The whale leveled off with a few inches of her back above the water line, then began to dive.

IMG_3274_5859_1This is the money shot! As the whale goes down she arches her back and her tail comes out of the sea. Water pours off while her body straightens then disappears from sight.

The whale stayed submerged 13 minutes then blew again well in front of the boat. I knew it was the same whale because of a distinctive ‘beauty mark’ on her tail.

IMG_3381_5965Next up were dolphins, dozens of them swimming near and often in front of our boat. We stayed far from the whales, but that’s not possible with dolphins. They sought us out.

What a great trip. One more thing to do to keep out-of-town guests entertained… and us too.

3 thoughts on “Thar She Blows”

  1. I’ve been on two New England whale watches and I’ll bet I could go on a dozen more and still find it exhilarating.
    It sounds to me as though you’ve adapted very well to the California life-style.

    All the best to you and yours.

  2. Yeah—-and you don’t have to drive all the way up to Plymouth MA, having checked your sched. trips status before leaving home, only to learn that the afternoon trips have been cancelled due to wind gusts too erratic to navigate plus fog and mist along the ocean. 4 hours up, 4 hours home!
    We had done the same trip some 8 or 9 yrs prev. to that and had rain for most of the trip—but did see some spectacular sights. Hopefully, some day, we will try again—if gas ever gets back down to $3 a gallon. Presently our area is between $3.75-$3.90.9 a gallon. But then, at least we still have gallons, vs litres!
    Enjoy your days out there. There is a lot more to do out there than when I was there in the 60’s—-but then, we only had a couple of freeways and only 4 lanes at that! From you pictures last week, I doubt that I could do the roads now—no wonder my LA friend rarely travels out of her neighborhood.

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