Monday, January 26, 2015

WHALES BREACHING, DOLPHINS LEAPING

Whales breaching, dolphins leaping had passengers with whom we shared passage on a Dana Point, California Catamaran oohing and awing with excitement recently.  The weather was ideal -- just enough sun to warm the not-to-cold sea air that made wearing a light jacket sufficiently comfortable.

Seagulls and pelicans had flown gracefully around the wharf, sometimes swooping down to skim the water's surface as our boat departed the shore at noon.   Though weather reports had cautioned those along beaches this was a high tide day with rip tides swimmers would need to avoid, the minimal increase in wave height our boat encountered was of no concern.  Ultimately, we went about six miles out to sea on occasional roller coaster Pacific Ocean waves before our return trip to shore.  No one became even queasy with the motion. 

My lively red-haired soon-to-be four year old grandson was wrapped between his father's legs behind a safety screen in the boat's bow with an unimpeded view of what was for a time only the vast ocean ahead.   Suddenly, we were all ecstatic with the sighting of the first grey whale's blowing, followed by a revealing glimpse of the mammal's barnacled back.   Beginning with that event we periodically encountered more whales gliding through the water, blowing, tail flipping -- others leaping upward from the ocean to then dive downward back into the dark waters.   

At one point, from the boat's interior one of the mates retrieved a pole on the end of which a small GoPro camera was attached.   He rushed to next to where I was sitting, then lowered the pole's camera end into the water boat side to capture a view of what surface-water appearance suggested was a whale swimming underneath closely by the boat, but in the opposite direction passing by us.   Later the mate launched a drone from the top of the ship to hover over ocean areas where whales were thought to be underwater, but no noticeable creature reaction was elicited.

Unexpectedly, a dolphin fin was spotted ahead at one o'clock slicing through the ocean -- then another was seen elsewhere in an arching leap above the surface in a dive back into the water.   A shout alerted all to yet another dolphin at ten o'clock, then one seen at 2 o'clock as we aided others sighting by using the clock technique for position identification.

Amazingly, we soon began to see dolphins in all directions around us -- scattered all over the ocean -- swimming, jumping, singly and in seemingly coordinated pairs -- groups of three and four flying briefly through the air like synchronized swimmers.   These ocean entertainers provided what seemed like a grand finale to our two hour voyage before we finally turned back toward shore leaving them all behind.       

Dinosaur figures have been replaced in the bathtub by small replicates of whales and dolphins by my grandson -- joining the more sublime, such as sharks, starfish, seahorses, jellyfish -- his father tells me now that they've returned home.      



11 comments:

  1. I am always thrilled when I see them blowing and it's far out to sea but can be seen without the binoculars. I can only imagine what it must be like that close. Thanks for sharing the experience :)

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    1. Seeing whales blow from the shore would be exciting -- we've always been too far away. Odds of seeing them increases during their migration seasons up & down the coast as you likely know.

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  2. What a thrill! I'm especially pleased to learn that you spotted so many dolphins. The humpback whales are here in HIlo Bay now, which is one of their breeding grounds. From our deck we see their spouting and frolicking. Dolphins come by often, too. But for some reason we have never ventured out to see them from a boat. Maybe we will do that some time.

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    1. If you see magnificent humpbacks from your deck I don't know that I'd bother going out in a boat to be closer to them. But given our dolphin experience being on the catamaran in their midst was especially fun.

      TV news reports several days earlier reported orca whale sightings off Dana Point. When I asked the boat mate he said they hadn't seen any and had been unable to confirm the report with others either.

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    2. I loved the last sentence. Obviously, the little boy had a great experience. Reminds me of the time we took my youngest granddaughter out for the day which included a trip to a store which sold magic items (glass balls, gems, wands, etc.) to a drive which culminated in crossing the Potomac at a Ferry Landing. "This is the best day of my life she exclaimed," as we crossed the river. Enjoy the moment.

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    3. You must have been thrilled to hear your granddaughters reaction to your outing with her.

      I would have loved to overhear what my grandson had to say to others once he retuned to his Midwest home -- especially a school chum he described as his best friend & who, coincidentally, had been visiting in San Diego.

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  3. Anyone traveling to Cabo at the tip of the Baja will enjoy an evening "party boat" trip for some first-class whale watching, I understand your grandson's excitement.

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    1. Baha is a popular whale viewing location which sounds like you enjoyed. We get periodic TV news reports about migrating whales up & down our Pacific coast with Baha being an area frequently mentioned. I keep thinking I should make the trip sometime.

      Today's news video featured a rare white whale breaching north of us in Monterey, Calif. -- eyes were closed so observers couldn't see if they were red -- a necessary characteristic to be an albino.

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    2. Oops! Just noticed the spelling of Baja was automatically but incorrectly changed to how we pronounce Spanish "j" as "h" in my response to Dick Klade. (This computer automatic spelling correction feature is a real annoyance all too often misspelling my accurate one.)

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  4. How exciting this must have been! I wish you had been able to take some photographs. Being close to the sea must be so wonderful.

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    1. Yes, I do enjoy the ocean atmosphere -- sights, smells and sounds.

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