Whale Watching

I have to be honest. At first, I was not looking forward to doing a press event this morning for work (I get really nervous). I was the Spanish representative and was going to be interviewed by local news outlets about our interactive exhibit that focuses on whales. The reason that I happily accepted the invitation, however, is that as part of this event, we were all going out whale watching locally to find blue whales.

I was sold.

So after the introductions and some small interviews, we made our way to the dock aboard a nice cat(amaran). It was a gorgeous warm and clear day and we were ready to go. I grabbed a complimentary poppy seed muffin and a fruit salad and ate breakfast as we waited to leave the harbor. We made our way out the Port of Long Beach and headed up north just past Point Vicente. We heard there were whales around here so here is where we started to really pay attention. Never you mind the little pod of dolphins we passed earlier. We are looking for blue whales!

So of course, the boat comes to a stop. We roll and pitch and the wind stops because the boat did. And I lose my cool. I ran down to find a restroom to go chuck in and I couldn’t find it. Luckily there was a trash can that I could use so I did – and just in time too. Good thing is, I ate not too long before so it actually kinda tasted like a fruit smoothie. *dies* I am not kidding.

So how’s that for TMI? hahaha!

Anyway, after that I was spectacular and we spotted our first whale. Well, let me just tell you. We spotted 8 BLUE WHALES. EIGHT OF THEM. It was INCREDIBLE. I had never seen so many whales on one trip, let alone 8 blues. They were so beautiful, majestic, impressive, and awe inspiring. We saw blows, dorsals (entire backs actually), a couple of flukes, and even whale poop! I kid you not, one of the whales came up and pooped! I am a marine biologist and I can be excited about that if I want to be (I so was!). There are scientists whose job it is to collect that and they would have been stoked to be as close to the batch that we saw as we had been. I took photos. Oh yes, I did!

And the grand finale? One of them actually breached! A BREACHING BLUE WHALE!!! I cannot express to you how rare and wonderful that was! Out on the horizon it looked like a submarine was coming out of the water, it was huge! As we got closer, we then saw that there was a pair of blue whales traveling along side each other. What a way to end the trip!

Of course I have photos, and for those, you can click here. 😀

PS: The mood icon is so perfect, even if it is a humpback!