Whale!

First, let me begin by saying that whale’s breath is gag-inducing. While it is not the grossest or worst smell I’ve ever encountered, it is nevertheless kind of awful and is hard to describe. How do I know this? Well, today my mom, her friend Lisa, Fiona, and I went on a whale watching trip.

We left the harbor at 9:30, expecting rough seas and no sightings, but within a short period of time we encountered a pair of grey whales (actually, two different pairs, but we only followed one). We followed them for quite some time, watching their spouts, occasionally they came out of the water enough to see their mouths, and even their tails. Then, they changed direction and we continued on, toward another spray. This time, it was a large humpback whale. We saw the spout a few times, then thought is swam away, until it surfaced RIGHT NEXT TO THE BOAT!!!! And there it stayed for a long time, playing with us, saying hello, rolling over, swishing it’s tail, spraying, blowing bubbles, and generally entertaining all on board. It was AMAZING! Unbelievable. It actually pushed against the boat at one point, and was so close, a person could have touched it. And that is how I learned that the smell of the spray is called “whale’s breath” and it is far, far worse than dog’s breath. The naturalist next to me told me the smell is caused by a combination of oil around the whale’s nose and something in its lungs or sinuses that causes the awful smell. Here are some images and a video that is a composite of everything I got. I’m sorry I am yelling like an idiot. It was just so exciting!

I think the whale was following me because I was not standing in the same place all the time, yet it kept popping up right in front of me. And when I sat down with Fi, it swam away. I’m sorry I did not get the whale’s goodbye as it departed. It turned, dove down, and showed us it’s magnificent tail, but I was holding Fi and could not get to my camera. Sad face.

Fiona was not that excited. She liked the gray whales and spent some time snacking:

She was a little overdressed here, I think.

Anyway, when the humpback whale came up near the boat, it startled everyone, Fi included. It really scared her, as did the bad smell. At one point, after a particularly nasty spout, she started crying, so she spent a good deal of time leaning on me or my mom:

 

I just hugged her and rocked her. Later, on the way back to the harbor, we came upon a half mile long pod of common dolphins. They were so fun, but Fi did not want to see them. Then we happened upon an even larger pod. The boat was not very crowded, so I took this video while sitting down in the middle of the deck:

We were surrounded by dolphins. It was so awesome! I only wish Fi enjoyed it more.

At the entrance to the harbor, we saw Coastal bluenose dolphins. It was a great day for sightings, two pairs of gray whales, a friendly and playful if stinky humpback whale, and lots and lots of dolphins. The water was pretty calm, the sun was shining, the boat was half empty, what more could you ask for? Even the crew was ecstatic at our smelly friend. It was a fantastic day and I am sorry that my dad, who was sick and for whom the trip was planned for in the first place, and John, missed it. At least I got some video. And it was much, much better than the last whale watching expedition, on which most passengers vomited multiple times and we only saw the spouts of two gray whales at the very end. We definitely plan to go again this summer, when there are more humpbacks and also blue whales.

Happy sailing!