So a few weeks ago my friend Tricia and I took a whale watching cruise out of Long Beach Harbor. She had seen on the LA Times website that multiple blue whales were being sighted in the area daily due to an unusually high concentration of krill, and indeed, we saw four. It was hard to make out more than is visible in the photo above, but no photo can convey how impressive it is to be within sight of something so huge. They would roll across the water, their bodies just going on and on and on, then dive, then resurface with a spout. Just as our boat was getting to them they'd take a long dive (they were either playing with us or annoyed by us), and the boat would drift over the massive imprint each had left on the water's surface.
We didn't go far out to sea at all; we were right off Palos Verdes the whole time. On the way back the boat was mobbed by a pod of common dolphins. Quite exhilarating.
The real surprise for me was how much fun it was just to be on the water, especially once we left the harbor and hit the open sea with some real waves. I like having my feet on the ground: I don't even like riding a bike, and I definitely do not like flying, and I'm not even all that crazy about driving; I like to walk. So I wasn't sure how the boat would be, but it was fantastic. Tricia said it felt like we were riding on Santa's sleigh, and she was absolutely right. Another boat ride, please.
5 comments:
My, your hair has gotten long!
Given the title of this post, I was expecting it to be about Talk Like a Pirate Day. This was much better. Whales!
The last night Rob and I were in Eureka, we headed to the beach and saw them swimming in the distance. What was most amazing was watching them blow water out of their blowholes. It was so cool.
What a dramatic ending to your time in Eureka! That sounds like a very hopeful sign. The spouts out of their blowholes were amazing. One of them breached for us -- showing its tail -- which evidently blue whales don't often do.
We did see a pirate ship, but we escaped. I think it was some kind of educational tour boat or something.
Off topic - guess what I randomly looked for - and found - today on iTunes? El Pollo! It's a fairly bad recording (sounds like it was recorded off a scratchy record?) but it was the first time I heard the real song. We had the words a little wrong... Also found Jarabe de Palo, and "Ay Carmela." It's like 1998 all over again! Check it out!
PS. Yes, your hair is really long!
El pollo!
El pollo con una pata!
El pollo con otra pata!
El pollo con dos alitas!
El pollo con la colita!
Ahora a ti te toca!
OK, my money is on "con otra pata" being wrong. It seems un-Spanish. What are the real words?
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