Thursday, the day after returning from Disney, we drove back out to the coast for our second attempt at whale watching. My parents had lined up this adventure - and had our own private boat booked. After Disney kicked our butts and I got so sick and we were all tired of the driving, we decided to try to cancel. But - it wasn't possible. We were too late. That being said, it all worked out and although it was a lot of driving again, it was worth it! Our trip was quite successful. I had a gut feeling that we should be going, so I think all worked out the way that it should have. We saw a total of 4 whales (or 6 if you include the one I'm sure I saw and the one dad was sure he saw). The boat ride was a lot of fun and the two hours flew by in no time. In fact, it felt like about 30 minutes. The kids did great on the boat and nobody got sick. That's a success in and of itself!
The first two whales that we located were super close to the shore of Laguna Beach. A mom and a baby! These two were grey whales. The gray whale is a baleen whale that migrates between feeding and breeding grounds yearly. It reaches a length of 14.9 meters, a weight of 36 tonnes, and lives between 55 and 70 years. These two whales were quite calm and friendly and even 'spyhopped' a handful of times (once even both at the same time!!!). Spyhopping is when the whale rises and holds position partially out of the water. Spyhopping is controlled and slow, and can last for minutes at a time if the whale is sufficiently inquisitive about whatever (or whomever) it is viewing. The fact that I caught both the mom and baby doing this at the same time was pretty amazing. It's not the greatest picture, but something I will likely never see in my life again!
HANG ON TO YOUR HATS! That's what Jackson had to do when we sped out to the first set of whales! And...in true boy fashion...Heatwave also made the boat ride! Lucky robot ;)
The first two whales - the Grey Whales!
Then Captain Larry got wind that there were two more whales - but these two were a bit of a surprise as it was the first sighting of the season for Blue Whales! He was pretty excited. The Blue Whales are the biggest whales ever to have lived. The Blue Whale is the largest creature to have ever lived on Earth. That's pretty cool. Their tongues alone can weigh as much as an elephant and their hearts as much as a car! Despite their size, they feed on some of the smallest marine life and can consume up to 36000 kg of krill a day!
Obviously my videos leave much to be desired! It was so bright out and the boat was rocking - so I did my best and at least the memory was caught! What a cool experience!
On the way back we saw many Californian Sea Lions. They are the only Sea Lions that have ears and that are able to climb up onto things. They also like each other and will lay in packs vs. wanting to be alone. Sawyer kept calling them puppies. The puppies of the sea maybe?!
Overall a great success and a once in a life experience :)
Thank you Captain Larry!
No comments:
Post a Comment