Whale Watching

Thanks to my good friend Stephanie’s quick thinking, Tannis, Andrew & I were able to join the sold out CAVA whale watching field trip when 3 tickets suddenly became available at the last minute.  The condition:  we had to take my daughter’s classmate, whose family’s tickets were the very ones we would be acquiring. They couldn’t go, but they didn’t want their son to miss out!  We were more than happy for the company, not to mention grateful for the opportunity!

I have never been whale watching, and while we didn’t see any whales, we did see many, many dolphins! 4 species to be exact. We also saw seals and sea lions, pelicans, and other marine birds.   Andrew and his new buddy claimed the bow of the boat and being the overprotective mother that I am, decided to stay close to my son.  Oh, am I ever so glad I did.  As we approached the many pods of dolphins, they would ’surf’ along the bow of the ship.  We just leaned over and enjoy the view! It was exhilarating to say the least! Every time a new pod would join, the kids would cheer.  I was cheering.  Then I was crying.  I was overcome with joy.  Even Stephanie pointed out that I looked happy.  I never want to forget that feeling.

So, where are the amazing photographs?  I don’t have any.  When I first discovered that I brought all my gear sans battery, I was crushed.  But then, in that moment with my arms around my daughter, wind whipping through our hair, hearing my son whoop and holler and looking down at those dancing dolphins, I realized that I needed to live in this moment and be connected with my kids and not behind my camera looking at life through a lens.  I don’t regret for a minute that I didn’t get that pro photo.

I did, however, grab a few snapshots.  I pulled out my phone because I wanted to take note of the different species of dolphins we were observing.  When I saw my camera, I couldn’t resist.

One highlight of the trip was seeing the rarer Risso Dolphin.  Not usually seen around these waters, we saw a pod feeding on giant squid.  The giant squid off our coast must have been a big deal, too, because KTLA had a news van at our dock talking to a fisherman about their recent catch.  To learn more about the Risso Dolphin, click HERE.