A Whale of a Time
Monterey Bay is what they call a Submarine Canyon. The waters off the shoreline become very deep… as
in miles deep with a series of
finger-like canyons fanning out into the deepness. This makes the conditions
perfect for whales to roam and frolic because of the tasty seafood buffet this
area provides. It wasn’t long before we realized This was going to be a most exceptional day.”
Within in a few minutes of leaving the
dock, we began to view spouts not far off the shore. We thought we’d found the
mother load of whales, there were so many spouts. As our 60’ boat drew closer (a much
smaller boat than our previous trips) we found ourselves surround by 15 or 16
humpback whales…along with too many seals to count. Kate, the Naturalist on
board, was giddy with delight… with five year’s experience, she had never seen
anything quite like this before, especially so close to shore.
The seals were
doing synchronized diving, much like dolphins. The whales also seemed to be
synchronized… moving the same direction in an organized fashioned. She explained that the whales are quite
intelligent and have figured out how to work together to herd the schools of
fish and surround them in such a way that they can get a big gulp of fish. She
called this a Bait Ball… both whales and seals benefit from this
form of food gathering.
We began spotting more and more whales. There were a few
other whale watching boats in the bay and they began reporting to each other
the phenomena they were each experiencing. They figured there were close to a
hundred whales in the bay. Hmmm… maybe because our morning prayer included a
request to see whales today? Never
underestimate the value of prayer in your lives. It was more than I imagined it
would be. Emilee would rather be shopping but she was still a good sport. What
a way to end our trip.
We drove up the coast to find tidepools… we all agreed that
California coasts are not as beautiful as Oregon. But it was still fun. A drive
back to San Francisco to ride the cable car … lines too long. We were tired and
it was late. Walked right past Ghirardelli; Dad must have had blinders on. Good
thing, cause we’ve all gained weight on this trip. Drove to our hotel by the
airport… had a great rate on DoubleTree.
We belong to the Hilton Honors program to collect free nights. They
upgraded us to a lovely two-room suite, no charge. We will spend five hours
here… it's gonna be so hard to leave this bed. We need to be at the airport at 5 a.m. It will be a very
short night.
No comments:
Post a Comment