Blow Hole Patrol

On Saturday, we went out on the boat again with Jess' parents. We had every intention of fishing for tuna, but never got around to it. We stopped to watch some whales along the way, and the whales just never went away or stopped surfacing. The sea was literally teeming with humpback, fin and minke whales. At any given moment, you could turn around and see at least one whale, usually three or more. There were spouts coming up from their blow holes in every direction. It was crazy, and it was like this for well over an hour, probably two.

Another weird thing, the whales were incredibly close to the shore--less than half a mile from the beach at times. Usually when we see whales, there's no land in sight. I've been fortunate to see lots of whales on lots of occasions. I've definitely been closer and I've definitely seen more spectacular displays (breaching and so forth.) But no one on the boat has ever seen this many whales at once.

The video doesn't begin to capture what it was like. For one thing, there are only three there. (Actually there were more to my right, but the whale flapping the surface of the water was the one putting on the best show.) Be warned, the footage is wicked shaky. You may need a dramamine.