Closer to The Boat, Part 3

This is the last of my photo essays on my two whale watching excursions I went on last week. I took in a great many things to enjoy on my vacation, and I spent it with my parents. Out of so many amazing things to be grateful for on this trip, seeing Orcas in their natural environment - and getting to photograph these sightings, was my biggest desire in wanting to go on a trip like this.

In the first installment of this essay, I mentioned my obsession with Orcas. At the risk of sounding melodramatic, I've read about the resident pods of Orcas in the San Juan Islands - J, K and L pods. I've followed an incredible blog, Orca Watcher - www.orcawatcher.com, for years. I've looked at tons of pictures of these animals in the Salish Sea, and I've longed to be there and see these animals with the back drop of these shorelines of shore and tall evergreen trees - it's breathtaking, both in pictures and in person.

As I also stated in the other installments, I kept consoling myself by the thought of just being in these waters and knowing, contemplating the thought that they're out there - they live here. So as much as I wanted to see more of what we saw two days earlier, just being on these waters was amazing. I would carry that thought back home with me, along with the thought that I have got to take more trips like these. Crazy as it may sound to anyone else - and I'll borrow this line, albeit a paraphrased version of it, from my Elephant Academy friend/fellow student, Jennifer Edwards - whom I had the pleasure of meeting up with on this trip:  My soul lives here - and it has for many years.

If that sounds like some hipster phrase to you, I'm okay with that. All I know is that my soul has lived in the Pacific Northwest for years - and almost entirely because of these beautiful black & white whales. While I no longer want to be a whale trainer - because for the most part, I know it would really bother me to form a connection with these animals in an exploitative environment they shouldn't be subjected to, yes, it would be nice to see up close how intelligent these animals really are - and to bond with them. I've come to believe that this bond should be more spiritual. I'm not supposed to ride one, command him or her to leap into the air or do anything else to amuse or amaze others, then toss a fish in its mouth.

I don't want to get on a soapbox here, but they pluck these animals out of tightly formed family groups that they remain in for their entire lives. These family groups that eat specific things - for example, the resident pods eat Salmon. The transient groups eat mammals - and no, humans in kayaks, while falling into the mammal category, do not enter into that diet. The groups don't cross over, because each one has their own dialect. They don't talk to one another saying things like, "Oh y'all eat Salmon? What else? You never tried Stellar Seal Lion?? Get the fuck outta here!" As I've compiled my own photographs from this trip, the thought occurred to me, that not only have humans disregarded the significance of capturing these animals in traumatic ways, they have also not taken into consideration what these animals are used to eating - stay with me here folks, my point is:

At some point or another, humans would've had to capture a transient whale or several. While they may indeed be sitting in a marine life park somewhere in this world, I can guarantee you that these animals are no longer eating what they've evolved to eat in their social groups in their natural environment. In other words, that popular/trademark whale name we all know, is not eating Sea Lions or porpoises in their new show business home. There are groups of these animals in different parts of the world that eat and have become masters at hunting what lives in their specific areas - and they've had no real reason to look outside those diets. I have to say that I'm thankful that I first saw these animals in a marine life park - and I saw them up close. It didn't matter to me what tricks the animals did, I would stand there and stare in fascination all day - but often I was with others who wanted to see other attractions.

Okay, off of the soapbox, onto this encounter and more photos - and I'm thrilled to say, some much better photos from much closer up!

So after we headed further out from where we saw the Gray Whale, I kept trying to prepare myself for disappointment. Remember the captain - Captain Jim, if I recall correctly, had mentioned that he didn't know about the black and whites. Me? Well I was hoping for some glimpses of J, K or L pods - but I'll take transients too. Our boat slows down and comes to a slow, creeping stop. For those of you who have never been on one of these excursions, when the boat slows down or stops, there's a good reason for it.

Captain Jim comes over the boat's PA:

"....and folks, we've come to a stop so that I can tell you that off of our bow at around 11 o'clock, we've got some Killer Whales to take a look at"

Thank you, Sweet Baby Jesus. All of the enjoyable things on this trip, this is why I wanted to come here. This. After hearing Captain Jim's announcement, I thought my frantic photo snapping was shots much like the first trip - but now that I'm looking through them, even the distant shots were much closer:

Stay with me here, I promise you that it will get a lot better. As I've mentioned a time or ten, just seeing this, with or without my camera up to my face, was thrilling. Never mind how many times I'd seen these animals in captive environments - this is where they live. Where they're supposed to live. In this vast expanse of ocean, where you may never see them at all. All I know is that this is a sight that would never get old to me. Never.

I didn't even try to get on the top level of this boat. I'm pretty sure I was aware that we were a bit closer this time out and I guess I thought that going up top would put me, and my camera, further away.

Trust me here, these are closer. Some minor editing to see if I can make the composition look a bit better and more firsthand here:

In the shot below, look closely at the picture - you can see the baby still has the orange/yellow tint on the white patch:

From this point onward, I start to see that the whales were definitely getting closer to our boat - which I hadn't really noticed at this point in my shooting. Check it out:

I could post every image that I capture leading up to this next one, and it wouldn't bother me, but it might well bore you - so I'll cut ahead a bit and show you the point where there was no denying that these animals were about to come right up to our boat - and this happened within seconds of Captain Jim telling us we would be leaving after the next surfacing!

If you can't really tell that these animals are closer, let me assure you that right about now in my images, is when I realized that these beautiful whales were going to come much closer to our boat. For weeks I'd been telling people about my upcoming vacation, and every time I talked about it, I said I was going specifically in the hopes of seeing these animals in the wild - and photographing them. Every image I've shared here was thrilling to see and capture! However, it's the ones I'm going to follow with now, that did exactly what I told people I wanted to come away from this trip with:  Some really good photographs of Killer Whales in their natural habitat, that I myself took!

Come on now, you can see it now - can't you?

Don't even try to tell me that you can't see it now.

Oh yes indeed here folks, they're coming closer!

Still with me? It's going to get a lot better...

...and better

...and even better

...some more?

In the middle of these three, we have the baby - you can see the orange/yellowish hue to the white patch that these whales have when they're first born. I'm not sure how old they get to be before it goes pure white. Look a bit closer at the whale in the front of this image - past the dorsal fin and saddle patch right behind the fin, look towards the black along the length of the back section in the water - you can see the white underside.

I'll wrap this up here with one more photo - but I have more good photos documenting this incredible experience - I'm happy to share, talk about it...or both!

...and then they all turned and headed away from our boat. We didn't see them surface again for quite some time, and Captain Jim said we were going to stay put until we knew exactly where they were in the water around us. Would I have hoped that they decided to hang out a bit longer right underneath us and stay close? Absolutely, but I had a feeling that I'd gotten at least a few good pictures with them passing so closely. When the did surface again, they were back to being a couple hundred yards away. Captain Jim did say that we were heading back in - but he also said that if he saw more whales, we would indeed stop. We didn't on that day, but I can tell you that the next time I do one of these excursions, I'm doing it with Blackfish Tours. I hope you've enjoyed my musings and photographs here. Peace, good people.

Closer to The Boat, Part 2

Friday morning, August 23rd, 2019. We're heading out in a bit on this cloudy and rainy day. A boat full of 49 people leaving out of Anacortes with Blackfish Tours. One thing I have realized on this trip to Seattle, is that even the most dismal of cloudy days - and at least half of the days started out dismal looking & cloudy/rainy, only to turn into these gorgeous sunny days with perfect temperatues, even the rainy & clouds couldn't lessen the sheer beauty of the Pacific Northwest. It just isn't possible - that beauty is too strong.

I stood on the balcony just outside the tour office after signing a waver that said Blackfish tours could not be held liable or accountable in the unfortunate event that anyone got injured or worse. I knew we'd all return safely, but I also knew that there are much worse ways to perish than out on the waters of the incredibly beautiful Salish Sea. I'm no stranger to being around the Ocean, having grown up half of my childhood in Southern California living close to the beach, and sometime right on the strand. The Salish Sea and the shorelines that surround it are the most beautiful places I have ever seen and I've known this for many years just seeing pictures, now I know it standing here looking out:

The photo here, is from the day before we headed out onto this water. It was sunny that day - but I assure you that this is a beautiful sight even on a colder rainy day. I couldn't escape the thought of what is out in those waters, no matter how many times I looked at shorelines like this one.

It seemed like it took forever for all of the people who were going out on this tour to assemble so that we could leave. I'm a grown man and my anticipation for getting out there goes far beyond what I can describe. What if we didn't see any whales? The guy who captained the 45 foot boat we were going out on, seemed confident at first:

"Well, we haven't been skunked yet - not this year"..."I don't know about the black & whites - but I know we'll see something...a gray whale, Stellar Sea Lions, maybe a Bald Eagle or two..."

As I took in what this guy was saying, I tried to prepare myself for the possiblity of not seeing any of the animals that I hoped to see. No black & whites? Oh man, that would be disappointing. I keep telling myself how amazing it feels to be on this Salish Sea, looking around and knowing what things live out here in these waters - and how beautiful it is looking at the shorelines and out into the great expanse of these waters. Ok, this may just have to do. Just look around you. They're out there, somewhere, and whether or not I get to see them, seeing this is still amazing.

The boat slows down, our Captain tells us that around 11 o'clock off our bow, there's a Gray Whale spouting. Some of us look out and instantly see part of the whale's head, along with the vertical tower of mist of warm air from the whale's lungs forming a tall misty cloud in the air. Then the whale disappears, down into the shallow water to scoop up vast amounts of mud from the bottom of the bay. The mud, we're told by our naturalists on board today, has loads of tiny ghost shrimp. The whale scoops up the mud, filters out the shrimp and gulps 'em down.

Another spout, way off our bow. Some of the people on the boat yell out - much like they would do if they were sitting in an arena at Sea World. Me? I stand there in silence and complete awe - my heart is racing, this is incredible - yet all I'm seeing are little parts, glimpses of an animal that can weigh 30-40 tons and be nearly 50 feet long. Tiny glimpses of this beast's head, back and tail - and then nothing, I wait.

Every second of waiting in anticipation thrills me. This isn't my favorite whale, but it is no less amazing to see out here in these waters, and I want more - like everyone else on this boat. While I can relate to how thrilled the others on board are, I wish for silence - because hearing the quiet of these waters break with the sound of this huge, beautiful creature surfacing to breathe is as much of a treat for the ears, indeed to soul, as seeing what you see in front of you in the picture above. I know, it's not a great photograph - and yet it is. It is because it is a visual record of what I saw yards in front of me on that day. Some more glimpses - see for yourself, and try to imagine the sense of wonder you'd get if you're standing on that boat seeing and hearing this.

I've tried to leave as much of the original photo in here, so that one can get a sense of the expanse of this bay, contained as it was. It still allowed this huge animal to roam about. You see something like this, then you look around in wonder - and you hope you see more.

"Okay, whale sighted, goal reached - that's it folks, we're going home now.", says our captain from up on top. A few people laugh - the guy was personable and likeable. I suppose I cracked a smile, but all I can think of is how much more I want, how grateful I am for what I've just seen - even if this is the end of it. Because I am. 

Not sure if you can see in these photos, but there was a light rain falling here. I don't think it ever stopped while we sat there watching and waiting - and I'm sure it didn't matter to any of us. One more of a quick glimpse of the whale's tail - but believe me, I snapped quite a few shots here with various sizes of what this whale put above the surface.

There are more from this part, but you get a sense of what we were seeing that day. It could have ended here, and if it had, there would still be a boat ride back to the harbor with all the breathtaking scenery and the knowing that they're out there - living in these waters. There is enough vast expanse of ocean here that I could have easily not seen even this. But I did, we all did that day - and I feel better for having seen it - and I'm not going to lie about it, I want more - much more.

I'll post the third, and for now, final installment from that day after I get a few things done around here that I need to address on my return home. If any of this has moved any of you thus far, I assure you that the final installment will do much more.  Peace, good people.

CRO

Closer To The Boat - Part 1

I've had a fascination, no, more like an obsession with Killer Whales since I was around 8 years old. It all started with watching The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau. I've never forgotten seeing those beautiful black & white whales on the television - nor have I forgotten seeing whales and dolphins on a field trip to MarineLand as a first grader in California. From that point on, going to a marine life park was epic to me.

I wanted to be a whale trainer so badly from the time I first saw marine mammals at MarineLand, all the way up to now - although now, having learned quite a bit more about these animals from being completely obsessed/captivated by them, I know that overall it would bother me. I've loved seeing these animals in marine life parks - but I've come to understand just how wrong it is to see these animals being exploited for human amusement. While I can admit there is a certain education factor is good, and maybe these parks allow many of us the opportunity to see animals that we might well never get a chance to see, I've come to believe that we shouldn't see them anywhere but where they belong - which is in their natural habitat.

Mind you I would watch these animals up close in a marine park - and I have done so. The thing is, they don't have to be doing tricks and performing. They could just sit motionless in the water - I'd still stand/sit there captivated, and I could sit there for hours. Years ago, I worked catering functions at Sea World in San Diego. Truth be told, the only reason I went to work at Sea World was because I wanted to be a whale trainer. I thought any way I could get my foot in the door...

In the Fall, some of the functions I worked ran until ten or eleven o'clock at night. I'd cut through the whale stadium on my way to the time clock/employee entrance. In the Fall, they would fly other whales back to San Diego from Ohio and Texas. That late at night, they would allow the whales full run of the stadium as a group. Although I wasn't supposed to do this, I'd stand up on the platform that an audience member would come up to during the show & they would have one of the whales pop up & stick its tongue on the person's cheek.

I'd stick my hand in the water and splash until the whales would swim over to me. I'd scratch their tongues & touch them. Some of them would spit mouthfuls of water at me. I didn't care. I always kept these cut through sessions short - but I could've easily stayed there all night experiencing these magnificent animals. That's as close as I ever got to them - and the more I've learned about them, the more it makes me sad that any animals like these are in places like that. These are animals that stay within the pods they're born in for their entire lives. They are animals that easily cover 100 miles in a single day, and here, no matter how large their enclosures may be, no matter how many times they're put into a larger enclosure...it could never be big enough for how these animals are supposed to live.

They're not supposed to be rounded up, captured and torn away from their family groups, the pods that they stay in their entire lives. Yet they have been, all for human profit, amusement and enjoyment. These are intelligent animals that form tight family bonds. They're not animals that should ever have to ponder a long flight to the West coast, being out of the water they live in for hours at a time, and then being put back into a chlorine heavy salt water tank where they can swim small circles in. Most of them don't live long lives in captivity, most of them live much longer lives in the wild, where they're supposed to be.

Last week, I went on a trip that I've longed to do for many years. Although there were a lot of things to take in and enjoy on this trip, at the top of the list was seeing these animals in their natural environment. There was no real guarantee that I'd be able to do that. Nonetheless, as I stood on the deck of the first boat we went out on in the hopes of seeing these whales, just looking out at the expanse of the Salish Sea and knowing that they're out there, they live in these waters, was an incredible feeling.

Also an incredibly feeling, and one that moved me to tears, was when the naturalist on our boat told us that we had whales at 10 o'clock off the bow. You're not allowed to approach these animals any closer than 200 yards. That's not close enough for my liking, but believe me, it's still quite a thrill looking through my camera and seeing these whales off in the distance, clicking off as many shots as my camera would allow. In this group of transient whales (these whales eat mammals - porpoises, Sea Lions, dolphins) there was a big male and some females and a younger whale.

What I didn't see, was exactly what these animals were eating - I never saw a spout from a porpoise, or an unfortunate seal. We did come up to a group of rocks making a tiny island where Seals and Sea Lions hauled up on, and the whales know this spot. At one point not far off of the bow, there were two Seal Lions in the water and the whales were facing them perhaps 100 yards or so, maybe less. Enough less that the whales could've easily closed the gap and made things very interesting for those of us on the boat. They didn't eat in front of us that day though.

All of my photos from that day out on the water, are distant. You can definitely tell that I was quite a ways off from the animals - but they're still photos I cherish. Burned into my memory is scanning the surface of the water in the hopes of getting another glance at this group of whales. You wouldn't see them for minutes at a time, then their dorsal fins and part of their bodies would appear as they surfaced to breathe within seconds of each other. They're here. This is where they belong. In a sea,  a body of water so expansive that one might not ever see them again - then again, in a body of water that one might very well get a glimpse of them again in. Here. This is where you need to see them.

There were no breaches from any of these animals on that day. I snapped loads of photographs of them off in the distance. I saw these animals out there, on the Salish Sea - and even from 200 yards away, nowhere near close enough for my liking, this was amazing. Had these been the only photographs I'd gotten on this trip, I'd still be grateful for every shutter click. Beyond grateful for every glimpse of the dorsal fins and backs of these animals appearing about the surface of the water off in the distance. I'd return someday, hopefully - after this trip and on another one, one that my main objective of will be the same reason: to see these magnificent animals in their natural environment, and hopefully, to get some good photographs of them in the world the belong in.

Two days later, I'd go out on a different boat and see them again - and just before we would move on, I'd seen them again, hundreds of yards away...yet now, on the Salish Sea in a circle of 4 or 5 other boats on the water that were full of people hoping for the same thing that I longed for, now these whales were turning towards us and heading closer to the boat...see Closer To The Boat, Pt. 2

A Vacation Journal

A Vacation Journal

Vacations - while most people are familiar with them, I’m mostly not. Not at all. They’re completely foreign to me. It’s taken me quite a few years to see the value in them. For starters, I’m pretty much a workaholic. I also am more uptight flying now than I ever was. I flew a lot as a kid, my mom worked for an airline & we flew back home to Ohio from California. I was at LAX quite a bit in those days. I can remember going into work with my mom on a Saturday to watch the 747s arrive & depart - they were new in those days. 

I also remember passing by the planes that took servicemen off to Viet Nam. I remember asking my mom if I was going to have to fly on one of those planes someday.

“I certainly hope not.”, she answered. Turns out I never did. Thank God. Flying never bothered me as a young child, nor did getting stuck in airports having flown on standby.

I wanted to know how fast the plane went to take off, and how fast the plane went when it was in the air. I don’t think I ever found out. Not really sure I want to know now.

Okay, enough nostalgia from my fond memories of flying as a kid. It’s a whole different game now. For starters, there’s 911 and some lesser bullshit that has totally changed the game. Turns out my enough nostalgia jumped the gun a bit. In my childhood flying days - and they flew by (see what I did there?), we’d go up to the gate and wait anxiously for the plane that my grandparents or an aunt or uncle were on.

When it was time for them to go back home, we’d watch the plane from the time it boarded until the thing became a dot in the sky that faded out of sight. Loved ones were on these planes. 911 took that away from us all, and some people will never know that experience. It’s one of my favorite childhood memories. Gone. I gotta say that even as an adult, I miss that. Yeah, I’d still do it if I could. Anyone with me?

I suppose that’s fine in keeping all of us safe. What isn’t helping to keep anyone safe, is that f-you attitudes that airlines have pretty much taken with their customers nowadays. Flight canceled, delayed or routed somewhere else? So? What are you gonna do - take a train? Drive? Whatever. What’s that? Now you’re not getting into your destination on time, nor are you flying to your first connection. Add five hours to you arrival time. Plans? So?

That’s how my vacation, the first one I’ve had in more years than I want to mention, started this morning. Found out that our first connection canceled. From there it only got worse. Supposed to leave at 12:30 PM, it got a little better when they told us we would leave an hour earlier, but that ended up being untrue. Doesn’t matter anyway, because instead of flying into Chicago for our connection flight, and then on to Seattle, now we’re flying into Dallas. The Hell I wanna go to Dallas for? Because it’s now where they tell me I have to go to connect and get to Seattle. Really? You couldn’t find a state a little bit closer up the waistline?

Presently it’s not looking like we’re getting to Seattle today - unless we get lucky & get on a standby. Our bags may get there long before us. Speaking of bags, I’m not gonna lie: I’m in no way adept at packing - for anything, much less a vacation. Mind you I’m trying to be in the moment and grab all the enjoyment I can from these few days, but right now our plans have been radically altered. I’m on a plane full of people with changed plans today folks. None of us are happy about it, at least I wouldn’t think so. Oh hey, howdy - lucky me going to Dallas today instead of the airport that has my name. There ain’t nothin’ in Texas got my name, I’ll tell you what...y’all.

Is it a good day to fly? Well, yes and no. Yes because at least now we’re flying, no because the lot of us ain’t flying where we thought we were. 

There’s no good way to transition into my dislike of heights that makes me less thrilled with flying as an adult. As a kid, flying thrilled the B Jesus outta me. Every time. I’ve no idea where that went. Perhaps it went out the window when I was flying a lot back and fourth to Houston on account of a woman I’d stumbled into a long distance relationship with. I spent a lot of time in airports, and post 911, much of that time was a lot less favorable on the memories that I want to hang onto scale. Lots of things went out the window in Texas, made me sing Robert Plant’s line from Hot Dog....(...and I’ll never go to Texas anymore) - shoo-whee-howdy-shucks, I’m goin’ to Texas. 

Add all of this up so far and we’ve gotta have a pretty good explanation of why there are bars in airports and why people drink in them. I’m now en route to Texas. It’s 12:32 PM and I ain’t had no drink yet. I suspect that when I land at DFW, I’m gonna want more than a drink. I believe I’ll want a drank - thanks, turbulence! And thanks for not working, italics button on my iPad. Fucking, yay....y’all. Oh and I’m gonna wanna eat to - but I don’t have a hankerin’ for BBQ. I suspect when I land in Dallas, I’ll be hungry enough to eat a stack of bar napkins if they have the right cheese & sauce on them. If there’s one thing I most definitely do not have fond memories of, it’s airport food. It’s usually the worst of the worst service too. Hot damn, y’all. I’m GIT me some room temperature barbecue. Looking like another hour plus in the air. I vaguely remember being excited as a kid when my airplane food arrived. Seem to recall that usually being a disappointment. Soda. Soda was not a disappointment - I don’t drink soda anymore.

Airplane entertainment is much better these days - or it would be if I were a big movie/tv person. I’m not really, and the appeal is even less when I get forced into it. Speaking of force, that turbulence is quite a force this afternoon. I’m trying to write, read a bit - I’d just as soon not have my words all bounced around. I don’t want the American Airlines app for in flight WiFi - well I didn’t think I did. But like a kid whose little brother or sister wants to play with one of my toys that I haven’t touched in weeks, now I do. Can’t get it now, you have to download it before you take off. Where is that waitress in the sky? Can I get a turbulence Martini? Don’t worry, the shake is taken care of.

I bet you didn’t know I’d have a bowl of cry baby soup on the plane, did you? Yup, me neither. I didn’t sleep last night, figured I’d sleep on the way. The captain just came on said we’d have “just a few more minutes of this not so smooth ride” - minutes can be a long time. It’s a long time in a wrestling match - high school or college, not WWF bullshit steroid/fake blood/chair smashing wrestling, and certainly not bear wrestling. Trust me, two minutes is a long time sometimes. I don’t remember ever being bothered by that as a kid. Different story now. How’s that when I was afraid of quite a bit more back then. Maybe I’m just afraid of different things these days - heights, and more specifically, dropping from them being but one.

We’re off to a good...well, we’re off to a start. Could be worse - I could still be standing at the check in counter and being told something like, yeah...you’re not flying into Chicago, and now Dallas is a wash (y’all), now we’re routing you to Hawaii - oh wait, that’s nowhere near as good as it sounds (again, thanks for not complying w/my over thinker/writer’s wishes here, iPad iTalics) - most people would love to go to Hawaii, but for a lot longer than the 20 minutes we’ll have you there. Oh you’re gonna be hungry, probably need a pit stop too, but save your aloha - ain’t none of you got time for that. Why? Because we’re gonna route you from Hawaii back towards one of the Dakotas and get you to Seattle from there. Makes sense to you? Yeah, not to us either - no, we don’t have to explain it to you - why?? We don’t care - we’re an airline, and we don’t have to.

I’ll update when I know just how many states I’ll touch today.