Call Me Ishmael

"Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul... then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can." - Herman Melville, Moby Dick

On Tuesday we went out on the Spirit of the Gold Coast whale watching boat. It was a gorgeous day and we were hopeful that we would see at least one whale to make the trip worth it. (They can't guarantee a sighting) We boarded the boat in Southport, on the "Spit" near Sea World, about 20 minutes away. We had to be there at 8:45 am, so there was some juggling necessary to get Austin to school, babysitting for Ashley (Mum) and Olivia (Chelsea), and to get Jared to work.



We left the Marina, passing enormous yachts, the Versace hotel, Sea World, and a plethora of boats anchored in the harbor. It was basically Lori and I with about 20 Japanese tourists. (Okay, the crew was caucasian). We practically had to ask for English translation so much was in Japanese, but luckily it doesn't really matter when it comes to whales. Once we were about 2 miles out from the coast, they slowed the boat down and we sort of drifted looking around for whales. For the first little while it seemed like we might not see anything. Then there was the first sighting. It was SO exciting! I couldn't believe that we were really seeing a whale, up close. It was the blow that someone spotted in the distance, so we drove a little closer. The law says we can't "drive" any closer than 100 meters to the whales, but if they come closer to us we don't have to move. So luckily once we drove near the whales, they came closer and we got some really amazing views of these beastly things. They are enormous!




We were out for about 3 hours and we saw many whales. I didn't count but I would guess about 10-15. We would see two at a time usually, but sometimes up to 4 in one "pod". I heard one of the crew say that he had seen three whales together ONCE but never four, so I assume this was a rare opportunity that we were blessed with that day.



There were two pods that sort of "met" in front of us and we were really hoping to see a good show. They said that sometimes the males will do territorial type of things like breeching and really showing off, but we only saw one whale actually come up out of the water. It was fabulous. I almost missed it b/c there were other whales on the opposite side of the boat that I was taking pictures of RIGHT when the other whale decided to breech at the front of the boat. So I didn't get a photo but I put a stock photo on here so you can see what it looks like. Absolutely spectacular.



We took a million photos, of course. My eyes seriously HURT from staring at the water for 3 hours and from looking through my camera for so long. You know how you have to do that squint thing with one eye to look through the viewfinder? I had my good 70-300mm telefoto lens on so that I could see the ones in the distance but man, it can really strain your eyes after a while. It was funny that a few of the whales came so CLOSE to the boat that I almost wished I had my normal lens on b/c they didn't fit into the frame, even with the zoom all the way back.



It was a wonderful experience that I am sure I will never forget. Totally worth it. Thanks Mum and Chelsea for babysitting so we could go. I almost wish we didn't go to Sydney the next day b/c it sort of distracted us from truly enjoying it and soaking in the afterglow, but that's ok. Next post is Sydney report.