One of the beauties of living in Southern California is the access to the ocean. My husband and I often discuss how close we live to it but that we don't feel like we're taking full advantage. We both vowed that this year we were going to up our beach activities especially during the week.
So you can imagine my excitement when a friend asked if I'd like to go Whale Watching one night after work! Umm, YES!
The last time I went whale watching was in the 6th grade when we went for a field trip and I was so sea sick the entire time, I couldn't tell you weather we saw whales or not because I spent most of the time... umm, "chumming fish" as my uncle calls it! The only thing I remember was that it was in the dead of winter because they said that is when you're going to see whales. Having that in the back of my mind, I was a bit confused about how we would be seeing whales during the end of Summer?
For our adventure we went out of Dana Point which was only about 30 minutes north of Carlsbad (North San Diego) -- my stomping ground. We went through Dana Wharf Company.
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We set out on our boat excited to see some whales. From what I understand, there are different seasons for different whales. During this time, we went out to see Blue Whales *** WHO KNEW***
I was not going to miss this adventure this time, so I did take a sea sick pill before taking off! THANK GOODNESS!
On the way out we saw some seal lions. Did you know that one of the differences between Sea Lions and Seals is that Sea Lions have ears??? AGAIN... who knew?
Well I'm happy to report that we not only saw sea lions and dolphins this trip, but we saw 3 BLUE WHALES!!! WOOOH! *** Another tidbit of knowledge... Did you know that Whales and dolphins come from the same family? Dolphins are below 15 feet and whales are greater than 15 feet! SERIOUSLY... WHO KNEW???
It was amazing because we really didn't know where they would be and then all of a sudden you'd see their mist out of the water. They way they swim is that they come to the surface in a cyclical pattern. Up and midst, (you see their backs), Up and midst (you see their backs) and then this would continue for different patterns, but for the one we named Hook, on his 5th up and midst, he would throw up his fluke and go down for a deep dive.
It was a great evening and just beautiful with the sun setting. If you live in Southern California, or find yourself here on your travels, I highly recommend checking into Whale Watching. The guys from Dana Wharf Company were awesome!