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| Walkway along the marina where the tour began I LOVE palm trees! |
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| Hooray, we’re here! |
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| Sharon! Don’t do it! LOL |
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| Marina |
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| Our welcoming committee posing for pix! |
As many wonderful things as I have experienced to date while
in San Diego, this was the most spectacular display of nature’s glory and
perhaps the most memorable! I am
referring to the whale watching tour we went on. Soon after we cleared the channel, we spotted
a few gray whales. There were quite a
few “air sprays” signifying a whale’s location, but only twice did the actual
long gray body surface enough to see it.
I did catch a tail splash a couple of times and that was really
cool!
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| There’s a whale out there! |
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| And…there it is!!! |
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| Tail sighting…LOL |
As we proceeded to deeper waters,
I was thinking to myself that even if I didn’t see anything else over the
course of the scheduled 3 hour tour that I’d be quite content! Being out on a boat in the gorgeous Pacific
Ocean late morning on a perfect day with the sun glistening on the water was
already enough of a magical experience!
Little did any of us know what was to come!
Our guide was delightful.
She had a degree in marine biology and it was apparent that not only was
she knowledgeable, but she thoroughly enjoyed her chosen profession! She educated us on the various types of
whales and the gray whales’ winter migration patterns and began to share
details of the common dolphin in the area.
Some dolphins were spotted and everyone headed for the railings to catch
a glimpse. We could see them in the distance and as the captain maneuvered the
ship, we could see them better. There
must have been 10 or more. It was
great!
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| Dolphins! |
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| “It is getting chilly!” |
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| “Oh girl…where’s that Italian blood?!” |
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| They were having so much fun playing near our boat! |
Within moments, our tour guide
excitedly announced that there was a pod…a mega pod…of dolphins up ahead! The rule of thumb is that for every dolphin
you see there are MANY more below the surface and we could see hundreds!!!
ship! Jumping, playing, swimming…IT WAS
SURREAL!!!!!! I almost felt that I was
with them being childlike and carefree!
The captain again maneuvered the ship as we got even closer to join them
in their dance in the vast waters of the Pacific! They were having a blast! The sun was bright and shone on their wet backs
creating a glassy appearance. This
amazing frolic lasted 20 or more minutes…then they all seemed to line up
directly in front of the ship and SPEED ahead!
We were told that either something was chasing them or someone rang the
dinner bell and there was a major feast up ahead!!! (difficult to photograph as they were in the distance and moving at warp speed!)
of this close encounter with one of nature’s most delightful mammals! It rekindled a part of me that relishes in a pure
state of wonder! I am so grateful!