{whale} watching

a couple weekends ago we went whale watching off long beach harbor. it was mostly a watching trip–since there were very few whales involved. we saw a few spouts from their blowholes–but that was about it. besides the disappointment of not seeing much in the way of whales, we had a great time!

we left the harbor with big big hopes–our friends had gone the weekend before us and saw 18 blue whales! sadly, this was not the case with our boat trip.

the kids had hot dogs, soda, and matthias had some kind of blue ring pop–so they were very happy. i had a hot chocolate that made me very content. actually, i had two hot chocolates. yum.

we saw lots of sea lions, dolphins and birds. the dolphins were definitely the highlight–jumping in and out of our waves.

next time maybe we’ll just call it a boat ride and not get our hopes set on seeing any whales.

i hope to see a whale leap out of the water before i die. although if i saw a whale breach this close to our boat i think i might have a heart attack. is there anything you really want to see or do before you die?

25 comments

  1. I loved the pictures of your boat ride to see the whales! Looks like you had a fun day. I have been following your blog for a while. I love your jewelry! One day I was on your blog and I saw my cousin Ethan and his family….”I know that face!” it was a picture of Ethan and his wife kissing their son. How cool! I have enjoyed reading your blog over the years and didn’t know you are friends with my cousin Ethan and Darcie too…so so cool! I do not live anywhere near the ocean but maybe someday I can go whale watching. Thanks for sharing!

  2. Never mind…. Found it in the archives. So beautiful. Will be pacing my order soon for that and the Africa necklace. <3

  3. I live in NorCal and have stopped many times while driving on Hwy 1 to watch whales. I’ve seen the most around Petaluma….mamas and their babies…. It’s SO amazing
    I want to see Greece and the islands. I also am a photographer and would love the take photos there. Have started pondering contemplative photography as a practice. But I love your blog, your jewelry, your photos and your stories about your beautiful family. You capture the love so wonderfully in your photos and your jewelry which I have many pieces….I can’t pick a fave- i have a few custom pieces but I sure love my Mama necklace… Hand holder…. That one- oh so beautiful and meaningful 🙂
    Do you have any photos of your twig necklace on? I would love to see how it looks on 🙂 thanks so much for continuing to make such meaningful wearable art. It brings me so much joy 🙂

  4. On a ferry ride to Seattle one day, the ferry master announced there was a whale breaching off the left side of the ship – of course we all made a mad dash to see it. It was such a gorgeous sight, and I think even better because it was totally unexpected!!

  5. We live on the south west coast of Western Australia and a few months ago my 7 year old daughter and her friend swam within a few metres of a mother whale and her baby. It was totally unintentional as the girls were in the water first and the whales were a LOT further down the beach and quite a way out (we get a lot of whales and their calfs around our way). Despite the noise and splashing that the girls were making, the mother whale brought her baby right in close to the kids and stayed there for over an hour. The girls were a bit frightened at first and got out when she got first came in but then they realised that she was no threat and they continued their happy shrieking, splashing and laughter. I got quite emotional as it was a breath-taking experience and something I just could really believe. As you can imagine I took literally 100’s of photos (would love to email you some) I think the whales just wanted to be near the joy & happiness the girls were radiating. Magical

  6. Come and visit Cape Town in South Africa in October. 🙂 The weather is wonderful and you can literally see whales “around every corner” as you drive along the coast. If you are lucky you might even see one give birth.

    We would love to have you here.

  7. I’ve been on several whale watches in Gloucester, MA on visits home, and the most memorable one was when my son who was only 11 or 12 at the time and his friend, Jilly, who was only a year older stood at the bow of the boat perfectly creating “I’m the king of the world!” titanic moment. I snapped, snapped, snapped away and with my trusty camera. This went on until a whale swam up right beside the boat (It was as BIG as the boat.) and all I could think about was my precious child and “daughter for a day” going overboard if the whale bumped the boat. Of course this didn’t happen, but my heart still beats way to fast when I think about it.

    As awesome as a whale watch is, a moose watch is just as cool. I’d love to do both again, over and over…

  8. Oh whales make my heart skip a beat! For our 10 year wedding anniversary my husband and I took a trip to Monterey….We had seen whales on previous whale watches but our friends had never been. I prayed the entire way out to sea that God would show us something amazing. And it was unbelievable! For 20 minutes a female whale checked us out under our boat as much as we were watching her. I could have reached down and touched her…..and my friend ended up covered in whale snot….her own personal badge of victory. You can check out pics from our experience here…
    http://ourstoryasitistoday.blogspot.com/2009/07/last-year.html
    I’d love to see one breach!

  9. Beautiful pictures Lisa! God has given you such a gift, many gifts! I would love, love to make a trip to CA (San Fran, SLO, wine valley) I’m a land-locked, fields girl. I would also love to go to Greece. Oh my, would it be amazing.

    Hugs, Cole
    P.S. I wore my “Hope” necklace today & thankful for the journey of “Hope” God has taken me on this year! Thank You for your kindness.

  10. Lisa – I’ve actually never commented, but I’ve followed along for quite awhile!

    If you would like your whale dream to come true, visit Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula in the summertime. You will *almost* always see whales on boat cruises out of Seward, AK. I’ve gone 3 times (I live in AK) and every time I have watched a whale jump.

    But it’s cold!

  11. My husband and I were in Newfoundland for three years, and one afternoon got to watch some humpback whales playing out in the bay. One was jumping out of the water over and over. It was just amazing.

  12. Oh I love whales and dolphins too! I have seen lots of whales on different “excursions” and I am always so moved by their majesty!!! I have ALWAYS wanted to swim with the dolphins! I have said that for at least 25 years … now I am worried that the older I get, the more afraid I am getting to do that! Better hurry, huh?!?!?!

  13. Before I die want to do something great – the definition of great, however, is debatable. I also want others to see what I did as great. Again, debatable…RIP Steve Jobs.

  14. aw…we almost took a whale watching trip off Dana Pointe on our summer vacation but decided to wait one more year when we could budget it! in hawaii we saw tons of whales and one literally swam right under our boat. it was amazing…only to find out it was terrifying for our captain after it happened. he said that if it would have breached we all would have been in serious trouble!

    before i die…or more importantly before my children leave our home….i wish to take our family to a third world country to do some missionary work.

    love your picutres and that blue tongue!

  15. I signed up for an all day sea kayaking trip in the San Juan Islands in Washington for the sole purpose of fulfilling my dream of seeing orcas. In the summer, the islands are in a drought – except, of course, the day of my trip. The weather was so nasty that we couldn’t paddle through the straight where the orcas travel. So, I didn’t get to see my whales BUT I still had a great time and got to see some other ocean creatures like seals and jellyfish. Now I have an excuse to go again!

  16. i clicked on the link that said {saw a whale breach this close to our boat} and i laughed outloud. heart attack, indeed. or at least a nice fainting spell where shortly thereafter your prince charming would come wake you.

  17. My boyfriend and I did the whale watching tour out of long beach last month as well. I’d always seen the sign for it during my jogs around rainbow harbor and figured the chances or seeing whales was slim. Then my mom called and said she’d seen a news report that there were a high number of blue whales off the coast currently. So we decided to give it a try and ended up seeing a blue and it’s yougin’ multiple times as well as some spouting in the distance. I didn’t realize until reading your post that we must have gotten really lucky!
    I’ve heard that there is good whale watching out of Ventura around the Channel Islands. I believe during the first part of the year… maybe take a “boat ride” out there and hope for whales? Plus, I’m pretty sure those are the type that do more the out of water showing off! 🙂

  18. My husband and I just had this same experience at Newport Beach! We saw dolphins and sea lions, but no whales. And I would have enjoyed the time so much more if it hadn’t been called a “whale watching” tour…. Oh well. Hopefully we’ll get the opportunity again!

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