Livin' & Lovin' Life: Whale Watching

(January 2012)

The Virginia Aquarium and Science Museum gives boat tours off VA Beach. In the spring/summer they have dolphin tours, and in winter they have whale tours. Well, I have seen plenty of dolphins, but what I have longed to see is a whale. So every winter since living here (except Logan's first year), I have paid the $30 to go whale watching. And every year its the same thing: nothing. Just a peaceful 2 hour boat ride, some birds, and leaving with some disappointment. This year, however, due to the mild winter, the whale activity off the coast had been plentiful. So I of course had to go out, especially with my new lens my dad got me for Christmas. One Saturday we headed down to VA Beach to the boats, with high hopes of seeing some whales.

The boats go out 3 times on the weekends. We were on the second trip of the day. It was a beautiful Saturday, clear and sunny, cold, but not freezing. We set out and they were taking us to the spot where they had sightings earlier that day, and over the last few days. I couldn't help but get excited, as I became more hopeful I would finally see some whales. Now, I knew this was not going to be the amazing whale show you see with the humpbacks in the Pacific NW (water is too shallow here), but I didn't care. Logan was excited to be on a boat, and to go on a boat ride. He enjoyed seeing all the other boats and ships. I told him we were looking for whales, and I think he got a little excited too.

I was all over the boat, scoping out best place to take pictures. I was worried that I would be on the wrong side when the whales surfaced, or not have a clear shot with the camera. We hadn't been out too long when the first whale made its appearance. It took me a minute to spot it, but when I did was giddy with excitement. Joel laughed at me. For the next 2 hours, the boat went in circles, keeping its distance (there is a federal law about how far you must stay and killing your engine), as the whales surfaced around us. Most of what we saw were backs and dorsal fins, but there were a couple (or maybe the same one) that gave some good fluke views and tale slaps; like it was playing. One did come up mouth open, but I only caught the end of that with my camera. Most were humpbacks. I think one that we saw was a fin whale, and there was one that they were unsure of, but later identified as a minke whale.

I was having the greatest time. I would move around the boat to take pictures as needed. Logan was excited seeing the whales, but got bored with it and eventually fell asleep. I could have stayed out there all day! I wanted to go out again so badly, but never made it back out. And morning sickness? Those 2 1/2 hours on the boat were the best I had felt since the sickness hit! I know, shocking, right? I don't know what it was, but I never felt queasy- I felt good! I wanted to stay on the boat for the next couple months.