I'M BACK! and I saw the whales...

Okay, so anyone who says nature sucks, or that nature is boring or nature is like whatever man, they need to be taken out back and shot. Twice.

Friday we spent most of the time travelling, missed the 3 o'clock ferry, got into Ucelulet at around 10 o'clock, relaxed and discussed the surfing for the next day.

Saturday morning we get up. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, the surf is lapping. The Caralans is flowing. Our cabin (more like little house...) had a deck that spanned the entire front, and looked out over towards this tiny little cove. Went for a walk, found cool rocks and seaglass, discussed whether we should go surfing now or later. Our resident surf dude, he found out the swells were only 2 - 3 feet high, so um... not really a great day for the surfing. WHAT DO WE DO?

We decided to go on a zodiac and watch grey whales. For 3.5 hours we saw the most amazing scenery ever. We lucked out and got on a boat that was being used as a research vessel. So of course we got to stay out way longer (we paid for a 2 hour ride...), because the researchers needed to get as much time in as they could.

Now, grey whales, they are big. 45 feet long on average, and 35 tonnes. I saw the tail come up out of the water when one of them dived. It was massive. Lots of plumes of steam from the blow holes as they decended far down into the water. Lots of fins as they lied on their side and ate herring row in 6m deep water... yeah, 6 meters...

But the clincher for the whole day, the whole event, my entire life... was this moment:

As we stood at the side of the zodiac, watching the magnificent sight of a whale rising out of the water to take in breath, swimming in our general direction, we fell silent. The whale rose again, closer, directly in line with our boat. As the beast rose for its 3rd time, 6 feet away from the boat, the researhers, the skipper and all of us grew excited. The whale was due to swim right under and along side the boat. As we peered into the murky depths of the ocean, a dark and light mottled mass came into focus. The majestic beast swam slowly past the left side of the boat, inches away, and few feet below the surface. It swam in silent contemplation, its massive body gliding through the water. We watched as the body slipped by, the span of the fins were as wide as the vessel we were on. The body continued to slip by. Then what felt like an eternity, the tail finally swam by, a tail that had to be large enough to propel a 35 tonne body. This is magic at its best.

What makes this even more amazing is the realization that the event that just took place wasn't manufactured for our amusement. That whale probably had some idea that there was a boat or an object in the water above it, but it had no obligations to swim by, save curiosity. This gift that we were given was based on opportunity and luck or whatever you want to call it. But not manufactured, or forced. No expectation. Just pure simplicity of a happening in time.

I believe it now when a person says that seeing a whale up close like that can change your life.