I have a whale watching reservation for this weekend.  Why do we go out on a boat to try to see whales, or dolphins.. seals.. Maybe even a shark?!? What can I say… we are fascinated with ocean mammals..  I told my husband I may be the only one on shark watch. That would be awesome.

What's funny is when I looked up whale watching history I found it has been an organized event at a public venue since the 1950s. I am sure people have always watched whales way before that, but I think this is when it started being recorded as a “tourist attraction” so to speak. 

I know in California from about November to about April/May there are gray whales migrating. When the boats go out for whale watching excursions they will also see humpback whales, orcas, dolphins, seals and who knows what else.  Pelicans are common on the water also. 

The trip is fully booked.  Almost 70 people on an 85 foot boat.  Hopefully it doesn't seem too crowded. The trip is narrated and the crew is said to have knowledge of the surrounding areas.  “True naturalists and experts in identifying wildlife”  I am in no way trying to discredit them, I am just wondering how good they really are.  We will see…

One of my co-workers asked me if I was excited about going and I told her “Duh”  I told her if I randomly didn’t show up for work on Monday then I saw a shark and jumped in to play with it.  I think that horrified her.  She immediately told me not to do that. For the record, shark diving is at the top of my bucket list so given the opportunity I would absolutely get in the water with sharks. 

I think when you say stuff like that people automatically go to “Jaws.” Now according to Siri there are more than 440 species of known sharks and only a handful you hear about in shark attacks.  

OK tangent…. Whales can be dangerous also… While they don’t normally attack humans or boats, some (Orcas especially) have teeth and absolutely can bite. Orcas being the apex predator in the ocean are the only mammals in the ocean that will attack big sharks.  Humans are the other, but we don’t live in the ocean. And if a humpback whale randomly tail slapped a boat that would not be pleasant. 

And tangent again.. Anywho being inspired by this I am going to crochet a whale now or maybe a shark, and will have an updated post with pictures after this weekend. Be safe out there…