Whale Watching... finally!

So I went whale watching on President's Day, and I just now getting around to blogging about it! I still don't have all the pictures that I wanted to share, but this will do for now. I don't want to write a novel about it, but I'll share pictures from Wolfgang and I. Long story short, it was AMAZING! I've always had wanted to go whale watching, and I'm pretty sure my childhood obsession of "Free Willy" sparked that. Since then I have loved killer whales and dolphins, and marine life in general. Several years back I got the chance to play with dolphins at SeaWorld (yes Jess, don't forget, I AM the favorite) and I absolutely loved it. Anyway, this whale watching trip rekindled my love for the magnificent creatures. It's a shame that chemistry ruins my life and I'm still not studying marine biology, but ANYWAY....

Wolfgang and I went with our friends Ben and Jessica, and I was grateful for Jessica for finding a great and legit company. It started out in Haleiwa, which is north of us about 30 (?) minutes away. Jessica even made a "whale watching" cd mix which was fun, but the boys didn't seem to appreciate it as much as we did. :)

the catamaran we were on

Being on the catamaran made me feel so at ease and a little bit nostalgic for back home, of all fun memories on the lake with family and friends, and summer lake jobs, and the feeling that it could never be better than that. Honestly, I could of stayed on that boat all day long and be completely content, as it lulled me to sleep. But moving on...

This was el capitan

This was the front of the boat, it was great! Just a measly little net between you and the ocean. It was fun when some of the bigger waves would come, because we would get so close to the water that it seemed like the nose of the boat was going to go underwater!

We couldn't believe how incredibly blue the ocean was! Ok, so that may sound stupid, but I hope you get what I mean; it was gorgeous.

Then, the moment we had all been waiting for... after seeing several humpback whale "blows" in the distance, they finally came close! Ok, so the definition of "close" is all relative. They didn't come right up next to us by any means, but they were in clear sight, and I'm sorry but I'm bad with measurments, so I'm not going to even try, but here are some pictures. Some of these don't do them justice, because cameras can never fully convey what you witness.

And now for other pictures...

After a big splash :)

Jessica being as cute as a button :)


Ben steering the boat


Ben hangin' loose in the sail

I can't say enough, the trip was great! It was truly a humbling and awe inspiring experience. On our way home from the trip, we stopped by "turtle beach" and shark's cove, which is currently definitely not ideal for snorkeling right now.



So there's the trip! Sorry it took so long to write about. There are a few more pictures that I want to share, so when I get them I'll be sure to post them. One last thing, here is the great video that Ben made for the whale watching experience. He definitely has a great talent for film-making. Please disregard that I look "special" in the part in the movie that I laugh a lot...



A Whale of a Time... from Ben Boyle on Vimeo.