Whale Watching

Shari Bookstaff
Jul 25, 2010
2 min read

The boat capsized and we were all tossed into the ocean. Able-bodied people were, of course, able to don life-preservers, but I was unable to put one on myself. So, there I was-unable to swim, unable to tread water-nearly going under the cold, green water when a huge mass of muscle came from below and pushed me to the surface. I had always imagined that riding on the back of a whale would require balance, but the blue whale is so massive that it was more like sitting on a huge rubber mat.

Blue Whale, Monterey Bay July 20, 2010. Photo by Abby Snitovsky

Then I woke up.

That was a dream I had the night before going whale watching for the first time since my surgery.

Monterey Bay is my favorite place for whale watching. A deep canyon lies just offshore so within minutes of leaving the dock we were in “large whale territory.” During the summer months, humpback whales and blue whales feed in Monterey Bay.

As the boat motored out of the harbor, we saw sea otters and sea lions. I stood and held on tightly. A crew member offered to find me a seat, but I didn’t want to displace anyone. I knew that people would get up as soon as we started seeing whales. For some reason I didn’t remember that by that point, the boat would be rocking and it would be more difficult to walk around. I had to move from where I was standing, and, even with Abby’s help, I ended up falling. Then, of course, I got a seat! As Abby, Andy, and the First Mate were helping me up, I whispered to Abby, “I knew I’d get a seat if I fell!” She thought it was a scam, but it really wasn’t.

We ended up having great sightings of humpback whales and blue whales. The photos shown in this blog were taken by Abby.