This morning I got to witness a once-in-a-lifetime event; Two humpback whales passed within a few hundred yards of my house!
The wayward whales, Delta and her calf Dawn, finally made it underneath the Al Zampa ( Carquinez) Bridge , hopefully on their way to the pacific ocean.
I had basically camped out on my front deck the entire weekend hoping to catch a glimpse of the whales,but no luck. Then this morning when I awoke, I heard the news on the radio….The Whales had passed underneath the Benecia bridge and were on the move again in the right direction, heading towards the Carquinez Bridge ( my bridge)!!!
Well, I have to tell you…I ran ( not walked) to the bridge , which is only a few blocks away. I , along with a few other locals, watched and waited about 90 minutes when all of a sudden, Delta& Dawn made their appearance .First a large plume of spray from Mom, then a tiny one from the baby….It was awesome! There was a flotilla of Coast Guard and other vessels surrounding the whales, and it almost seemed like the two humpbacks were playing a game with them.
Just as they approach the bridge though, they made a U-turn and headed back about a mile in the opposite way. I thought to myself…” Oh No…not again!” These whales do not like bridges.
Just as I was about to call it quits, they turned around and made a B-line towards,and under the bridge….They made it., and they were hauling ass!
What a rush it was , to see Mother and Daughter racing through the water. I was so overwhelmed with emotion , I could feel my eyes welling up.
Gosh…I hope they make it back to the ocean real soon.
Anyways, Here’s a brief clip of what I captured from the bridge and my front yard.
Sorry, the whales look so tiny, but I didn’t have a zoomlens setting and it was hard to guess where the whales might surface.
From now on, when I cross the bridge on my daily walks, I will think of these magnificent creatures and how they touched so many humans.
Related Posts:
