Blue Whales in Redondo Beach

[mo2vation]

They have this amazing awareness. Its pretty remarkable - or it seems that way to me as a diver.

The guy with the munched fin that came up, literally, right under me. As you can imagine, he drew quite a crowd. SUP's, Kayakers, a skiff, a sailboat, etc.

He was on the inside - so he was a "little one" (think 40 - 50 feet and not the 80+ foot monstah Claudette was next to) - this guy sunk down after logging a bit, then came back up, horizontal like a submarine, right in the middle of this crowd.

Didn't hit us, didn't splash us, didn't make a wave or even a wake - he very slowly came up, breathed a few times, and then fluked us off and disappeared.

The control, the awareness, the sheer mass these guys move around in the water is shocking. As water people, we kinda get it more than the average dry person.

I know I'll never forget it.

-Ken


PS: I thought I was done. Sorry

[rant on] Here's the thing. Life is about showing up. These guys were off of Redondo Beach, and in the vicinity for nearly two weeks. I got very lucky. I had that Friday off, and was heading up to the Mountains with my church for a thang. I stole away that morning and had an unforgettable paddle.

For the two weekends they were here, I never got out. I suck.

The thing is this: I got out. They were there, and I got out. I brought a nice camera and lens onto a strip of plastic, paddled a couple of miles off shore and got this.

The key is to recognize the extraordinary. In my lifetime we've never had blues this close. The grays, sure. But not these monstahs.

I am thrilled beyond words I was there. I didn't find the time, I MADE the time.

You gotta get in the game. This is why I love BWE. For all the cyber fishers out there, there is a very large number of real fishers out there, recognizing the extraordinary (like the WSB run this year... my gosh) and MAKING the time (not finding the time) to go fishing.

I love this place. [/rant]


-K