Kayakers, I heard reports of boats sighting blue whales again this year off Dana Point in Southern California. However, in my mind, these reports are not official until verified by kayak. So I went out today to make the reports official. As I left Dana Point Harbor and headed offshore at about noon, the weather was perfect for sighting whales. The sky was clear, the water was smooth, and there was no wind. To make the paddle out more interesting, I trolled a feather jig on a hand line in hopes of catching some fish. But I wondered if trolling for fish was bad karma for whale watching. Never mind any of the that bad karma stuff. Just a little under 30 minutes out from the harbor (about 2.5 miles offshore), I saw my first spouts, saw the body a few times, and even saw the fluke. I pulled the feather in and zeroed in on the last location I saw the blue whale. Over those first 30 minutes, I had a total of four sets of blue whale sightings. I think they were different whales, because of the frequency, and they were a bit spread out. None of the sightings were close enough for a good photo. Thinking I was in the middle of the blue whale honey pot, I sat still, listening and looking for spouts, and double checking that my camera was ready. But nothing for over an hour! It seemed strange to be in the middle of where I saw them and then for them to be gone. But, hey, I can't complain about 4 sets of sightings within one hour of my first time out looking for them this year. On a side note, I was offshore when I heard the double sonic boom of the space shuttle landing at Edwards Air force Base. It wasn't as loud as I hoped it to be. I did have one set of blue whale sightings after the sonic boom, so I don't think I can blame it on the whales not popping up during the second hour. Paddling back to the harbor, I trolled again, but no fish. Duane "Ambergris" Strosaker *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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