Doubly Unexpected

Today was my best whale-watching day so far! But it was completely unexpected.

On the one hand, the gray whale migration is a remarkably orderly affair. Each season has 4 distinct phases. Phase 1: all the whales swim south to Mexico. Phase 2: a lull in the migration while the whales are busy creating (breeding) and producing (giving birth to) new whales in the Mexican lagoons. Phase 3: the males and juveniles swim back north to Alaska. Phase 4: the females and newborn calves swim back north to Alaska. The females stay in Mexico longer to allow the calves to grow bigger and strong enough for the long journey home. If you follow the gray whale sightings reported by the American Cetacean Society (ACS) each day, it is striking to see that nearly 100% of the whales follow the rules. (Of course, there is the occasional whale who swims in the "wrong" direction, but this is extremely rare.)

On the other hand, on a daily basis you never know what you're going to see. On 2 of my last 3 trips to Palos Verdes, I saw no whales at all, partly due to uncooperative weather conditions and partly due to the fact that the whales were just beginning Phase 3. As I tracked the ACS web site the next week, I noticed the numbers increasing to nearly 20 whales a day - a sure sign that Phase 3 was now in full swing. And then I couldn't believe my eyes one day when the web site reported that 45 whales had been seen that day! Yes, forty-five whales in one day!!! With visions of cetaceans dancing in my head, I excitedly drove down to Palos Verdes the next morning with high hopes of seeing a lot of whales. But alas, I saw just a few whales that day, and even those weren't good sightings. Mostly I just saw small blows from a few low-profile whales (i.e., their backs barely broke the water line), and some were quite far away. Very disappointing.

Today, I almost didn't go whale-watching because the weather was hazy and ACS was reporting that the whale traffic had slowed considerably during the past week to just 5-6 whales per day (perhaps entering the mini-lull period between Phases 3 and 4?). But being the addict that I am, I needed my weekly whale fix, so I went anyway. And lo and behold, I saw EIGHT (8) whales! But more important than the number, they were great sightings. Several whales fluked repeatedly, and close to shore, and I saw 3 different pairs of whales traveling together. Seeing 2 whales traveling together is exhilarating. First there's the thrill of discovering that you're seeing 2 whales when you were plenty happy to see just one. Second is the magical and majestic sight of watching two whales swimming side by side. In an instant, two shiny, enormous gray/black bodies rise out of the water just a few feet apart, parallel to each other. And if you're really lucky, as I was today, both whales surface at the same time and spout simultaneously. And if you're extra lucky, as I was today, both whales dive back down at the same time and fluke simultaneously. At one point, we were tracking 5 whales at once: 2 different pairs and a solo whale were all blowing in a round-robin fashion in different parts of the ocean. Seeing multiple whales at the same time, and especially whales traveling together, is a different experience from seeing solo whales pass by occasionally. The ocean seems so vibrant, so joyful, so alive.

And to think, I almost didn't go whale-watching today...