Blue Whales

Blue whales are not only the largest animals in the world, but they are believed to be the largest animals that have ever lived. They are simply enormous. Blue whales can weigh 100-150 tons and grow to be 100 feet long. The blow (spout) of a blue whale is 20-30 feet high.

It is incomprehensibly tragic that blue whales were nearly hunted to extinction. In the early-mid 1900s, up to 99% of the original populations were killed off by whalers. Today, fewer than 10,000 of these great leviathans remain in the world's oceans. So you can imagine my excitement when I learned that about 2,000 of them seasonally congregate in California waters, and blues have been regularly sighted in recent years just off the southern California coast. The LA whale watchers said that the blues usually show up in late July and sometimes stay through December. As soon as I heard this, I knew that I had to try and see them. It would take a healthy dose of good luck to see one in July, which would be my only opportunity because I had to return to Utah in August, but it would be the thrill of a lifetime if Lady Luck was smiling on me.

And so in late July, I took one last drive down to Palos Verdes on the slim hope that perhaps a blue whale would pass by that day. I spent many hours scanning the Pacific for any signs of whale activity, but to no avail. The seas were calm and quiet. But it was a beautiful day, so before the sun went down I decided take a walk along a trail that parallels the edge of the cliff overlooking the Pacific. As I returned from this walk, to my surprise I suddenly noticed a tall blow on the south side of the ocean. I squealed with joy and fumbled to pull up my binoculars. And then I saw the colossal back of a gigantic whale. It was the most enormous back I'd ever seen, perhaps twice as long as the backs of the gray whales that I'd become so familiar with. And then suddenly there was a second blow and another enormous whale back rose from the ocean. And then, as suddenly as it had appeared, it was gone. I stood there hypnotized with my binoculars glued to my face for probably an hour, urgently scanning the ocean for any more signs of the whale. But I never saw it again.

I'm still not sure whether I saw one whale (surfacing twice) or two whales. And I'm not even positive that it was a blue whale - it could have been a fin whale. The expert whale watchers say that it can be very difficult to distinguish blues from fins because fin whales can get very large as well. But there were blues reported to be in the area. I'll never know for sure, but in my heart I believe that I saw a blue whale. Maybe even two blue whales. And that's good enough for me. :) Lady Luck was indeed smiling on me...