Saturday, September 22, 2012

Whales and Dreams in Peru


5 days into Peru, I've already completed one of my biggest dreams. Ever since I can remember, I've wanted to see whales with my own eyes. From reading magazines to watching underwater National Geographic documentaries, I've been imagining whale watching since I was little.

I didn't know how to conceive of the biggest animals on Earth. How big were they really? Bigger than a school bus? Bigger than my bedroom? I had no sense of the relative size of a whale.


That was, until we were sitting at lunch with a view over the sea on my birthday, and someone pointed out to the horizon and showed us a big white splash. They said it was a whale, far out there, breaching in the deep seas. First one, then another. We just stared at the horizon as giant splashes appeared and disappeared in the distance. It was beautiful to see them, even from afar. I hadn't known that Mancora, Peru, was the best place to whale watch on the west coast of South America, nor did I realize that we were there in the right season. It was decided then and there that we would go whale watching the next day.


It was an early morning. Our boat, small and slow, brought us out to the wavy seas, and we waited with our cameras in hand.

Though I was optimistic, I remembered the time I tried to whale watch with my mom and sister in Cape Breton in 2006, and no whales surfaced for us. Part of me wondered whether the whales would come up for us that day.



It wasn't long before the whales were up too. As they surfaced for air, we pointed and loved each moment. Precious giants, sharing a breath with us.


Still dreaming of whales, my next dream is to see one under water when I scuba dive...

Have you ever seen whales, or do you want to?

4 comments:

  1. Love these photos! It looks like such an amazing day to be out looking for whales too. :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wait... you love pigeons right?
    Here...
    http://colleenbrynntravels.blogspot.ca/2012/02/pigeon-camera.html

    ReplyDelete
  3. Holy wow of wow! I would love to see whales too. I always imagined I'd see them when I explore the Arctic or Antarctic (one day!). That's incredible.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I guys,

    Check the whales and dolphins page at
    http://skaphandrus.com
    a comprehensive catalogue of marine species to sea lovers.

    ReplyDelete

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