This morning as I was taking Lola to land for a potty break, I noticed a strange and beautiful sight on the surface of the water just a couple feet from the dock. A large school of tiny fish were pecking at the surface and jumping up out of the water. I stopped and watched it for a while, wondering what predator they might be trying to escape from. I thought of the lone grey whale that's been swimming around the bay, but quickly dismissed that idea since I believed that water to be too shallow for a whale. I watched a while longer, wishing I had my camera, and then took Lola to potty.
After her break, we climbed back in the dinghy and started to make our way slowly back towards the boat. I saw Ray (a neighbor) coming up to the dock in his dinghy and all of a sudden he let out a whoop! and a holler. I watched for a minute longer and the whale surfaced just past his dinghy! The whale must have swam right underneath him! I couldn't believe my eyes. I watched him surface a couple more times before I got back to the boat and called for Ben. We watched from the cockpit and saw him surface one more time, right between the mooring field and the dinghy dock. Then Ben hopped in his own dinghy to go whale-watching before he had to leave for school.
The whale has been spotted in the mooring field by numerous neighbors. This is the first time I've seen him that close to land. He has been dubbed "Diego" by San Diego residents and he's been swimming around the bay for at least 23 days now. Such an unbelieveable sight. A lot of people go whale-watching but I'm not sure many of them get so close to a whale as those of us who have seen him from our dinghies. Truly a humbling sight.
(Note: The pictures above are actually from our previous sighting, courtesy of Ben. We weren't quick enough with the cameras this time.)
