La Jolla Surprise

A sunny day in December prodded us toward the water. The breeze from across the gentle surf beckoned to us and we did not fight back. We walked through the doors of La Jolla Kayak and met an enthusiastic 25 year-old Bri who was to be our kayak guide for a couple of hours. The goal of the tour was to explore the 7 caves of La Jolla Bay as well as the fish and plants discovered along the way. For Huffygirl and me, it was a chance to get on the water which we try to do any chance we get. Bri chatted pleasantly as we paddled through the rolling waves of the bay, sharing tidbits about the surrounding houses dangling at the edge of the world and the exposed fault line. We learned about the guy with the cliff-side house who felt it took too long to get to the water so he dug a tunnel down to one of the sea caves. We learned to spot the orange flashes of the Gerabaldi fish as they swam blow us and we met a couple of sea lions sunning on rocks. While we were cruising along at one point, a playful sea lion surprised is with a visit. He just kinda popped up and looked us over, then after getting the proper amount of attention, he was gone. What a fun little adventure!

Because we were here in La Jolla on a weekday in December, we were the only paddlers

Bri took this shot of Huffygirl and me. Cool.

on the tour. Huffygirl wondered if the rest of the world knew something we didn’t. I asked her when I had ever steered her wrong and after droning on with various questionable paths I had convinced her to take with me, I started crying and asked if she would please just trust me and like she always did before, she said okay and I wiped my face and on we went. We were in a tandem kayak and Huffygirl told me I could be the navigator. It was odd that no matter how hard I tried to steer, we always ended up going where Huffygirl wanted to go. Bri checked and said there was nothing wrong with the kayak so we all agreed (‘All’ being Huffygirl and Bri) it was due to my inept paddling and we just kept moving on. I was just happy to be floating over the gentle waves as we looked for kelp beds which Bri told us were one of the signs of a healthy ecosystem in the bay. After a very relaxing and thoroughly enjoyable journey around the caves, the sea lions and kelp beds, we were beginning to head back toward shore when…

CRASH!! It sounded like a deep explosion and then a very heavy splash. All 3 of us looked to see a 50 foot splash zone, water still coming down from high in the air. We hadn’t seen it, but Bri exclaimed, “Whale breach!!” The splash was a couple of hundred yards away. I felt my heart rate increase as it sunk in that a whale and just jumped into the air. 20 minutes later, a kayaker who had been fishing outside the bay told us the whale had been at least 20 feet out of the water! And like reading something on the Internet, if a fisherman tells you he saw something, you know it’s true!

My thought was that I didn’t see it. I just saw the splash. I want to see the whale! Bri reacted to the splash by turning her kayak toward the whale and paddling like a girl on a mission. I asked, “Are we going to the whale?” She responded, “We’re going to the whale!” There was giggling from our kayak and Huffygirl said it was cute that I was so excited. As we paddled, keeping our eyes on anything that looked in any way whale-like, Bri explained some things about keeping a respectful distance from sea life so we paddled slightly behind her so we wouldn’t break any rules. Visions of my incident with sea turtles and the turtle police in Hawaii flashed through my mind.

About a hundred and fifty yards in front of us, the whale surfaced with a graceful arch of its back. “It’s a Humpback!”, Bri cried out. It was beautiful and dark and amazing. I was amazed we were seeing this all from the vantage point of a kayak. Then I thought about the size of the whale and the size of us on a kayak. Huffygirl said she would protect us. Luckily I have enough confidence in who and what I am to tell her thanks so very much. We paddled slower and kept watching as we neared to buoys that marked the outer reaches of the La Jolla preserve.

“There!!” came from Bri. We looked and saw the whale’s majestic tail in the air. Seemed to be waving a graceful greeting and then it slipped into the water and was gone. That was the last we saw of the whale that entered and left our lives for the space of 15 minutes but left an indelible mark on our memories. The splash like nothing I’d ever seen… The graceful rounded back breaking the water’s surface… and finally the split tail as the final sign of the whale’s entrance into and departure from this day’s journey. We started the day with a plan to explore a warm spot on the edge of North America and ended up having an experience of a lifetime. I hope our whale friend feels the same way. 

We were too excited to have our camera ready, but this is pretty much what we saw...

Bad Boy in Paradise

The lady was pointing her phone down toward the water just a little off the shore. We were near a rocky outcrop on Waikaloa Beach on the Big Island in Hawaii. The breeze was active and excited and I couldn’t hear what the lady with the camera was trying to tell me. I edged a little closer.

“See turtles?” she shouted.

“No, I haven’t” I shouted back. “But I’ll let you know if I do!” I offered through the wind.

Huffygirl suddenly sidled up beside me and excitedly pointed at the water. “See turtle!!”

I tried to tell her she can’t make me see a turtle but she put both hands on my head and pointed my face at an oblong shadow with flippers and a neck and head just under the water’s surface and then I realized how wrong I'd been – Huffygirl really could make me see a turtle… 

A real sea turtle! I was going to tell the lady with the camera but Huffygirl held me back and pointed out that the lady’s camera was pointing right at it. I wonder why the lady had asked me in the first place when she’d already seen it?! Huffygirl and I alternated between watching from the sand of the beach and the rocky outcropping and were fascinated by the big turtle’s movements. It was about 2 feet wide and a more than that in length and was gently rocking with the waves. Every once in a while he brought his head above water and looked around to see if he was getting appropriate attention. He was.

The turtle’s movements seemed to be dictated by the waves as he bobbed and floated with the water’s motions but then he would effortlessly swim/fly 5 or 10 feet away in a few seconds. The more we watched, the more we saw gracefulness in its movements and beauty in its motion. I quietly mentioned to Huffygirl that this was how I felt when I was on the dance floor and she got an odd look on her face that at first seemed like disbelief but she said was a look of total agreement when I questioned her later. Total agreement she said, over and over. Even threw in some laughs of agreement as well.

I remembered we had our underwater camera with us so I grabbed it and waded into the water about 10 feet from the shore. Huffygirl asked if I wanted my bathing cap which I’d forgotten in my haste and I told her I wore no such thing! I think the folks watching believed me on account of my bad boy swagger. The sea turtle had taken a little break so I just stood in the water looking around for a bit while Huffygirl and the lady with the phone did the same. After a few minutes, he appeared again, about 10 feet from me and I stuck the camera under water. He did a series of underwater ballet tricks that were amazing and I knew this video would be a YouTube sensation! When I pulled the camera up I found the video had not been turned on. Arrrg!

I finally got the video going and tried to keep it pointing toward the sea turtle. He started swimming toward me and then toward the lady with the phone who let out a squeal as she took a step back. This seemed to get the attention of the local authorities. The turtle was only a foot away from the camera and I was amazed to be this close to a real sea turtle when a booming voice said, “20 feet from the turtles!” I looked up and 2 men in powder blue t-shirts that said Waikaloa Beach Club were standing on the shore looking very stern and one of them repeated, “You need to stay 20 feet from the sea turtles!” I stared them both down as I moved slowly away from the lumbering turtle. My staring worked and the men in powder blue turned and went on their way. It was a close call but it was clear the ‘Man’ knew they were in over their heads and decided it best to say their piece and move on rather than risk a confrontation with a sea turtle viewing bad boy.

I asked Huffygirl if she had seen the whole thing and she said yes she had and that she was very proud of me for standing up to the waiters from the beach club by moving away from the turtle the way I did. Once we were back at our lounge chairs she told me she loved being married to a bad boy and asked if I wanted to go back and play in the water. I said yes and she handed me my bathing cap. It was a wonderful day!