Saturday, August 25, 2012

Whales!

Jim and Linda Angelo and I paddled in Morro Bay today. We had considered going to Avila, where the humpback whales have been treating folks for over a week to a spectacular show, but we heard that the whale's popularity has created huge crowds, backed up roads, etc. Instead, I paddled from the Baywood Pier, and met Linda and Jim off their starting point in the Cuesta Inlet. We paddled on a rising tide and into the wind over to the sandspit, about mid-point on its length. We hiked the dunes up to the highest point, where views are 360 degrees of the bay and ocean. We noticed that just off-shore there was a swath of bird floating the was perhaps a mile long. Soon, we noticed a lot of feeding activity off-shore, and we spotted humpback whales! There was a whale-watching boat out there too. We could see the whales breaching and spouting with the naked eye, but were afforded better views with the binoculars. What a treat! We watched until we couldn't focus any more (staring at the ocean is tiring). After a treat of peaches and pistachios, we got back in the boats (the tide had risen considerably) and paddled along the spit, into shark inlet as far as we could go. I "dropped them off" at the Cuesta Inlet and finished my paddle back into Baywood. Wow!

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