Close Encounter

On my ocean swim this morning I swam out toward a group of kayaks. They kept moving away and I kept following. An hour and a half later in very deep water I finally caught up with them because they were not moving - they were just floating there. I spoke with one of the paddlers and she told me that they had been watching whales. Then they turned and paddled back to shore.

So there I was, tired, at least two miles out and all alone. Time to head home. I started swimming then I saw a couple of white stripes way below me. They were so faint that I wasn't sure if there really was anything there. I turned on my camera and took a couple of snapshots (the photo here is enhanced way beyond what I could see). When the lines did not move or change, I decided that it must be a whale! Wow! Then I realized that I was directly above it and it would eventually come up for air. So I began backing away. Then I noticed another set of white lines - directly below me and beginning to rise. Now I was backing away more quickly. I switched my camera to video mode and started it running as I was trying to get out of the way. All steadiness left my hands as the first whale headed directly for me! Was it going to ram me? It turned at the final moment and passed right along side me. Wow, wow, wow!! Click HERE or below for the Video.


This year really is starting out right. By the way in case you were wondering, I did finally make it back to shore.