Whales Ahoy!

This is the obvious day for an Aprils Fool post, but this really happened to me this morning.

I saw dolphins out in the water this morning, so I decided to go for a swim. I hit a patch of terribly murky water but swam through it to the clearer water on the deeper side. Which is when this mother humpback whale swam up to me. And I mean, right up to me so that she could look me directly in the eye. Her calf was above her and it checked me out too. The escort swam underneath me.

This was my closest encounter ever, and she had to maneuver her fluke (side fin) out of the way to keep from hitting me with it. These photos were all taken zoomed all the way out so, yes, I was that close.

I heard the dolphins chirping and clicking but did not see them while in the water. I saw them again once I got on shore.

Clicking on any of these photos will take you to my whale photos web page where you can see larger versions. The top nine photographs on that page were taken in sequence this morning, the rest were taken on other days.

Hot Hot Hot

What could be better than playing in the waves at a sandy beach on a tropical island? Especially on the day they rip out the old air conditioning unit. With luck the new air handler will be installed tomorrow. I hope, I hope, I hope...

Even with sweat dripping from the end of my nose, it was fun applying a couple of Photoshop effects to the photos I took today.

Snuba Maybe

This might be fun to check out. When we swim past snorkel boats, we sometimes see people doing "snuba" - scuba but with the air tanks floating in rubber rafts on the surface. Unlike scuba where you have to be certified to be allowed to dive, anyone can do this. They might even let someone like me give it a try.

This morning's swim started out windy, cloudy and cold. Even after the wind died, the water grew calm and the sun came out, I was still chilled through and through. Nonetheless, I had a great time and was really glad I went out. Check out the video by clicking HERE or below.

It Takes Two

Stand-up paddle boarding has become all the rage this past year. In addition to snorkel boats and kayaks, the morning waters now see increasing numbers of paddlers. Today I noticed that it has also become a family activity. Can government safety regulations be far behind?

Instant Photo Blog

How do I come up with a blog entry when I'm working on a tight deadline and have been sitting in front of my computer all day? Why, take a photo of dinner, then walk out the door and take a quick snap of the sunset. Voila!

The Power of Prayer

Nine days ago I encountered a monk chanting for peace in Tibet. This morning three guys were chanting for something else. The guy on the left would begin the chant on a single monotone note, then the other two would follow, all on one steady note, their words measured and overlapping. "Ohmmmmmmm_ _I_ _want_ _to_ _manifest_ _an_ _encounter_ _with_ _dolphins_ _ohmmmmmmmm_ _I_ _don't_ _want_ _to_ _wait_ _ohmmmmmmmmmm_ _I_ _want_ _it_ _today_ _ohmmmmmmmm." I'm not kidding, this was their actual chant! But all to no avail, no dolphins today.

Beach Walk

As you can see I'm still having fun exploring the world of black and white as derived from color. I also got to watch a competition pod (whales) in action and putting on a fine show.