Whale Watching

On Saturday I went whale watching in the San Juan Islands. It was a really cool experience. I'll start at the beginning. I am in the middle of pet sitting season. The first week in August is always really busy. So I had to get up at six to walk a dog forty minutes away from my house. I did not sleep very well the night before, I think I got around three hours of sleep. My friends picked me up there and we went to Bellingham to check in at 9:30. As we were in line to check in, my best friend leaned down to whisper "I hope to God there's no kids on this boat." (I love kids... my best friend doesn't.) No such luck. Soon around ten sugared up children boarded the boat. The fact that I had very little sleep the night before had put me on edge and the kids were already pushing my buttons by being boisterous. At 10:00 we left the harbor. The tour guide started telling us all about the islands and how they got their names and nice little stories about them. My best friend’s boyfriend noticed that they were serving beer and wine and started drinking. About two hours into the boat ride, we saw some porpoises. Another hour later I was starting to worry about the fact that I had not seen any whales yet. The kids were now running all around the boat unsupervised and I was wondering where their parents were. And it was cold. And my friend’s bf was getting a little tipsy. Finally three and a half hours into the trip the captain came on the loud speaker and told us the whales were at twelve o’clock. Everyone got their cameras and ran to the top deck and there they were. Little tiny dots. Tiny, tiny dots. I was now very worried. But soon we got closer. It was amazing. Beautiful Orcas. Huge dorsal fins in and out of the water. There’s a law that says you have to stay 200 yards away from the orcas but they can come to you. Only one came close enough to really see. It was a young one. Very cool. Then we got to see some breaches. Spy hops, tail smacks. Totally worth it. The captain came on the loud speaker again and told us we had to go home and I was so sad. And tired. The tour guide’s microphone stopped working and I was kind of glad because it was much more quiet. Even the kids had settled down for a minute and I started to fall asleep. But as soon as I drifted off this little girl ran past me and bumped into me. Never even said sorrily. So I went down to the bottom deck and camped out at a table and soon stared to drift off again. Same little girl came through the door and slammed it. All together she woke me up a total of five times. I totally understand that I was on a boat during a family experience but I did not once see this girl’s mother watching her. I mean we’re on a boat in the water with tiny rails. She could have fallen off at any time. We finally got back to Bellingham and the captain asked us to clear the right (starboard* I did learn a lot on this trip) side of the boat. But a guess who didn’t listen. The little girl. She was in the crews way the whole time. I was glad to be back on solid land. My best friend’s bf was drunk by the time we got back and promptly fell asleep in the car. All and all it was awesome. I saw gorgeous creatures who are very majestic. I also learned I am not ready under any circumstances to have children.