Whale Watching

So back in June or July, or maybe it was August, I really can't remember this morning much less when we took this trip, anyways, we went to Albany for a church trip. This is a little town along the Southern Ocean- I've mentioned it before because we go down there about three times a year or so. There is a very little church down there that we try to encourage by sending down a group of 12-15 members of our church. It is usually a really fun weekend for all of us.

Alan nd I really love going. We were one of the first families to really get the regular trips headed up and have a soft spot (is that the right term?) in our hearts for albany. It is a beautiful town with lots of gorgeous coastline. So this last time we went down, we decided to go a day early and do a little whale watching. Alan was not very enthused about this, but I was not backing down- we were going. And seeing as he's generally opposed to zoos, aquariums, and the like, he should be happy to see animals in there natural environment, right?!

Well, we just loved it. There were TONS of whales around. And our captain would play music- both the radio and a recorder!- to get the whales to respond to us! it was so awesome! And they really did respond to the music! They came right by the boat a couple times and were very playful. We saw several whales breaching, too. we only saw Southern Right whales because the humpbacks were too far out or already gone or something. And apparently there are killer whales too but they are outside the harbor. And I think i'll pass on that anyways!

Two cool/weird things. Frst, Albany is considered one of the best places in the world for whale watching. Mainly because the whales come right in to the beach! You can easily see them from the shore. Second, there was a group of older exchange students from Malasia on our boat and they loved True! It is pretty common for them to want pictures with (white?) kids. But they adored him! Once we were watching a whale breaching and this guy was trying to give True something and I was thinking "ummm, hello, the whale is BREACHING!!" Anyways, just kind of weird. Or different, as I would have told my 7th graders!

Appeasing true with an Anzac bikkie!

A playful flipper.

A young male breaching in the distance.

oops! Just the splash!

True was all tuckered out!

So, we all had a "whale of a time"! And Alan loved it so much he insisted everyone go out to some lookouts the next day and try and spot some more whales! (I did too of course!) Ok, here's a little bit of video. (Mainly for our own sake, but feel free to watch!) And if you do watch listen for when the captain says "albino whae". Over here they say "al-bee-no" and it totally cracks me up!