Whale Watching
Once on the boat--really just a fishing trawler--and among a group of about twenty people, we left the harbor and sailed out underneathe the large Newport bridge. Although they advised us that we may not see any whales because the fog was a little thick, once out on the sea we found that the fog had cleared up. Despite the sea being largely calm, it was interesting to note how the ocean in the harbor, the ocean just off of the coast, and the ocean miles away from the coast really had a different quality of waves. The slow, almost directionless, rocking of the ocean ten miles out impressed me. It was as if, while driving on a highway, a collection of small hills would be sliding underneath your car with a gentle rythym. It took more looking than was originally planned, but we finally saw about four humpback whales spouting and fluking out in the sun painted water. We could only spend about twenty minutes with the whales before heading back, but as a confirmed land lubber, I have to say that it was really neat. Everyone, except for maybe the captain and the crew, were pretty excited. I would recommend these guys again [Newport Tradewinds] just because they really seemed to work hard finding a whale for us to look at. I am super grateful to my friend for inviting me along. I just wish I had brought my camera.