Sunday, February 13, 2011

Humpback Whales!

To celebrate Valentines Day my hubby had the fabulous idea to go Whale Watching. January - April is whale watching season because the humpback whales come to warm, winter water (like Okinawa) to breed and have babies. Humpback whales, once hunted to almost extinction, have been making a comeback the last 10 years and it is reported that the number of whales coming to the Kerama Islands each year is increasing. Yay!

We got on the boat at a port in Naha and although we were the only non-Japanese speaking people, everything worked out fine. A nice Japanese lady who spoke English translated the rapid fire Japanese instructions at the start of the trip.



Since I did kinda get sea sick the last time I was on a boat I was pretty nervous I'd feel sick again, and once the boat set off and we started to hit some pretty large swells I was really happy that I just happened to have a couple Dramamine pills in my purse. The boat crew were handing out bags to barf in and (as the nice Japanese lady translated for us) we were not allowed to vom in the head because it would clog the pipes. Ick. Throwing up is bad enough, but doing it on a crowded boat with no privacy? I'll pass. Thank goodness for modern medicine. We didn't get sick at all. Score.


So, we made our way through the high seas out to the Karama Islands. Once we got there the humpback whales made their appearance pretty quickly. We saw a crap ton of whales. It was awesome! They were breaching, blowing, flipping their tails in the air and putting on a great show for us. It was beautiful. The whales seemed so friendly, coming right up beside the boat. It was like they were performing for us! When it was time to leave one whale actually swam along side the boat for a few minutes. Totally amazing!







So has anyone seen the Dane Cook skit where he is impersonating Opera? Well, we think it is hilarious, and during the skit he does this bit about humpback whales. So, we amused ourselves the whole day by saying this at random intervals:

1 comment:

Mary said...

"not allowed to vom in the head."

Possibly the best configuration of words I have seen in a while. You gave me a good laugh for Valentine's Sweetie, and I'm glad the whales put on a good show for you. :)

I can totally see Brad doing that Dane Cook thing too!