My Whale Tale
A story from Deb Gillespie.
Humpback whale surface feeding
Deb had never really been out in the ocean before, though she walked daily along the shore. But the whales called her, and before she knew it, she was in over her head. Dolphins, sea lions and finally the whales made it all worthwhile – another life-transforming experience, courtesy of majestic marine mammals.
DEB GILLESPIE was born in Louisiana and grew up in Connecticut. She came to the Monterey Bay Area about 4 or 5 years ago, but lived part time in British Columbia and part time in Santa Cruz. She originally came to this area to visit her daughter who had moved here, but Deb then decided it was such a beautiful area, she moved here, too. Deb loves to kayak and lived on a boat in British Columbia where she kayaked a lot. She’s currently self-employed working on websites.
You can watch Deb’s story on Youtube here: https://youtu.be/h_4jsgllkG8
MY WHALE TALE
My most memorable wildlife encounter is definitely my encounter with the whales. I can tell you about it. Living near East Cliff in Santa Cruz, I take a lot of walks by the ocean. And at that time, it was 2013 in October, there were a lot of whales pretty close up, and they were just spectacular. I was walking by along the beach and watching them all the time. I did notice that some people were out in kayaks and on stand-up paddleboards and getting pretty nice close-up views of the whales.
I don’t know, I just thought – I have never actually surfed before, I’ve not really gone out into the ocean – but I decided that I was gonna go out. I had a wetsuit and a short board, and I went out early in the morning ‘cause that‘s when I usually walk. It was a full moon, and it was just a beautiful, beautiful morning. So I went out, like I said, pretty early, no breakfast, no beverage, nothing, I just went out with no plan. I was on 38th Ave., and I paddled out. It was pretty far, I don’t know how far. I’m not good with measurements.
I didn’t see anything. I was just like waiting and waiting and waiting, and I didn’t see anything. It was probably quite a while, but it was pretty exciting because I’d really never been in the ocean before, well like on a surfboard. So the seals would come right up to me. It was kind of scary, but after awhile I got used to them, and otters, and dolphins. Some dolphins swam right by me. I could hear them breathing, which was really exciting – and all the birds and sea lions were around. After a while I was ok with the sea lions. They’d come right up to me; just poke their heads up like they were little puppy dogs.
So anyway, I was hanging out there, and, finally, I saw some whale activity out by the Capitola wharf. And at that point, I thought, “Well maybe I’ll head that way.” I started paddling out a little bit, and then I said, “ah, it’s just too far and they’re not coming,” so I was gonna turn around. Well, I was just basically turning around, when I looked back one more time, and I saw the whales were actually coming my way. So I just waited. And I waited for a while, and they were all under water.
Then all of a sudden I could hear them, and I could see movement under the water, and then there they were! They surrounded my little surfboard, and there were probably four, maybe four or five. They were just there and my arms and legs were just hanging off my surfboard, but I wasn’t scared at all. I was just too amazed and excited to even think about being scared. And one of the whales came up with his full head and mouth opened up, and all the birds were flying around when his mouth opened, and that was pretty cool!
They were there for a little while, and then they started to leave. So I started to leave, too. And at that point the sun was really, really bright, and I realized I hadn’t had anything to eat or anything to drink, and it had been hours, and I had to paddle all the way back. So I started paddling and the sea lions were following me, which made me feel safe, but I was really losing strength, and I still had a long way to go.
I remember thinking to myself, well if I die that’s ok. I just had this amazing experience. So I just kept going and working my way through, but I ran out of energy. I was completely empty, but I started getting closer, and then there was a little bit of surf, so I caught a little surf and landed on the beach.
I don’t know if anyone’s seen the movie with Sandra Bullock, and she’s out in space, and then she finally gets to land, and she’s stumbling around, barely able to stand up. Well, that’s exactly how I felt! I just couldn’t get my bearings. And then I had to climb all the way up the stairs. So I climbed up the stairs, then at that point, I said, “I need water.”
Should I go to the restroom which was probably half a block, or should I walk all the way home, which was probably five or ten minutes? Well, I decided to walk home. I just was in a daze, but I got home. I had to take off my wetsuit, and my fingers were numb. It was crazy! But I did it! I was really excited about it and I’ll never forget it! And that’s my whale tale!!
Thank you for sharing your story with us Deb!
