Wednesday, March 19, 2008

more encouragement

While hanging out at the Farallones Susan Casey is visited by a “baby gray whale who seemed to materialize every time I stood on deck. Its prehistoric-looking, knuckled back arched above the surface; her elegant barnacled tail waved playfully. Occasionally we made eye contact. …

“My whale, as I had come to think of her, was clearly interested in the sailboat. Maybe it had to do with the smell.” The sailboat, Casey says, was getting stinky. But the little whale didn’t mind? Or liked it? “One little known fact: The water that spouts out of a whale’s blowhole in such a picturesque way reeks like the most toxic fart imaginable.”

Hm. I’ve read that it’s not unusual for a whale at San Ignacio Lagoon to wait till a visitor is leaning out of her boat to give a tickle – and whoosh – give back a big blow, right in the face. Something to look forward to, eh?

source: The Devil’s Teeth, by Susan Casey

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