WHALES.

Okay. This post has been LONG overdue. But so have many other posts that I have been meaning to write. September was a busy month, travel-wise. Work-wise, September brought the least amount of flight hours I have ever worked. Travel-wise, what I really yearn for, September was great. The Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta was checked off my to-do list on my birthday (this is the World's Largest Aquarium for those who are curious) as a very fun day trip. And then a two day, semi-spontaneous (I am not spontaneous, I need to plan, so I planned for only one day prior to leaving) trip to San Francisco happened!

I debated between Seattle and San Francisco for quite some time. The whales in Washington are mainly on the San Juan Islands, which would take a bit longer for me to journey to then the easily accessible San Francisco and Fisherman's Wharf. With this being said, I absolutely LOVE public transportation. I look for cities that I can get from the airport to whatever attraction via public transportation. So convenient, so easy, and usually quite cheap. In this case, the BART system in San Francisco was phenomenal. For $16.50 round trip, I made it from the airport right down to the Ferry Building. And from there only $2.00 per cable car ride, or $8.00 per trolley ride. Or FREE if you walk. On a perfectly sunny day, I decided to do a majority of walking all over this town. #lovelovelove

With just my little backpack packed as an overnight bag, I set out to explore this city as much as possible. I have been to San Francisco just once before, back in 10th grade. My mom and I went with the Como Zoo-Hoppers, and explored San Francisco, Oakland, Wine Country, Muir Woods, and the surrounding cities for a week. This time, traveling by myself, my priorities were a bit different. Some of the scenery was the same, some of the scenery was different, and some I did not remember at all.

The highlight and my purpose (to continue my now extended birthday month!) was WHALE WATCHING. Let me preface this by saying, I cannot believe this worked out. I booked my ticket the day prior, and the five and a half hour tour was quite worth the price. Check out the tour group I went with if you ever decide to go, they are all marine biologists, adhere to all rules and regulations about sea life/wildlife, and are super nice, plus the boat is named Kitty Kat! Currently, it is Humpback Whale migration time out at the Farallon Islands, approximately 27 miles past the San Francisco Bay out on the ocean. Yes, 27 miles. Which, by boat, is approximately two hours there and two hours back. That is quite the ride! Thank goodness my current job has gotten me quite used to turbulence and motion, because we ran into some rough water with nothing but grey clouds keeping us quite chilled, and salt water drying to a crust all over my face from random mists and sprays the entire ride. But would I change a thing? Of course not.

The whole group met at 8am at Pier 39. We embarked on our voyage at about 8:30am. The sun attempted to shine through, giving us a tease of the warmth we all wish we had the whole day! And that big cruise ship in the back? That's the Disney Cruise Ship. That thing is massive.

Victoria was our guide for the day. She is a Marine Biologist originally from Australia. She was adorable, informative, massively enthusiastic, and all in all just great.

Under the bridge we go, the beginning of 27 miles. On the way out to the Farallon Islands we saw California Sea Lions, Harbor Porpoises, and Northern Fur Seals in the water! Which, this doesn't sound super exciting but it was! Seeing these guys in the 'wild waters' versus sitting at Pier 39 was thrilling. Your eyes have to adjust so much to the dark gray/blue waters that spotting one is quite an accomplishment! Common Murre, Western Grebes, Elegant Terns, Forster Terns, Northern Gannets, Cassin's Auklets, Sooty Shearwaters, and Brown Pelicans are all the birds we saw. Thank goodness, Victoria could name all these. Someday, I hope I can name all these and tell the differences, bird watching is SO much fun and so peaceful. I'll post pictures of these birds from online images, as I didn't get any of these guys on my camera. Which, capturing the images in my mind most times is best as not to miss something while I would be messing around with my camera!

Common Murre.



Elegant Tern



 

Forster's Tern

Northern Gannet. Isn't he pretty!



Northern Gannet.





Sooty Shearwater.



Western  Grebbe

Cassins Auklet.

A lighthouse on the shore outside the Bay Area. And as you can see, the sun is starting to peak!

The sun! Decided to come out to warm us up, which was EXTREMELY needed. I was shivering, that's how cold I was. And then, the sun went away about a minute after he showed up.

Back to no sun, and a freezing girl who just wants to see some whales! We have arrived, the Farallon Islands are just ahead. What a great relief to see some sort of land after two hours. Of course, Captain Joe and Victoria both said on the way out here to keep our eyes open, as the whales can be anywhere. We did not see any, but it indeed sparks interest in everyone to stay alert (well, besides the couple of older couples who feel asleep inside the cabin, yes, FELL ASLEEP).



The Farallon Islands! Off to the right of this picture, around the bend of the island is where GREAT WHITE SHARKS migrate. Isn't that insane? I sure thought so. Victoria mentioned to us in our brief before we left, that September and October are indeed Great White Shark viewing times, and she goes, "Do you know what month it is?" Of course, everyone replies in awe and excitement "September!" We were not promised to see one, but that would have been incredible. Unfortunately, we did not. Maybe next year... Still quite crazy and cool to know that Great Whites come to the waters I saw and looked at for five hours.



Here we are at the whale migration spot! Most whales hang out near these two sets of rock. And this is where we saw TWO GREY WHALES. This trip was such a highlight of my life. Whales are such a passion of mine, I love them. They are the gentle giants of the sea. And although I only saw the spouts of these two, they were still magnificent. And I could even see the barnacles on them from a distance! I cannot even imagine what I will feel or how I will react when I see a whale breach and be even closer. These are truly amazing mammals. I am positive every whale watching trip would  be different in what you see. The range of mammals that have been seen at the Farallon Islands include: blue whales, bottle nose dolphins, elephant seals, gray whales, fin whales, Guadalupe fur seals, Harbor seals, humpback whales, orcas, river otters, sea otters, sperm whales, and stellar sea lions! Perhaps next time I will see more of my beloved whales.



On the way back to the Bay. Here I am, slowly thawing out from the cold. The sun peaked out for good at about 1 p.m., just as Victoria had predicted.

The Golden Gate Bridge in the background. The guy I asked to take my picture insisted I get one with the bridge as well. So here it is.

The Golden Gate Bridge took four years to complete and the lives of 11 men who worked on the bridge. Opening in 1937, this is now the 9th Longest Suspension Bridge in the world!


And thus, my first ever whale watching tour is complete. I rushed back to the catch the Cable Car to then take the BART system back to the airport. And with only 25 minutes prior to departure, I made it. Having to ask for a boarding pass to be printed, I flew first class to Los Angeles, and home from L.A. What a crazy two day adventure I had. More to post on the actual city (and not just whales!) coming soon.

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