Whale Watching 2-26-10

As the boat took off there was so much excitement in my heart; I LOVE the ocean and I love boats. I've been on the ocean plenty of times and as we kept jumping over the waves memories of my childhood flashed before my eyes; memories of sitting in the bow of the boat, wind blowing in our hair, running carefully not to fall while the boat was going so fast...memories of Grandma and Grandpa Coumbe...those were good times, happy times.

The boat ride went on for about an hour. When we reached our destination the boat slowed. We saw about 15 other boats with passengers wearing the same bright orange life vests staring off into the water. The wave were so large that the boat was seriously rocking back and forth and back and forth but it didn't matter to me, we didn't come this whole way just to be sick. So I got up and started staring into the water with the rest of the people. Then like magic we heard a big breathing sound, like that of someone breathing out heavily, then we saw a large, dark blue, shiney surface, just above the water, then a huge tail...a whale in the wild. I was amazed. It was so mysterious. Where did it come from and where was it going? Seeing the first whale excited the crowd on our boat. It was seriously amazing. Time after time we would hear and see the same things and every time the moment was filled with awe and mystery.





Probably my neatest experience with the whole whale watching adventure was when we were all waiting around for more whales to surface and I went over to the other side of the boat, away from the crowd. I was just sitting, waiting for another spotting, when all of the sudden 2 whales surfaced about 50 feet from our boat on the side where I was sitting. I heard the breathing, and physically saw their blow holes and the texture of their skin. It kind of startled me...I was in shock...

This is the closest picture I found as to what I saw...I saw more of the tops of their back and then their little fin piece...much closer than this.

Then as we were headed out, mostly because people were spewing from the choppiness of the water, we saw 2 whales jumping nose first out of the water and then splashing down if to rejoice the fact that the humans were leaving them alone. SO COOL!




The ocean was so vast, so deep, so wide, so many different species of animal, but the Lord knows where each is at all times. He provides food and shelter for them. He knew we were going to be going out to this area last Saturday and blessed us by providing real "encounters" with these amazing animals. I felt so loved by God. So treasured. And I thought about the part in the Bible, in Job, where God is talking about who He is and how no one is before Him. He created all things, and all things are in His control. Yet, He cares for me even when I might not understand His ways. He is good!