whalesWhalesWHALES

off Baja Sur, Sunday, March 29th Sailing north from Puerto San Carlos, Baja Mexico, we prepared to see gray whales in and near Laguna de San Ignacio. It was late March and many of the grays had left for Alaska. Some of the mother calf pairs still remained. Soon they would be gone. In the ship lounge, we had finished a discussion of marine mammals. There could be as many as 8 types seen over the next two weeks. Gray, minke, blue, fin, and humpback baleen whales are probable. Perhaps we will see toothed sperm whales. We will certainly see dolphins and sea lions. A camera session followed. What kind of settings would optimize your chances for good images? Some of these mammals are fast and all are unpredictable. Speed of exposure is key. It will need to be at least 1/1000 second. A depth of field of f8 or11 is desirable. What kind of ISO will that require? Image stabilization if you have it. Tripods are useless; too much movement. The swells on the Pacific had begun to take their toll of people’s stomachs. The queseys had set in. Some people left the dark enclosed lounge for more open spaces. “Blows on the horizon. Half a mile.” The Captain moved towards them. “Minke.” Blows are distinctive. These whales are fast. It was feeding on fish, gulping and moving quickly. Too fast for me to photograph. I got a lot of blue water waves. “There! One o’clock!” On the horizon more than one blow. More than one whale. “Blue?” Set the camera on action or burst shooting. Be sure of the exposure and speed. Soon we were there. More than one blue whale was near the ship. Our ship was 153 feet long. Blues range from 70 to 85 feet. For almost an hour they were about “performing” but not posing. Finally with the light failing and 160 miles to go to anchor, the Captain set off to the north. The dinner tables were less than full. The queseys did not want to feel the swells, and see and smell food at the same time. We sailed north into the swells. It was a bumpy ride that night.

West Los Angeles, March 27th

The city life. In my dreaming fog, I heard voices outside on the sidewalk. Then the sound of a dentist drill revving up. I’m having a tooth drilled??? It doesn’t hurt. Then I realized that these drills and voices were trimming the trees that were very close to the condo windows. 6:40 AM!! They continued to work until 9 AM on the trees around the neighborhood. Now the chipper grinds and spits wood chips and cut leaves into the truck. It did let more light into through windows. We are in West Los Angeles with Elsie and Peter, former neighbors from Andover. After retiring, they moved to this other coast. Two of their three children had located in LA. With two young grandchildren, Peter and Elsie have much to do. Yesterday we took the two young grandchildren, 1 and 3 years old, to the Los Angeles zoo. Strollers, cameras, lunch, and all the assorted kids gear. Arriving at the parking lot there were 3 dozens yellow school buses lining the curb and in the lot. There must have been a thousand grade school kids with their chaperones continually counting heads. Each group in their bright colored and clean school T-shirts. Tight herds on the move, looking for the next view. Inside the zoo everyone was well behaved. Even the adults maintained their self control. Animals in the zoo must be used to the swarm of viewers on their front porch. Young children get all excited when an animal or bird looks them in the eye. An orangutan looks sad and withdrawn,

A bored male lion with a piece of wood shaving hanging over his right eye.

A giraffe, chewing on a twig, looks me straight in the eye without expression.

A merket standing guard looks directly at all the viewers.

It turns and looks at the spectators on other side of the enclosure. None of its friends show their faces.

Field trips and young children run their trips on tight schedules. The school buses must be back in time to transport other school kids. So the buses leave before 2 PM. Little kids need the stroller, then fall asleep or begin to cry. This gives us old folks an excuse to exit. We would never admit that we were also tired and wanted to take our naps. The early drilling took away an hour of zzzs. Time to recoup.