I did not write a journal entry on this day because the medication I took knocked me and John out. We went whale watching in Juneau. It was a cozy, but powerful boat that had large viewing windows. Now we saw whales, tons of humpback whales, but everyone knows that my favorites are killer whales. If ever I was meant to see these creatures in the wild it would have been today. I kept my expectations low as killer whales are said to be sighted 1:10 times. I also heard from the day before that killer whales were seen leaving the area.
You can say it was my destiny, but our boat left the dock and headed out towards the bays. Something immediately caught my eye and I screamed "Tail!" Of course no one believed me, because it was so close to shore, but the pilot went in that direction anyway. Of course it was a whale and of course it was a killer whale.
There's no mistaking that black and white. I know my heart skipped a beat as I saw those strong tall dorsal fins break the surface of the water. Ever since my brother and I saw Free Willy, we called the whale's dorsal fin a butter knife because it looks like it cuts through the water. I was sad that I could not share the moment with my family, but I'll have fond memories.
At it's peak we saw about six killer whales around the boat. The header photo here is so far from reality, very rarely do whales jump out of the water like that. Instead, mostly I saw this:
No matter how far away they were, they were close enough and they were free. We continued and found some random whales lounging about. We ended the tour very close to a family of three whales along the shoreline. We were so close that we could hear them breathing. The baby one rolled on its back and gave us a flipper wave before diving beneath the surface. That was the last we saw of them.
At this point, I could die and feel fulfilled. It also was the moment that I got an idea for my next book.
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