Whale Watching Past and Present

Einar and Jared aboard the Dana Pride March 2006.

Jared and Soren aboard the Dana Pride, March 2009

Soren on the deck enjoying the sunshine. Not much crawling was done on this deck since the texture of it was so rough.

Our family and one of Einar's classmates peering through the window, March 2009.

Einar and I peering through the window, March 2006.

Last Sunday we went whale watching on the Dana Pride out of Dana Point Harbor. For those of you who have been reading this blog since its conception, you might recall that we have done this before and have enjoyed the entire experience whether or not we see any whales. What you might not remember is that Einar was about the same age as Soren is now when he went on his first whale watching trip. We found some of the same clothes that Einar wore that day and put them on Soren and tried to recreate some of the photos for comparison. We didn't put him in the yellow coat though since it was in the upper 70's. I know that you shouldn't compare your kids to one another, but this situation lends itself so well to that inclination.

This year we followed once whale up the coastline a ways as it skirted just feet away from where the waves were breaking. My guess was that it was trying to pick up some surfing tips from all of the surfers that were out on that gorgeous afternoon, but the guide figured that it was scooping up sand and eating tiny animals. We didn't see any major movements, just up to the service every 3-4 minutes. After awhile we left the whale to catch up with a pod of common dolphins that swims off the coast.