My first time seeing a whale
It is crazy seeing what you saw only in documentaries so far in real life. I knew how a fin whale looked like, I knew how their breathing sounds like and how they move in the water. I´ve seen that. But I´ve seen it on a screen.
The day we had the first encounter with a fin whale the sea conditions were perfect for spotting, no waves and great light. But after 6 hours on the zodiac in the heat, things can get pretty exhausting. I was already asking myself when we would turn back to Imperia when Elena saw something at the horizon. As soon as I heard her saying the word “whale” I suddenly was really awake again. We started the motor to approach and every metre we got closer to where there was supposed to be the whale (I didn´t see it by then of course) I got more excited. We stopped, and waited. There was nothing but the sound of the waves. Then, out of nowhere, next to us the fin whale appeared to come to surface to breathe. Hearing that was strangely the most beautiful thing. I expected it to be the way it looks or it moves. Seeing that was amazing, of course, but the sound of a whale filling its´ lungs touched me a lot. It meant that it is alive, that it gains strength with every breath. It had a beautiful symbolism for me that it was coming up to the surface to breathe, even though it´s the most normal thing on earth. It is so easy to loose hope hearing all the bad news regarding our planet and the threats it faces every day. But this day gave me at least a bit of hope again. The oceans, the whole planet is worth fighting for. The day I saw face to face what I want to protect so badly gave me hope again, that we actually can do it. Somehow, someday.
Thank you all so much for this experience.
Marie