Thursday, November 25, 2010

morning ride

Henry and I went out for an early morning bike ride.  



The Right Whale (listen to audio) migrate south to the waters around St. Simons Island and down into Florida to birth their calfs.  They spend November through April caring for their newborns here.  Coming next week a team of saints move in next door and stay till April.  They come every year to monitor the whales, keeping close track of them and reporting their location to boaters and huge cargo ships to hopefully avoid collisions with these endangered beauties.










6 comments:

Makeminemidcentury said...

Beautiful black and white photos ...

Thank goodness for whales, they are such wonderfully mammoth creatures.

We have humpbacks which traverse the East Coast of Australia from June to November (from memory) for breeding etc. Their numbers are increasing every year and so is the site-seeing tourist industry, which is good because it's very respectful towards and educative of the whales.

There's an albino Humpback among the migrating whales called 'Migaloo' which the entire State of Queensland waits to hear news of every year!

I think about this time last year I was reading Moby Dick.

Unknown said...

Dear Rachel, when i was a kid in Seattle i started a whale watching club. it composed of me and my BFF.
i begged my dad to drive us to a cliff at a far away park and we'd set up "camp". i wrote a book once- wish i could find it.
whales are so magical and wise.
lovely post that really flooded me with fond Northwest memories.
thank you!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful, Rachel! And I think I'm in love with Henry... so glad that I got my computer up and running again.

As you know, Norway has a vast coast line; luckily the whale hunting has more or less ended.
My father's family got rich from the hunting of whales. Nothing to be proud of.

Happy weekend, friends!

Rachel said...

MMMC: It's nice to know the humpback is making a comeback, the right whale's population has sadly not grown very much since it's protection.
Its heartwarming to hear that Migaloo is such a star there in Queensland. Awe inspiring creatures for sure.

Milady: I could picture your camp up on the cliff, looking out to sea hoping to spot a whale. I would love to read the book you wrote. That idea has inspired me to create a little book with the kids about the right whale. thanks for sharing your story, i conjured up memories of whale watching too and of my one and only trip to Seattle.

Lilli: so happy to have you back! it is amazing that there are whales still being hunted, i try to forgive the ignorance and greed of our ancestors.
last night while playing a card game greta said , " whales should only be taken out of the ocean and eaten if they get really old and die by themselves...and it should be the same for chickens."
amen!

Anonymous said...

I agree with Greta: 'Chickens should only be taken out of the ocean if they're really old...'
(Sorry, just made me smile a lot :)

Rachel said...

Lilli: Have you never heard of the Great Pacific Sea Chicken? Fortunately not many have, so their population thrives up and down the California coast. ;)