Blue Whales in Redondo Beach

[mo2vation]

I forgot to share this with the BWE community. My buddy and I are on here all the time - nearly every day. Mostly lurking, always learning and always super appreciative of you guys, your mad skills and the way you share your tricks and tips with all.

On Friday 9/17 I was leaving town for the weekend. On the way out, Claudette and I hooked up in the morning to take the kayaks out and paddle with the Blue Whales that were hanging out in the South Bay. They’d already been there for a week, so we were hoping they’d still be around when we got there.

I wanted to take out a camera with a long lens, not just a point and shoot. I currently shoot Nikon D200’s for my underwater rigs – so I pulled one of the D200 bodies and attached my Nikon 18-200 VR lens, with a circular polarizing filter. I put it into a small, clear dry bag, rolled down the top, put that into a medium clear dry bag, rolled down the top and clipped it into the tank well.

We put the boats in at the hand launch at King Harbor – right near Vets park. We dropped the boats in and then pushed them out of the harbor, past the sea lion buoy and out to the horizon.

Once we started to see Whales I took the camera out of the dry bags, clipped off the small bag behind me and put the medium bag between my knees on the deck to sort of use it as a waterproof holster / sheath / shield to keep as much salt water off the camera and lens as possible between shots. After missing many shots the first 25 minutes out there, I finally got the rhythm of the whales and this crotch-mounted quick draw started working pretty well. My cam and lens were pretty salty when I got back, but they’re both still working.



As we got out past the first nav stick we weren’t alone – there was a veritable armada of boats and crafts out there with us. Kayaks, stand up paddle boards, sail boats, power boats, skiffs and basically anything that would float.



On our way out we encountered this raft of whale watchers. We hung out for a bit, heard some exhalations and saw a spout or two, but it was getting crowded, so Claudette and I decided to push out further. So we pointed the boats again to the horizon and dug in.

The weather could not have been any nicer. Very glassy sea, just a small breeze when there was any wind at all, and very mild swell inside. Here’s a shot of Claudette on the way out. She likes red.



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It wasn't long until we started seeing whales. This is the first pair of whales we spotted one we left the flotilla. That’s Rocky Point in the background, all the way at the end of Palos Verdes. These two whales in the pic were not the big guys. These were really, really huge – but they weren’t the giants that were awaiting on the outside.



Blowing past Rocky Point we continued out into the open ocean where the giants were. We heard some exhalations and saw some spouts way out there that dwarfed the ones on the inside. As we slipped out, we left behind the stand-up paddlers and even the small sail boats. Here, Chica is paddling towards an area she thinks one of the big boys will come up.



She nailed it! One of the giants comes up right near her boat, as she’s rising and falling in the swell outside the protection of the point and the harbor.

The whale takes a breath and Claudette takes her paddle out of the water – holding it high as a sign of respect. With a couple of powerful strokes of his massive pectoral fins he drops his head, and his body follows – until all that’s left is a waving fluke and a huge oily footprint on the water almost twice the length of her boat.














Part two below: The way back home!

[mo2vation]

Part 2 - the Way Back Home

After our time with the giants, we decided if Claudette was going to make it to work on time we better head back in. We were about a 70 or 80 minute paddle back to shore at this point.

On the way back in, we pass a Stand Up Paddler. There were many out on Friday, but none were as lucky as this person. She was screaming and hooting like she won the lotto! It was pretty neat.














 

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After the shots of the Stand Up Paddler, we continued to dig for home. We were now what I’d consider “on the inside” – we were about even with the first nav stick. I saw something in the water, and paddled over to it, and a very large juvenile whale literally came up under my boat.



I can’t believe this thing is this close to the shore while all his buddies are still another 20 or 25 minutes further out! He was totally “logging” – just hanging out on the surface. While I’m shooting, I don’t have my paddle in the water, so I get pushed around a bit – which is OK, as the whale totally adjusts so I’m never too close to it.







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Then an amazing thing happened. He dropped below the surface – he didn’t dive, he just dropped. A moment later he came back up in front of me again – heading towards shore! The same way we were heading. So I got some shots of his powerful back as he was heading in.






He took another breath as he made a turn – deciding better against joining Claudette on our way back into the harbor! As he turned I got a great look into his blow hole – amazing sounds as he breathes out and breathes in, surging through the water.




Just before he sounded and left us, he arched up high right next to my boat. It was amazing to see how the water behaved as it moved down his back. I could also see his small dorsal fin had been chewed by something – as the top half was missing.



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After this experience, we were pretty much breathless – and we still had another 30 or 40 minutes to get back to the harbor. We dug in and pushed back into the harbor at full speed. We jumped out of the boats, pulled them up onto the dock and ran to get the trucks (she was going to be late if we didn’t hurry…)

I re-lived this 3 hours over and over again all weekend. I’ve seen lots of whales from boats of all sizes – from the large Catalina Express boats to large live-aboards to smaller private boats. This is the first time I’ve ever paddled out to find them, and then paddled out even further to find the larger ones.

HUGE thanks to Claudette - your love of adventure, your respect for the sea and for these creatures is inspiring. You are fit, you are fun, you are fierce, you are one in a million.

More thanks to the BWE community. You guys inspire weekend paddlers like us to go out and get close to this stuff.

Many thanks!


-Ken

[fishinkid2010]

Those pictures are incredible! I bet that must have been a blast getting as close as you did to those whales!

[mo2vation]

Originally Posted by fishinkid2010

Those pictures are incredible! I bet that must have been a blast getting as close as you did to those whales!

It was nuts. They make the most amazing sounds.

We saw a couple of dozen that morning... they were thick.

Its weird taking your paddle out of the water, grabbing the camera and now seeing the world through the tiny viewfinder. I had to keep dropping the camera in my lap and re-adjusting the boat, as I'd drift off target.

This is when a Hobie Drive would have been excellent - at least I could keep the bow where I wanted it when my hands were on the cam.

The third shot in the mostah series above - in full rez its about 3400 pixels wide and its razor sharp. Shhh.... I'm gonna print it huge for her.

I'm not blowing smoke when I say you guys rule. Even though she doesn't fish, and I don't any more, if it wasn't for BWE keeping our heads in the game between paddles, we wouldn't get out as much as we do.




-K

[lamb]

Incredible pics indeed!

Thanks for sharing!

[umoa]

freaking epic pictures! What kind of camera do you use?


Do you feel like joining sea shepherd now...?

[mo2vation]

Originally Posted by umoa

freaking epic pictures! What kind of camera do you use?


Do you feel like joining sea shepherd now...?

Scam Shepherd. Don't get me started on those guys. The Hump (the restaurant busted for serving whale months ago) is a block from my office in Santa Monica... I went to shoot the protest and these guys were there. Selling T-shirts with their van double parked. I could go on. Not a fan.

I use a pretty old rig, as far as DSLR's are concerned. Its a Nikon D200. The underwater housings I use are designed for this camera - so even though its about 5 or 6 years old (3 lifetimes in digital imaging) I have a few of them for all my UW shooting.

This was shot with a VR (vibration resistant) lens. A great lens for shooting from a moving platform, like a kayak.

Circular polarizer takes a lot of the glare off the water surface - lets me see a few feet into the water, more vivid colors, etc.

Thx buddy


-K

[old_rookie]

Those are absolutely fantastic pics. Thanks for taking the time to post them here for us to see!!!! Do I have your permission to grab one or two and us them as wallpaper or scrreensaver??

[driftwood]

The best experiences and the best things in life, really don't cost very much.
Life is good...

[dfroggy54]

damn thats awesome..

[tunaseeker]

Thanks for sharing! Those were incredible!

[WahooUSMA]

Very very cool!

[Jzo]

Originally Posted by mo2vation

-Ken

Amazing!

[joeblo]

Thanks for the nice read and some great pics!

I missed out on all the whale action...hopefully, there will be another chance to see them.

[Gigafish]

Some of those pics are incredible and unbelievable. Those pics speaks for itself because not alot of people would believe how close you were. This will be one of those days that you will never forget. Congrats adventure seekers and thanks for sharing.

[Tman]

Wow...hard to choose which pic would be the best to frame they are all incredible...

The lad and I just sat here, staring. First time he got to see just how big they really are, having a kayaker and a SUP'er alongside gave him a new perspective.

Great photos!

[roosta]

Amazing pictures! Thanks for sharing!

[mo2vation]

They have this amazing awareness. Its pretty remarkable - or it seems that way to me as a diver.

The guy with the munched fin that came up, literally, right under me. As you can imagine, he drew quite a crowd. SUP's, Kayakers, a skiff, a sailboat, etc.

He was on the inside - so he was a "little one" (think 40 - 50 feet and not the 80+ foot monstah Claudette was next to) - this guy sunk down after logging a bit, then came back up, horizontal like a submarine, right in the middle of this crowd.

Didn't hit us, didn't splash us, didn't make a wave or even a wake - he very slowly came up, breathed a few times, and then fluked us off and disappeared.

The control, the awareness, the sheer mass these guys move around in the water is shocking. As water people, we kinda get it more than the average dry person.

I know I'll never forget it.

-Ken


PS: I thought I was done. Sorry

[rant on] Here's the thing. Life is about showing up. These guys were off of Redondo Beach, and in the vicinity for nearly two weeks. I got very lucky. I had that Friday off, and was heading up to the Mountains with my church for a thang. I stole away that morning and had an unforgettable paddle.

For the two weekends they were here, I never got out. I suck.

The thing is this: I got out. They were there, and I got out. I brought a nice camera and lens onto a strip of plastic, paddled a couple of miles off shore and got this.

The key is to recognize the extraordinary. In my lifetime we've never had blues this close. The grays, sure. But not these monstahs.

I am thrilled beyond words I was there. I didn't find the time, I MADE the time.

You gotta get in the game. This is why I love BWE. For all the cyber fishers out there, there is a very large number of real fishers out there, recognizing the extraordinary (like the WSB run this year... my gosh) and MAKING the time (not finding the time) to go fishing.

I love this place. [/rant]


-K

[bentrod1]

Obviously your pictures are amazing, but the perspective is just incredible of the paddle boarder and the kayak in the foreground.

To me, these shots are just as good as the 'GW trailing the kayak' shot.

Have you submitted them to any magazines?

Thanks for sharing!

Bret

[min-va]

Really nice pictures~~!!