trying out my sea legs

The Skipper (captain) of the Jervis Vessel #3 got on the intercom gave a run down of the morning... telling us about the area of Jervis Bay, what we might encounter today, tea and crumpets available on the main deck, come and chat with the marine biologist on board, what to do if you become sea sick. Did you know that you should look at the water when you feel sea sick? Doesn't that sound ironic? They say the worst thing you can do is to close your eyes or put your head between your down. Its best to look out to the water or focus on land. I don't know why I got into such detail on that, I didn't even get close to being sea sick.

It was my first time at sea, and it was literally breath taking. Its not like we were on a speed boat, but looking out on the vastness of the ocean and taking in the fresh, cool air was incredible.

Skipper said he saw the spring of a blow hole and so we set sail in that direction. I must have missed the part where he said, "Please do not stand or jump up on the rails." When I saw the first whale, I was like a kid on a leash at the state fair! I was hardly able to control myself! I jumped on the first rung of the rails, leaning over the edge as if I was going to jump in there with them. We stayed along side a family of 3 humpback whales for about an hour as they surfaced and flapped their tails, it was like they knew we were watching.

After all this excitement, I went down to the where Skipper and the marine biologist were stationed, I think it was called the Bridge. Marine Biologist Scott was like a walking encyclopedia when it came to marine wildlife and their migration habits. He shared with me that the male whale we spotted had some usual markings on him. To an inexperienced whale watcher as myself, the markings were simple black stripes on his under side. Scott identified them as scars from a scuffle this whale got into with some boat's motor blades. He reckons that he got good enough photos that he may be able to match them up with other pictures taken up the coast to track this whales migration.

The most interesting thing I learned from Scott is that a whale's tail fin is like a human finger print. Each one is unique to each whale and can also be used for identification as part of the research he was conducting.

When we were pulling back into the bay, we spotted some dolphins close to the harbor. It was a great capper to a great day.