Bubble Net

Last year I went up with some friends to Ketchikan for a yoga retreat. I don't do yoga but I REALLY wanted to see a whale. I'd lived in the PNW since 1996 and NEVER saw a whale so I figured this would be my best shot.

The retreat was on an island at a fishing lodge and they had a bunch of 16' dinghies we could use whenever we wanted. One day we went to explore some abandoned village and on the way back somebody told us that four humpbacks were just spotted on the South side of the island so went to see if we could see them.

We saw them from a distance and it was exhilarating. I could see that they were coming up together, staying at the surface for a minute or two, and then going down for about five minutes and then coming up again maybe a thousand feet away. It was hard to say where they would come up so I cut the engine and we drifted for a bit, looking around for them.

Suddenly there were air bubbles all around the boat and fish started jumping out of the water. Peggy said something and, almost in slow motion, the four humpbacks came up out of the water not thirty feet from us. We all gasped and were completely gobsmacked at what we were seeing.

They slipped under the water and Karen asked, "Should we be scared right now?" Laura and I just shook our heads and said, "Naw, it's cool."

I couldn't sleep that night and can still feel one of those whales passing under our tiny boat and I haven't been the same since.