by Donna Swagerty Shreve
My youngest son became obsessed with whales in his senior year in high school. He had researched them and culminated his studies with an exhibit at an off-campus studio for independent students. Brad was a teacher’s aide and did the assignment as a separate project to get more high school academic credit. He created a giant milk carton to demonstrate how much milk a young hump back whale drinks per day. The symbolic milk carton was larger than his 6 foot 2 inch frame. He created a hands-on demonstration of how krill is gleaned from the ocean to provide food for the whale. He used a huge hair comb in a large plastic tub. He had whale recordings and many other items that contributed to our understanding of hump back whales.
With this in mind I researched whale watching trips near us. I found one out of San Francisco that headed towards the Farrallon Islands past the Golden Gate Bridge. I mentioned the adventure to my sister and she decided she wanted to come with us and bring her two daughters. My sister Jane has had motion sickness since childhood. On many a family car trip she would become ill and force a stop to either clean up the side of the car or herself. She wanted her girls to have this adventure so she tried all she could think of to prepare herself for avoiding becoming sea sick. She wore a special preventative patch behind each ear and she had also taken some dramamine that is designed to prevent motion sickness. Jane was fully armed.
As our group entered the boat, the personnel told us that any one who is even the least bit susceptible to sea sickness to sit at the back of the boat. They claimed it would be the best place to sit. What they left out was it was the best place to sit so no one else had to witness your illness. I agreed to accompany Jane to the back while the kids wandered around the front and sides of the boat eagerly watching for any whales. The back of the boat is a rougher ride. Also the gasoline fumes combined with the toilets and cooking smells wafting to the back of the boat. I never usually get any hint of motion sickness and even I was starting to experience the beginnings. I decided to move to the side of the boat away from the smells and extra motion of the boat. Jane joined me. Even with all of her armor she was certainly green around the gills. We happened to have the port side mostly to ourselves as the rest of the passengers had decided the starboard side was more promising for any sightings. We had not seen any activity so far and the crew was becoming a bit stressed as our time was running out.
Jane was trying ever so valiantly not to become ill but she was slowly losing that battle. She was leaning over the side of the boat so she would not mess up the boat nor herself. The timing of the next event was priceless. Just as Jane was giving in to her strong impulses to throw up every thing she owned, the baby whale decide to swim under our boat and surface very near to where Jane was decidedly throwing up. To add to the drama, the loud speaker announced, “Thar’ she blows” as the mother joined her baby on our side of the boat. Of course there was a scramble of the passengers our side of the boat and Jane now had quite an audience.
I am afraid I found humor in the ridiculous situation and stood there nervously giggling while seeing what I could do to help my sister. We now had the 30 mile return trip to the dock where we started. Jane felt a bit better but not much. The kids got to see whales up close and we now had another family story.
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