Whales in Sacramento 


My journey to see the whales... 



"What can be more insane than running down to see the whales?", I asked. I was talking to my good friend Laurie on Wednesday night at the Davis Farmer's Market. I had been hearing about the whales on the news and I was immensely interested. I had been meaning to take my daughter on a whale watching cruise for some years now. But I had never quite had the money (anywhere from $75-150/person) or the time (you have to leave port around 5-6AM) to do so. Here was a unique opportunity. There would be no costs (besides some gas) and I wouldn't have to get up early to see the whales. In fact I could see them whenever I wanted to. But I knew that time was running out. I knew that marine biologists would be trying to herd the whales home and out of the river tomorrow. This might be my last chance. I wasn't working on Thursday...fate had dealt me a wild card that I could play or pass.

I pondered over the decision and during the night I had a vivid dream of seeing the whales. I decided that it was fate telling me that I should go see them. I woke up early in the morning and I tried to gather as much news about the whales as possible. I had no idea exactly where they were other than West Sacramento. I also had my cable disconnected years ago, so I wasn't able to turn on the TV. Luckily I logged online to http://www.kcra.com and watched their live video feed of the mornings broadcast. The helicopter zoomed in and out of the scene. Near Jefferson Blvd. and Washington he said. OK. I knew where Jefferson Blvd. was in West Sacramento. He also mentioned it was near the Port of Sacramento. I looked up the Port of Sacramento online and found that it was at 1110 West Capitol Avenue. I was dismayed to do a Google search, but found that West Capitol and Jefferson didn't intersect. So I was going to try Jefferson first and then try West Capitol next.

I got my sleepy 7 year-old out of bed and told her that we were off to see the whales. "I don't want to see the whales", she said. I was undaunted. "Come on", I said, "There isn't much time, they are going to get the whales out of Sacramento today. This will be our last chance." My daughter rubbed her eyes and I helped her put on her clothes. We had a hastily made breakfast, packed a lunch and snacks, called her school to let them know she would be a little late due to "whale watching" and we were off.

I drove my husband's 4 wheel drive SUV that day. I had only drove in it because it had a GPS in it and I really didn't know exactly where I was going. What's really neat about the GPS is that it will show you nearby bodies of water, so that you can tell if you are close to a river or not. I planned on using that for finding a spot to view the whales. I exited Highway 80 and I was cruising down Jefferson Blvd. I didn't know exactly where to go, so I wandered aimlessly down Jefferson. Then last minute I saw "Washington Blvd.". That was one of the streets the helicopter pilot had mentioned. I blindly made a right onto Washington and headed down. I could soon see a bunch of cars piled up beside a bridge. This was it! I had already seen pictures of the place from above. Now I would see it on the ground. All I could say is that I was happy that I was driving my husband's 4 wheel drive SUV, not my little Toyota Prius. The "parking" was a bumpy, dusty area near the bridge that had formerly been very muddy. I don't think I could have parked where I did (or managed to get out of there with my car's underside still in one piece) if I had not had the SUV!

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Laurana and I got out toting her backpack full of food, binoculars and a camera. We walked about a 1/2 mile to the site. It was pretty obvious with all of the television and radio crews there. Among the many media crews there I saw News 3 KCRA, KFBK radio, Univision (Spanish speaking TV) and Channel 11 from the Bay Area.

We quickly settled in for a spot to see the whales. It wasn't that exciting for my daughter at first. The whales were yards away (maybe a football stadium away) and you could only see the tops in the muddy Sacramento River water. But occasionally the dorsal fins would sprout up. The spout would blow (it looked like steam rising) and the the top would crest and slowly slide back into the water. We stayed there a total of 3 hours. I wish that I had a better camera. My little digital camera is great for taking on the road, but it's zoom capabilities were negligible. And of course the one time the whales actually crested about 75 feet away from me I wasn't ready and by the time my camera was open they had already slid under water. So my pictures were a little disappointing, but I was glad to be there.



By the end of the trip my daughter was finally getting into it (mainly because everyone in the crowd was getting into it). "Do you see the dorsal fin?" "Did you see the spot blow?", someone would ask. Soon Laurana seemed to be talking knowledgeably about the subject with other passerby's. We all quickly became experts on humpback whales and how the marine biologists would be herding the whales back to the ocean.

By the time we were done I was sunburned and my daughter had to use a toilet (remember there are no toilet's nearby if you go). But the defining moment came that night as my daughter took her bath. She had a toy plastic whale with a spout. I showed her the whale underwater with only the hump on the back showing, then I squirted water out of the spout. "You see, that is what we saw today!" A moment of realization came over her face and a big grin. She then did the same thing herself. A mostly submerged whale and the top hump sticking out blowing up some water. "Cool!", she said.

I hope that the whales (mommy and baby) find their way safely back to the ocean, in the meanwhile I can't help but wonder how many lives have been touched by their unexpected yet, "cool" visit. 

Posted: Fri - May 18, 2007 at 09:52 AM          

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