For this month’s issue I wrote and provided photographs for a feature story about the natural history of humpback whales. When writing the article, I couldn’t help but think that it might come as a surprise to some readers to find an article about humpback whales in California Diving News because humpbacks are not commonly encountered in our waters. But sightings do happen here, and they are fairly routine in Hawaii, Mexico’s Sea of Cortez and Revillagigedo archipelago, and several other destinations around the globe where California divers often visit. And when those encounters do occur, they are nothing short of magical!
If you survey the diving public about the creatures they might expect to see in California, our big animals — the whales, dolphins, sharks, seals and sea lions — might get completely overlooked or relegated to an unlikely possibility. I won’t tell you that you can swim off any beach at any time of year and swim eyeball-to-eyeball with Mr. Big, but when experienced California divers gather it is usually easy to find someone that has a story to share about their experience “big stuff” in California waters.
Personally, I have enjoyed more than my fair share of Mr. Big dives, and what I want to share with you here is not facts about natural history, but about how those encounters made me feel.