The Ultimate Whale-Watching Trip

As I woke up early in the morning, I was very excited. We’re going whale-watching! It was going to be the first time I was going to go for a whale-watching trip. It was about a 45-minute drive to get to the dock where the boat was. After a while, me and my family made it to the dock. In less than five minutes or so, the people on the boat told us that we could get on. After that, we looked around the boat. Soon, the ride started. I really wanted to see a shark.

Soon, the boat ride started. Looking straight ahead, I saw many sea birds like gulls, herons, terns, and cormorants. Then, out of nowhere, a head popped out of the ocean water. It took me a second to realize this, but then I figured out that it was a harbor seal. Then again, I saw another. I began to start some more animals.

As we further out in the ocean, I noticed that there was no land in sight, and it was more windy than usual. It was also getting really hard to spot animals that were far away because of the morning fog. We still managed to see a couple of harbor porpoises. Around the pod, there were also a lot of birds flying around.

After a while, it was getting kind of windy and cold so I decided to go inside. Inside the boat, there was a TV that showed some birds that we could see. Off of those images on the TV, I figured out that the birds that were flying around the pod of porpoises were shearwaters and storm petrels. I then got a feeling to go back outside the boat and look for some marine animals. Looking down, I noticed a lot of little fish in the salty water. Then I remembered. Whales eat these kinds of animals. I kept on looking.

Then suddenly, I spotted something that looked like a black tortilla chip in the ocean water. It came closer and then I realized that the black thing was actually a fin. Then, behind the fin, I noticed something that was exactly like the fin but much smaller. Then its tail popped out of the water.

I could not believe my eyes. It was a shark. It was very big. It was colossal. Other people on the boat said that it was a basking shark; after all, it was about twenty feet long. This was like the biggest fish that I have ever seen. Suddenly, then the huge shark turned very quickly and almost charged at the boat. It was pretty close, so I saw its mouth! It was very big and I could see its gills. We only got a few seconds to witness the basking shark close up before it dove under the water and popped up about two hundred feet away from the boat. I was so happy. This was like the coolest marine creature I have ever seen!

Next, we went on with the search to find some other animals. I went inside to get a candy and then WHALE! My dad screamed out and told me that he saw a whale from the window. I quickly grabbed my camera and ran outside. When I went outside, I didn’t see the humpback whale. Then it blew air out from its blowhole I got to see it dive. I took a picture of it. That was cool! My first humpback whale! Then the whale came back up to the surface of the ocean for about two or three seconds and then it dove back down deep into the sea.

I still waited for the whale to come up to the surface but then I spotted something else. It was a fin, but a lot smaller than the basking shark we saw earlier. Someone else on the boat said that the fin was an ocean sunfish. Wow! Two creatures in five minutes! Then we saw it again! The whale came to the surface again and I got a good picture of its dorsal fin and back. This was so exciting!

At this time, we had been on the boat for about two hours and forty-five minutes so the crew on the boat said we have to return back to the dock. Since we were returning, I decided to go inside of the boat to chill for the next thirty minutes.

After thirty minutes, I went back outside to take pictures and then out of the corner of my eye, I spotted another basking shark! This one was different than the other one because it had some little black spots on its dorsal fin. Since the boat was speeding, I could not take any pictures of this basking shark. But this was such a cool species.

On the way back, I spotted some seals and porpoises. This whale watching trip was four hours but it was worth it. I observed many birds near the surface of the ocean. In a while we saw land. Time went by very quickly and we had made it to the dock very soon. The whale watching trip had gone by so quickly. I want to go again. It was just that fun!

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Pic Credit –  Param Pachchigar,11, Boston

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This article is published by Bookosmia, India’s #1 publisher for and by young people. Bookosmia publishes stories, books, podcasts, events, TED-Ed talks, workshops, bedtime stories and more related to kids and young adults.

Pic Credit –  Param Pachchigar,11, Boston

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