I figured I should share this because it was pretty damn cool.
I had the day off so I called up a friend and we headed out to Santa Monica Bay to do a little kayaking and fishing. Even though the wind got bad during noon, we had a fun day and got to see a lot of wildlife. An hour into our trip though, I saw a few pelicans diving and about 15 sea gulls sitting in the water. After paddling the half a mile towards them, the pelicans had left and the sea gulls were still sitting there. Then, a black fin pops out and the gulls get a bit uneasy. The fin then pops up again and swings towards a gull. The finned animal disappears for a few seconds then the water erupts as a one of the largest sea lions I’ve ever seen jumps out of the water, grabs one of the gulls and starts thrashing around with it. Looked like it was straight out of a documentary. I slowly paddle away and the sea lion heads towards my friends kayak, somewhat aggressively but sinks down when he’s about 5 feet away. We never saw it again.
We also got to paddle around with a few dolphins.
There needs to be a green with envy smiley! The only thing I’ve ever seen whilst kayaking has been fish jumping out of the water.
OK, I was waiting for the great white shark story. I’ve seen breaching grey whales about 50 meters away and have had dolphins swim beneath me. I actually saw them approaching me from about 200 meters away. I’ve caught lobsters on opening day. I’m still hoping to see an otter!
We were in Marina Del Rey at midnight a month or two ago and this specific whalebreached about 20 feet away from us. At first I thought it was a giant sea lion but then I heard the distinctive blowhole sound.
We went kayaking on Elkhorn Slough this past weekend, just north of Monterey, and saw a baby sea otter pup lying on its mama’s tummy in the shallows. We heard later it that was around a week old. We also saw lots of other otters, some up REALLY close, and seals, and sea lions, and lots of great birds too.
Oh geez. All I get is an outrigger rental or a dragon boat on the Lachine canal. I saw a dead and bloated mouse floating along the other day. And last year, there was a dead fish caught in the reeds near the docks for about 2 weeks. And occasionally, we can’t paddle at all because heavy storms cause the sewers to overflow into the canal.
And yet, I still go a couple times a week. If I had access to places like you do (and my own kayak/canoe/outrigger perhaps!) I think I’d have a hard time coming off the water!