some of you may know that for two summers i worked on whale watching boats for 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, 5 months a year. we would take tourists and whale lovers out to find and experience the marine life that southeast AK has to offer: sea lions, seals, dalls porpoise, orcas & humpback whales.
some of you may know that i am also an author of a seriously engaging non-fiction novella entitled "the hermanator", which follows the adventures of our boat crew for two years spent together.
as you could imagine, there were entire days where me and my crew mates would be in tears at the amazing things we were fortunate enough to witness. the time spent on the inside passage waters with these people every day, it was inevitable that they would become some of my nearest & dearest friends on the planet. we worked together in 1999 & 2000 and to this day we still are a family.
there would be days that our naturalist, renee would be talking to the passengers [100+ a trip] and she would just start crying -- we all would -- maybe because a mother humpback decided to bubblenet feed RIGHT by our boat and we could look down her throat from above, maybe because a pod of orcas were hunting porpoise and booted one so far up in the air with blood rushing everywhere. days consisted of us running around the catamaran from port to starboard side chasing the whales with our eyes.
you know how there are just people in life that make you smile ear to ear? imagine having an entire group of them, laughing together all day for months on end. yeah, basically, no one is more fun than the st. herman crew.
when a group of people spend so much quality time together in nature, untouched by man, i believe that the bond that that creates is spiritual, dare i say, eternal.
me and tone shooting the breeze. not too shabby a view, eh? - 2004
me and tone - 2001
me & captain - 2004
2003
the herman crew minus renee - 2010
2010
me and my captains - 2010
tony and marlowe met on the st. herman, and married 10 years later!!!
those days were some of the most blessed, special days of my life. and i am so forever thankful for my utmost and deep respect for marine life. and i definitely have a HUGE soft spot in my heart for alaska's humpback whales. so when my friend Laura posted this video, i couldn't resist sharing it. it is so touching and beautiful. they are the most special creatures. fer sure!
1 comment:
newly added goal of 2011: to make you laugh and smile like those in these fotos!
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