Thar she blows! June 2023

In more than 30 years of aerial photography, Pat and I have been fortunate to have seen many amazing sights, but one view on my bucket list had eluded me. I had always wanted to see a whale. My fish wish finally came true in June 2023 when we were asked to identify schools of anchovies and sardines near beautiful Half Moon Bay, CA. We were accompanied by an expert fish spotter (FS) who would teach us what these schools of fish look like.

Me: “What am I looking for?”
FS: “Look for dark shadows in the water.”
Me: “There’s one!”
FS: “No, that’s a cloud shadow.”
Me: “How about that one?”
FS: “No, that’s a rock.”
Me: “There’s one!”
FS: “Nope, that’s whale poop.”
Me: ***sigh*** But wait…where there’s whale poop, there’s gotta be whales… right?

Sure enough, just under our left wing, “Thar she blows!” and a baby, too!
It was a dream come true x 2!