This week I had an amazing whale watching experience in Geographe Bay near where I live.
Out at sea, I got to watch massive humpback whales splash and jump and slam their tails, and swim under the boat and just be generally awesome.
Getting good photos on a bobbing boat with whales moving about is not easy, so although they breached (jumped right out of the water) the best photo I got of that was a big splash:
But I did manage some great tail shots, including this one:
Which got me thinking of an old rhyme which went something like this:
If you ever ever see a whale
You must never never touch its tail
For if you ever ever touch its tail
You will never never see another whale.
(There is a longer version of this rhyme, with way more ‘evers’ in it. You’ll find it, beautifully illustrated here.)
and of a Shel Silverstein poem about Melinda Mae, which begins:
Have you heard of tiny Melinda Mae
Who ate a monstrous whale?
She thought she could,
She said she would
So she started right in at the tail.
(You can read the rest of that sorry tale here).
There was no eating – of whales, or by whales – on my trip, much to everybody’s relief.
Since I got home I’ve been trying to write a poem which captures the thrill of seeing such massive animals leaping out of the water (we saw a double breach, which was pretty special – two massive humpbacks leaping at the same time, like massive synchronised swimmers) and the way that something so huge can be also so beautiful. The poem is still brewing, but that’s okay – sometimes an experience can take months, or even years, to work itself into a poem.
In the meantime, I have photos, and memories. Wonderful memories.
Today’s Poetry Friday is hosted by Laura at Writing the World for Kids. Pop over there for more poetry goodness.
What an amazing experience, Sally! You got some really nice shots. In the past, when I’ve been on whale or dolphin-watching excursions (nothing like yours, though!), I’ve always struggled with myself– am I going to spend more time looking out at sea or more time looking through the little hole of my camera. Not quite the same predicament with cell phones nowadays, I guess.
How graceful they are, even though they are so big!
Fantastic experience for you, Sally. Thanks for taking us along 🙂
I’m jealous of all your eyes saw that your camera was not able to show us! Someday I’ll see whales in an ocean, not just in a photo! Someday…
I’m smiling, thinking back to our mid-week tweets, Sally.
I wrote a poem in Year 10 about whales. (The poem went on to be my first poetry success.) When I saw humpbacks IRL 10+ years later it was like I knew them already. I was surprised how true the poem was true to the mood and the movements of the tranquil, not-at-all cumbersome mammals.
Looking forward to seeing what you write… however long it may take to brew.
Oh, Sally, what a glorious experience! Thanks for sharing your great photos with us, and the fun links. (Right whales migrate along the coast where I live, though I haven’t seen any.) I love that you mentioned, “…that’s okay – sometimes an experience can take months, or even years, to work itself into a poem.” Amen!
Such magnificent creatures – great snippets of poems and photographs to capture them, too.
Sally, that splash shot makes me smile! Love the tail shots too. My husband and I went on a whale watching trip while in Maine — didn’t see a single whale that day, much to my dismay! They are fascinating creatures. Hope you will share some of your own whale writings!
Thank you for sharing your photos and the poetry. Your post is a prose poem. What an exciting experience. I wish I could have been there with you. What a sight.
How beautiful, & love the reminder of that old poem, “If you ever ever see a whale”. I’ve never seen whales breeching, but did have an amazing experience out of Boston Bay when the boat went way out & we were close enough to touch some whales, see their blow holes & eyes. Glad you shared the pics & the memory, Sally.
Thanks for sharing photos and poems in connection with your whale of an adventure. I knew and have shared with students the first poem; I didn’t know Silverstein’s. Look forward to yours, when it’s sea-soned:) God bless!