A WHALE! A WHALE!

6:20am, I got to Bay Street. There were only 3 people in the water (woohoo!) but the high tide was making the water break very close to the beach which scared me a bit. With hesitation, I went into the water. I figure that even if I didn't catch anything, I can still work on my paddling. And work on my paddling, I did! My arms were jello by the time I got out of the water. I waited in the lineup for about 20 minutes to catch a wave. and NADA! The clock was ticking, and I had to be out of the water by 7:30-7:40 at the least to make it into work. So, I started paddling a bit more outside and south toward Venice to get some exercise, stopping occassionally to watch other surfers along the way. Man, those surfers really make it look so easy. Sigh.. it's okay, I'll get there some day,.. hopefully this year.

On the way back, I stopped for a couple of minutes to watch the surfers in the lineup by tower 25. And about 15 feet away, I suddenly hear a short "PPPoooUUOOof" - and see a blowhole come up and spew air. WHOA! And then it went back down. At first, I didn't know what it was and then realized that it was a whale. It must have been, right? I saw the barnacles and some stripy yellow marks on the back. And with a blowhole like that, what else could it be? Or am I an idiot? My first whale siting ever.... I'm satisfied with my session this morning even though I didn't catch a wave. I paddled til my arms were jello and saw a whale. :)