Open Thread – Fin Whales
8 02 2010
I found that after watching the entire Sarah Palin Tea Party speech and accompanying interview last night, I needed to find a “happy place.” It ended up being the Deep Oceans episode of the incredible series Planet Earth. And it was probably that that got me thinking about whales.
The dvd had some incredible footage of blue whales. I’ve never seen one in person. I know that they do swim in arctic waters, but don’t often make it close to shore. But a very respectable runner-up on my whale wish list is the fin whale. They don’t get all the glamor and attention of the largest whale. They live in the perpetual shadow of their larger cousins as the second-largest whale. I didn’t know much about fin whales until I had the good luck of ending up in the middle of a pod of them.
These whales, unlike the big blues, swim right up into Resurrection Bay near Seward. I’ve been on a boat in Resurrection Bay more times than I can count, but I’ve only seen these gentle giants a couple of times, and never quite like I did this day.
There’s realy no good way to describe their bigness. No matter how many ‘really’s I put in front of “big” it just doesn’t do it. And multiply that indescribable bigness by nine whales and you’ve got a moment you’ll never forget. The engine was cut and the only sounds were the sloshing of the waves against the side of the boat, a few sea birds, and the incredibly loud, forceful puffing spouts of a pod of 80-foot whales.
They are baleen whales (filter feeders) and are also known as common rorqals. Unfortunately they are uncommon when you go by the numers, and are considered to be an endangered species.
There was no doubt they were curious about the boat. We weren’t going anywhere, and with the whole big bay at their disposal, they headed our way, and the nearer they got, the more amazing it was. They finally swam right past the boat, two of them gliding directly underneath as we held our breath watching their long sleek bodies through the water as they kept going and going and going.
If I’d been wearing dive gear, nobody could have kept me in the boat.
February 8th, 2010 at 5:53 PM
I hear ya’. Just poured more wine. Errrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
February 8th, 2010 at 6:07 PM
@ Trish and jc in co
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Yeah…..she’s a blight of biblical locust proportions….. Or maybe she’s just a locust with a Bible….. Or maybe she’s just a blighter with the proportions of a locust….
February 8th, 2010 at 6:29 PM
Hi !!
I’m a tea-bagger and I love sarah.
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs174.snc3/20160_1211471930487_1339414029_30544062_1334491_n.jpg
February 8th, 2010 at 6:34 PM
Check this photo of the space shuttle launch. Click on the photo to enlarge.
http://spaceweather.com/submissions/large_image_popup.php?image_name=Richard-S.-Wright-Jr.-LastNighLaunch_1265622144.jpg
February 8th, 2010 at 6:43 PM
Dear Senator McCain, although I mostly respect you and your career, I would just like to wish you and your presidential campaign a giant F^*k You for legitimizing Sarah Palin in the eyes of middle America. You have left us with political herpes. Sincerely, The rest of America.
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Hahahaha !!
Found that comment on reddit. Others were ….uh….off the chart.
February 8th, 2010 at 6:46 PM
Here is a link copied from someone posting on the Palingates thread.
It is from the Reading Speech today and has some pictures.
The 2nd speech is later tonight.
http://www.redding.com/news/2010/feb/08/sarah-palin-redding-today/
The story mentioned that there were about 25-30 protesters. Yesterday I had mentioned that one way to protest is with a ‘ Big Finger ‘ sign.( just looked up a company ) Colbert has this ” Wag of the Finger ” segment on his Show. You could also use these signs to ‘ give Sarah the finger ‘ and in the Palm have something written in … your choice. This Online company says you can order them for as little as $2… or less. ( I assume that is with the saying printed )
That’s cheaper than paper and wood for a sign.
About 30 of these fingers waving at the same time would look good on camera. Is she coming to your Hometown..?
Who wouldn’t spend $2 to give Sarah the finger..?
February 8th, 2010 at 6:48 PM
Rob in Cal @ 85
Thanks for the link. I found this excellent comment there (copying only part of it)
“I find you particularly egregious because you like to beat your chest about America’s yeoman culture of self-sufficiency as a strawman counterpoint to all this alleged Socialism, but then simultaneously excoriate President Obama for somehow not helping your wife get a job. Seems to me that, for consistency’s sake, you should be blaming your wife alone for her failure. Surely pioneer types like yourselves don’t need the government?”
February 8th, 2010 at 6:52 PM
Arghhhh. Too quick with the ‘ finger ‘…. ( post # 103 )
Forgot the link. And the spam filter doesn’t like my link. I will try to shorten it or search ” foam fingers for sale ”
Won’t take the link.. you will have to use the googles
February 8th, 2010 at 7:10 PM
@ 100 austintx
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Very tricky photo, austin!
For a second, I thought it was SP herself until I looked at his left hand. A true Palin fan will usually have a banana in his hand like this clown while the gen-U-whine scarah will always have cold, hard cash….or crib notes.
February 8th, 2010 at 7:30 PM
106 Lee323 Says: February 8th, 2010 at 7:10 PM
@ 100 austintx
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Very tricky photo, austin!
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Dang it… thought I hid “the package” better.
Must be what Marnee meant when she said I was being spilled. …
February 8th, 2010 at 7:39 PM
@ sauerkraut
Polyester knit never hides the package, my friend. Try a Scottish kilt next time. They work beautifully as long as you don’t do cartwheels.
February 8th, 2010 at 7:58 PM
# 104 tamara
That quote was a particular favorite of mine too except for the slight drawback that the person (s)he was responding to probably wouldn’t have understood it. In fact, I suspect the only part of that quote which percolated through the interstices of the brain of that person is “you should be blaming your wife…..”
Ooooooh. Am I being elitist here? Dang. Reality bites.
February 8th, 2010 at 8:50 PM
It’s illegal of course, but my brother, at age 16, jumped out of a small fishing boat to swim with the whales off the coast of Cape Cod. From the time he could walk, my brother adored the water — and later went on to work around the world as a professional diver.
Even today, years since the Cape Cod incident, I can still sit and listen to the story again and again. For thirty minutes, before he was finally noticed by a passing boat, Jim swam alongside a school of three colossal whales, listening to their voices and getting spun in circles every time they passed. My mother didn’t appreciate the FBI arriving at our house that night, but we weren’t completely surprised. It said something about the agents that when Jim told the story, they sat silently, in awe. He got off without a fine.
February 8th, 2010 at 8:52 PM
We have California grays in off our coast. I’ve been out on whale watching boats through the Natural History Museum and seen them.
I’ve petted dolphins and killer whales at Sea World.
I know the grays are small compared to fins and blues. I’ve only seen video of the big guys, some from under water by photographers who dive. Just awesome stuff. Makes me wish I could swim with the whales too.
If we weren’t turning our oceans into toilets and killing fish and animals like there was no tomorrow…..I’d love to come back as a whale.
February 8th, 2010 at 9:08 PM
Mlaiuppa
I share your sentiments.
I’ve been fortunate to meet whales in Hawaii, Puget Sound and SE Alaska. These creatures are so beautiful and seem so wise and curious about us. If you have ever been fortunate to have looked one in the eye, it is truly life changing.
Great story AKM…
February 8th, 2010 at 9:16 PM
OMG, Stephen Colbert just called SP a “F***ing Retard”, but said he was using satire! The audience roared!!!
February 8th, 2010 at 9:28 PM
I’ve seen whales close up in Hawaii (fishing boat), at a distance breaching in the Coral Sea (from a small plane to Lady Eliot Island, a southern outpost of the Great Barrier Reef), and from the boat in which I was learning to sail in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (we were approaching Bequia, and Captain Shawn told us not to tell anyone there, or the whale would be hunted). They always make my heart beat faster! I love, love, love them.
Health and peace.
February 8th, 2010 at 10:23 PM
# 116
jennywa Says:
February 8th, 2010 at 9:16 PM
OMG, Stephen Colbert just called SP a “F***ing Retard”, but said he was using satire! The audience roared!!!
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I saw the Show as well… I am 100% sure that Gryphen will post this one. He’s a big Stewart/Colbert Fan. Jon Stewart with Louis Black was hysterical as well with the sarah/rush hypocrisy.
She is sooooo short-sighted in her thinking by defending Rush with that lame excuse. ANY Comedian can now just say beforehand…I’m just Quoting SP… ” This is just satire.. ” and then say anything they want. She can’t take offense. She set the Rules for them and they will use them to their advantage. Just as in the past….with a professional comedian…she’s going to lose again.
February 9th, 2010 at 2:43 AM
zyggy i started reading the cafferty comments last night and am still at it. i think i just figured out why Willow isn’t on the trail with her mother anymore. she’s too embarrassed. poor lil piper doesn’t get a choice, but willow’s big enough to make a real scene.
February 9th, 2010 at 5:16 AM
My comment yesterday at #19 mentioned Eddie Burke and should have been Ed Shultz as the one being asked to run for a senate seat. Posted too early in the a.m. I guess. Or maybe my brain is getting totally distorted with all the failin palin everywhere. I think every major newscast yesterday gave her face time. I’m sending emails to all to tell them to stop the free air space they’re giving her.