I have had many encounters with humpback whales, but the encounter I had on this day was by far the most special of all.
This particular humpback whale had been hanging out in the same area for a couple days––in between the Homer Spit, Gull Island, and Halibut Cove. I had seen this whale a few days before but wasn’t able to get a close look at it. However, my luck changed on August 13th and the whale was feeling inquisitive. With our boat off and floating along in the water, the humpback surfaced next to us several times, simply hanging at the surface. It seemed to be in no hurry to go anywhere else. Having a whale choose to approach you is a magical experience that is unlike no other. It continued diving and surfacing next to us for around 40 or so minutes until we had to leave.
Turns out I was one of the first to see and document this individual humpback whale in Kachemak Bay. Thus, I was allowed to give it a name in the local identification catalogue: Y178 “Luck.” While I have not seen this whale since that day, I hope to find him or her again sometime.
This was without a doubt one of the most magical whale encounters I’ve ever had.
-Emma
Leave a Reply