A little girl, maybe 4 or 5 years old, was standing on deck next to me, looking out at sea and asking her dad: “Can you see whales from the ferry?’, and he replied that yes, indeed you could, or so he had heard from others. “I’ve heard stories about that. People have seen whales. I haven’t, but people say they have.” — “But do you know for sure? I don’t believe them”, she countered.
That’s when I went over to that little girl and showed her this picture on my camera. I zoomed in so she could see what I wanted her to see, a tiny harbour porpoise feeding in the tideline, just minutes before she stepped on deck. “Your dad’s right, look at this little animal here. It’s a harbour porpoise. That’s a little whale. And I’ve seen it from right where you are standing right now. And I’ve seen many of them from this very ferry. So always keep your eyes open.” ????
As her dad mouthed me a “thank you”, it occurred to me that this little girl, who was now looking at the pictures scrolling across my camera’s screen would probably do just that from now on, and and keep her eyes open for wildlife… @bcferries magic. ????
I wish I had had a Porpoise Conservation Society brochure in my backpack or had asked her dad for contact details. Would have been great to show her more… But I found this little moment quite special as it was. ❤️????????️
(P.S. Try and spot the porpoise in this picture.)
-Marcus
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