Equinox - March 20th, 2013

OK folks, tomorrow is the Vernal Equinox. Spring is officially here - and not determined by human timetables but by the tilt of the earth in relation to the Sun. Once again a major time of celebration for ALL the earth’s people without the prostitution of this day by religious fanatics of any persuasion and pre-dating their dogmas by tens of thousands of years.

And what could be more appropriate to interject at this moment than the recent addition of a bright new soul to our world. Her name is Layla and she is the daughter of my friends - and past students - Melissa and Jesse Conger. Please welcome this child with a deep breath and a warm smile.

 Layla and Melissa

It has been a full and exciting month, albeit without any whales to ID. I have been out six times now and have only one ID to show for it. Nothing serious I’m sure - plenty of sightings south of me but not many here in my grid as of yet.

The Q’s were here for a month but left yesterday and I will sorely miss them indeed. They are great kayak partners, whale spotters and keep a constant stream of fresh baked goodies coming from their kitchen – not to mention their sweet and sincere devotion to me.

The "Q's", circa 2013 - Quentin, Tristan, Antoine, Brigitte, Jean-Luc

I was also treated to a week-long visit with my dear friend Susan Janssen. We were colleagues at the college for years, always good friends and she is a devoted and avid whale spotter. Unfortunately, in the case of both The Q’s and Susan, our searches were for naught this time around.

No whales but I'm on the sea where I belong

Some of you may have been lucky enough to catch a glimpse of Comet PanSTARRS a week or so ago. My camera could not focus properly but here is a pic I got online that is almost exactly as I saw it from my roof. A reminder of the grandeur of the Universe and the ignorance of thinking we are the only inhabited planet. 2000 extra-solar planets have now been identified and new ones discovered faster than we can name them – and Mars has clays containing all the necessary ingredients for life. Right, we are the only inhabited planet – ludicrous!!

Comet PanSTARRS - March 12th, 2013

Perhaps it is now appropriate for me to mention the “moving onward” of a friend - Carrie Hamburg. The comet is just how I see her. “Que les vaya bien, Carrie”, you were a hoot!.

I have a little story to tell about a whale I know, his name is now “Samson”, with the technical designation of HB# 33 10 (thirty third whale identified in 2010).

HB# 32 10 - "Samson"

Samson was adopted recently by the sons of Stephanie Cannaday as a gift from Lorri Badran who attended one of my presentations in Los Barriles. I have a power point show I do about the whale people and a number of my whales have been adopted by the folks who attend. The boys received this photo ID of Samson and his data sheet from 2010. Not more than a week later I was going through my photo files and found that Samson was a badly wounded whale (determined by the flank shots I took) and I wanted Jorge’s (Dr. Jorge Urban Ramirez, UABCS) opinion on the wound. Here is that photo:

Samson, 2010 - Sea of Cortez, cerca Los Barriles

He replied immediately and said that it was definitely a propeller strike from a boat. Upon further examination of his files he said that this whale had been seen before – in Alaska in 2005 and was then already wounded!

Samson, 2005 - North Pacific, cerca SE Alaska

I sent both pictures to Lorri - the family was heart broken that their whale had been hurt so. I felt bad about that and upon searching through my pics yet again, I found that Samson had had a partner with him the day I took the shot. His/her technical designation is HB# 32 10 and here is that whale's photo ID.


Hb# 32 10 - "Urho"

 Much to my surprise and delight HB# 32 10 had not been yet adopted! That is interesting because I had very carefully gone through my old files and was CERTAIN that no other whales could be adopted from 2010 – they were all already taken. How could I have missed HB# 32 10?? Seeing that as an omen I sent the folks HB# 32 10 as a gift with the statement that they could now know that Samson may be wounded, but he is a survivor and has a partner. His partner is now “Urho” – so named by a three year old in their family.

Shortly after this I saw that another (this is happening more and more as the whales become entangled in the increase in fisherman's nets) humpback was recently rescued by a quick response team in California. It had been entangled in a net and would certainly have died had those humans not been willing to put their lives on the line to help a member of “The Whale People”. Warms my heart!!

Another human/whale interaction - RESCUE

These are the kinds of stories I tell in my presentations and in a special talk I gave in Cabo Pulmo on a “Guest Writer’s Night” a week ago regarding my book, THE OTHERS "The Whale People" A Personal Journey of Discovery, Transformation and Healing.

Intimate night in Cabo Pulmo - story telling

I recently watched the movie ‘V for Vendetta” again. There is some gratuitous violence but all in all a movie worth seeing.


Prophetic

And finally a few words of wisdom from two of my favorite people.


Depp/Capt. Sparrow

And for those who are perhaps offended by my occasional tirades against organized religion, here’s something from The Dali Lama that pretty much says it for me.


Simple, direct, no sin, no judgement, no self appointed representatives to The Great Mystery.

Another "sailor take warning" sunrise!

On the 4^th of this month I had my first kayak encounter with a whale for this season. I succeeded in intercepting a whale a bit out from The WZ and when I got to within about a quarter mile I discovered it was a fin whale (first I’ve ever seen). I eventually got within 50’ of it and it was a beauty! They are the second largest of the great whales – not exactly rare but unfortunately endangered. It was an honor to be compadres for a few moments.

              

Fin Whale

I was also visited by a group of dolphins that day and had a great swim in over the reef afterwards.

                 

Common Pacific Dolphins - this pic was taken two years ago

The next day I saw three humpbacks from my roof and hustled down to the beach to launch my kayak (it’s about a 10 min. drill), but for the first time ever I was turned back by the wind at about 1/8 mile out. I may be obsessed but I ain’t stupid!

On the 8^th it was a perfect day for a search but due to a mix up in scheduling (that I’m still pissed off about) I couldn’t get out to The WZ in a panga so I went out in my kayak. In just ½ hour I encountered four humpbacks (would have been four certain ID’s) and one Bryde’s whale. I got real close to two of the whales. One of them never did a flukes up and I was able to kayak next to him for a good mile or more. We were separated by only 10’ most of the time and never further away than 20’ – that was sooo cool! I talked to it the whole time, sang a bit, chuckled a lot.

               

Humpback up close

The 17^th was my first time out on a search in the panga. Did the full grid but not a whale in sight. I went out again on the 19^th, this time with my friend Ishmael and we came across three humpbacks. I only got one ID - but world class – and he has been adopted by my good friend Marilee Spurlock in Hawaii. His name is now “Beethoven”.

              

"Beethoven" - HB# 1 13

When Ishmael and I got to where the other two whales had been breaching they were gone. It was all about, “one bird in the hand…..”

Went out yet again yesterday (the 24^th) but not a blow anywhere. We did however come across a herd of hundreds of Common Pacific Dolphins, quite a sight!

             

My "other" family - The Q's, went out with me yesterday. From left - Antoine, Jean-Luc, Quentin, Brigitte, Tristan.

 Next window of opportunity looks like next Sunday or Monday – big wind today and the rest of the week.

Check out this video of a “calving” glacier back in 2008 – impressive!!

http://www.youtube.com/embed/hC3VTgIPoGU?rel=0

On May 28, 2008, Adam LeWinter and Director Jeff Orlowski filmed a historic breakup at the Ilulissat Glacier in Western Greenland. The calving event lasted for 75 minutes and the glacier retreated a full mile across a calving face three miles wide. The height of the ice is about 3,000 feet, 300-400 feet above water and the rest below water.

Back in 2006 while looking for a publisher for my Indian ethnography, one of the reviewers suggested I turn the manuscript into a historical novel. I worked on it off and on till last year when I handed it over to a new friend, Lance Larson, who had more expertise in dialogue than myself. Well, he finished it and it is now available on Amazon as an e-book. Check it out.

                         

My first, perhaps only, attempt at fiction.

Overall things are going rather well for me, I am most pleased with my health at this point and the health and happiness of my two much loved and respected children – Kersti and Zack. Here’s a little ditty that Kersti puts as a post script on all her mail – brings a smile to me every time.

Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...

it's about learning how to dance in the rain!" 

                 
Kersti always ready to go with a smile.

                      
Kersti at University graduation - attitude!


                  
 Kersti recent - still smiling!

And look what The Estonians are doing!

http://cleantechnica.com/2013/02/23/estonia-is-1st..."

              

Estonian flag - blue illuminates a bright future and represents the nordic sky, black is a reminder of the people's past struggles and represents the earth (or soil), and white represents the efforts of the people toward enlightenment (the literal translation is "toward the spiritual light") and represents both the snows of winter and the bright summer nights.

Here are a few extraneous shots:

                            

My way of relieving the tensions of graduate school - 1968

                            

If we don't care for our oceans, the rest is immaterial.

                              

Here's hoping!

Another windy day on the east cape

Well, we are having quite a winter down here so far – lots of wind and a bit colder than usual. It is of course the season for north winds - after all Los Barriles, just south of me, is one of the kite surfing centers of the world - but we are getting longer periods without a break, like 15 days. That makes it impossible for me to kayak, snorkel or even swim laps because the sea is too rough….and forget about seeing whales! Please do not feel sorry for me - I don’t. You don’t get to live the life I do without some occasional inconveniences. I just spend my time reading and writing. My spiny tailed iguana “Isabella” that lives in my driftwood condo hasn’t been out for a stroll in weeks. The Reptile People don’t do well in this kind of cold.

             
Sunrise before the wind is up

These winds were great for the annual Lord of the Wind competition in Los Barriles on the 15^th. I didn’t go this year but I heard it was pretty exceptional, world class competitors, strong winds, friendly people….all good.

The good people at Land and Homes Realty in Los Barriles hosted two presentations of my whale work last month and I am scheduled for another at the end of February. Full house every time – very satisfying and great fun for me. Thanks again Pam, Carlynn, Blake and David.

It appears I may be writing an article each month for “East Capers” a local gringo paper starting this month.

On the 20^th and the 23^rd the wind died for a couple of hours and enough for me to do my laps. I swore after years of lap swimming in HS that I would never do another yet here I am religiously getting into the water every other day for a workout. Somehow it’s way different without a coach yelling at you and also being able to look at all kinds of sea critters as you swim (I always wear my mask/snorkel). Had a nice swim with a sea turtle one of those days and a small group of infant Mobulas on the other. A full wet suit is necessary for me at this time of year, my body just can’t take the cold like it used to.

                             

This pic was taken last year, same gear all a bit older

Both of those times I had to really force myself into the water but I realize that it is ABSOLUTELY necessary that I not give in to laziness regarding workouts. I know that my body is my temple and I need to keep it well toned if I expect to continue to live the quality of physical/mental/spiritual life I demand. Each time I come out of the water after my laps I turn to Grandmother Ocean, raise my arms in salute and feel so friggin' good!!

Oh, just a little side: there is an asteroid coming by on the 15^th. It will be closer to us than the moon, only 14,000 miles away from what I have read. Those of you who can relate to cosmic distances know the significance of this event. It will not come into our atmosphere and therefore will not be seen as a meteor nor should it have any influence on our planet. I believe that it will be visible with high powered binocs if conditions are perfect. It is about the size of two freight cars.

                   

Asteroid 2012 DA14

Speaking of things astronomic, I hope you all saw the conjunction between the moon and Jupiter on the 21^st. Pretty impressive. I forgot it was happening and luckily looked up at the moon that night and said to myself, “what the hell”. Then I remembered and just took in the beauty of it for a while.

                 

 Moon and Jupiter 1/21/13

 If I hadn’t become a biologist, I would have probably become an astronomer, or anthropologist, archeologist……

                

"Wolf Moon" off my roof

I saw the other day some of the media around gay Boy Scouts and the dilemma regarding it. Homophobia is such an ignorant and evil phenomenon. I was a Boy Scout back in the early 1950’s and used to go to scout summer camp in the mountains outside of the Bay Area - Camp Pomponio. I was a very sensitive kid and also very shy so never felt particularly at ease there. One year I did find a great companion. He was like me in many ways and we both had a kind of Tom Sawyer-Huck Finn approach to life, in fact his name was Tommy Baker. We enjoyed just taking off in the woods, exploring nature, pretending to be Indians and generally doing all the things we were not supposed to do. I was assigned a tent with four guys that I came to dislike highly, as they did me, so one night I snuck into Tommy’s tent and slept with him in his sleeping bag. Well, when a bed check was done and I wasn’t in my rack a major search began and eventually I was found in Tommy’s bag with him. After that things got a little weird at the camp for us, yet the amazing thing is that Tommy and I never got it! We never realized that our relationship could be viewed as anything but just two good friends enjoying the hell out of each other’s company. My poor brother Peter, who was a counselor there at the time, and though he never said a word, he must have been terribly embarrassed for me. The point is not that we weren’t gay, the point is that if we had been that it should have been seen as WRONG, it was indeed so beautiful and right.

 On the 26^th I did get a 4 hour break in the wind and I hustled out to The WZ. No whales but a few Mobulas and one small Hammer Head Shark that erupted out of the water nearby – beautiful creature!

              

This is winter kayaking. The picture was taken in 2005 before I brought my own kayak down. I can't believe that this was taken 8 years ago. I feel stronger, healthier and more spiritually centered now than then.

I finished Will Durant’s first volume recently and went straight to the book “1491” for my “study/cocktail hour”. For any of you who would like to really understand the American Indian presence in the western hemisphere prior to Columbus must read this book. I finished that last week and am now into Durant’s second volume, the age of The Greeks – FASCINATING!! He begins with The Minoans, my second all time favorite culture after The Egyptians…..excluding of course my number one favorite, The Estonians.

                  

The Minoans predated the ancient Greeks and were a people so sophisticated that even The Egyptians considered them unique and due special respect. I had the good fortune of seeing first hand some of their art and artifacts while touring the island of Thera (now Santorini).

Winds are supposed to lessen during the next week and it looks like there may be some kayak time around Thursday. If so, I’ll be out there!

A couple of last words – not mine but I sure do relate!

 Singin’ and Slidin’ 

 My daughter Kersti sent me this picture. I’m not sure what it is about it that struck me so deeply but knew I wanted to share it. No question but that many times in my life Kersti has brought me strength, comfort and peace. There is something very strong about this “angel” and perhaps that’s what it is that impacts me so much – Kersti is like that. Actually, I just realized that it is not an angel at all, it is a Faerie - that's why it appeals to me so much! It makes all what I have said about Kersti much more relevant to me.

                      

                         Dariabar

Almost exactly 15 years ago I boarded the 84 ft sailing schooner Dariabar to sail with her as a crewman from San Francisco to Hawaii to monitor the humpback population around Kauai during the ATOC experiment. It was my first passage on a sailing vessel and I look upon it as one of the three most important periods in my life’s journey.

                                   
                                                 The Constellation Orion

Being the novice crewman on board I drew “dogwatch” (12:00am-4:00am, 12:00pm-4:00pm) so I was told to pretty much steer by the stars during my nights at the helm. It was the constellation Orion that I used to guide the boat towards Hawaii. Today as I gaze up at Orion and remember those many nights being guided by the above stars I am drawn back to the memory of a younger man and all the things that he was beginning to learn about himself, the sea and friendship. In particular I think of my helmsmate, Jack Frost, who spent many nights with me in the open cockpit discussing everything “under the stars” and literally stood by me at the helm during a midnight gale in mid-pacific….aahh, thanks Jack wherever you are.

                         

 Here I am at the helm of Dariabar – my home for close to 6 months, 1998.

                          

 And here’s Jack, ex-New Zealand commando, music lover, philosopher, FRIEND.

                  

OOPS

On Solstice morning I was on my way down to the beach to do my exercises. I have to cross this little bridge over the gully and shortly after crossing over a wasp stung me on the ankle. Not being prepared for that I lost my footing and “careened” into the gully to the right. I kept my legs under me (missing a host of major brambles and  football sized rocks), did not twist an ankle or spring a knee, stuck my hands out to cushion my crash into the other side of the gully (did not sprain or break a wrist – always a problem for me in football/basketball) ended up in a push up pose against the other side and…..NOT A SCRATCH, NOT A BREAK – NADA. I took a deep breath, thanked The Great Mystery and all my favorite Gods and Goddesses and began to laugh. I am still amazed at how that could have happened!

As part of my new years tradition here in Baja I always put up a new Earth Flag on the 1^st. Here’s why – it gets windy down here.

                
Earth Flag, Dec. 31st, 2012

                
Earth Flag, Jan. 1st, 2013


                
William and Ariel Durant  1939

This is a picture of William and Ariel Durant who co-authored the magnificent series of books, “The Story of Civilization”. I recently finished the first of 10 volumes and was desperately seeking the next volume so I put out a request on the local gringo “need” internet site. UNBELIEVABLE! There is a woman in San Jose del Cabo who has all 10 and is more than happy to lend them to me. I cannot even begin to describe what a great work this series is and I believe anyone who wants to “connect the dots” of history should start here. Am I lucky or what?

“He conceived of philosophy as total perspective, or, seeing things sub specie totius, a phrase inspired by Spinoza's sub specie aeternitatis. He sought to unify and humanize the great body of historical knowledge, which had grown too voluminous and become fragmented into esoteric specialties, and to vitalize it for contemporary application. Durant was a gifted prose stylist and storyteller who won a large readership in great part because of the nature and excellence of his writing, which, in contrast to formal academic language, is lively, witty, charismatic, colourful, ornate, epigrammatic, in short, humanized".

Wikipedia

                   

Extraordinary Breach

You’ve got to love those humpbacks!! Not my pic but I’ve seen a few doing close to this. Two went by a couple of days ago but I wasn’t here. My good friend Roxanne, ever vigilant for me, e-mailed to let me know they were moving my way but unfortunately I was not here. I will have many opportunities in the next 3 months however, so no rush.

BTW: a week ago I was interviewed on “Hay House Radio” about my book. It will be broadcast all over the world sometime in February, I’ll let you all know when I find out the dates.

                    

Kayaking in The WZ in January

Since a good part of my book is about ME, and the healing journey I have been on, I wanted to share this little ditty I saw on FB. I’m trying to do just this.

                  

Sometimes all it takes is one picture to remind me of the absolute grandeur of life. To me, the picture below epitomizes the concept of peace in it’s simplest and purest form.

                          

Peace

May your journey be full of adventure, risk and heart pounding joy – cross the bridge and see what is on the other side. This pic was sent to me by my Sweet Thing, Terry, in Charlotte. Remember the Nave greeting in Avatar, “I see you”? Well, am I not lucky to be seen with this much understanding of who I am.

                  

The bridge to adventure

So, get on with it!

                           

Happy Trails