Blue Whales!

Saturday afternoon we ventured down to Long Beach to see if we could spot some Blue Whales.

My cousins, Dana, Allison, and me, on the cruise.

The last time I'd gone on a Blue Whale cruise we didn't see any whales. However, we did spot several dolphins.

This trip was the exact opposite!

We spotted a few different Blue Whales, all of which came up for breaths on several different occasions. Because the animals are so huge - one of the largest to ever live on the planet, ever - they don't breach the water. They just come up for air every 5-10 minutes.

Because they are such huge animals, when they surface for air all you really see is their back, and the tiny dorsal fins (refer to lower left picture). Blue Whales, although the largest whales, have the smallest dorsal fins.

Wouldn't you know it, one of the whales dove down and his/her tail came up out of the water. And I miss it! I was trying to snap a good photo and I missed the tail. Guess Scott and I will just have to go back!