Thank you to this years sponsors!
Calling all Mermaids: Young Mermaids came from the four corners to Thank the Whales!
Ocean Outfall Group royalty Sandra Brazil working hard to make this years event another success!
Oriana Kalama flew in from Maui to be our honorary Mermaid! Shown here blowing a sacred conch shell given to me by Nancy Bast, Oriana spent the day chanting and dancing, enthralling huge crowds from her lofty perch atop a whale sculpted by Donald Headrick.
Geophysicist Lou Blanck teaches Movie star Max Gail about the threat posed by frequent Tsunamis
Above: *The solar & biodiesel-powered OOGmobile *Hawaii meets Chumash *Sacred Circle, led by Fred Collins
Below: Our 2013 Thank You Whales Celebrity Whale Cruise...
Oriana Kalama boards the SubSea Tours Catamaran in Morro Bay. The visibility was iffy at first but the sun eventually broke through. Other special guests included former California Coastal Commissioner Sara Wan, and her husband Larry, who captured the spectacular next series of wildlife photos. But first, a few by me, of another special guest on board, my trusty dog Lobo. Later in the cruise, Lobo and I both got seasick, sharing our queasiness in solidarity. But the whales didn't let us down! Now, this may sound weird, but Oriana was calling to them, and in they came, along with a very curious Mola mola!
Above: Lobo on whale watch, waiting for stragglers, and our seaworthy boat
Below: Photographs by Larry Wan, 5 miles out from Morro Bay!
*Double-crested Cormorant *Wilson's Phalerope *Pink-footed Shearwater
*Sooty Shearwater *Sea Lion *Sea Lions
Southern Sea Otters in Love...
We got lucky on two counts: we had award winning nature photog Larry Wan on board, and we stumbled onto otters engaged in mating!
The payoff: "Here be Whales!"
Above: Humpback takes a breath
Below: Flukes tell a story, possibly a story that includes Orcas!
Thank you to everyone who pitched in this year, especially Diane and Stephen Smith, and Oriana Kalama and Lance & Lyndia Leonard, and Max Gail, Fred Collins, Lou Blanck, Sandra Brazil, and Barbara Greenwood at Dolphinshirt-
An enormous Thanx to Jennifer Randall for her amazing Mermaid Dress!
Thank you Jennifer and Oriana! (Diane Smith photo)
