Whales!

We hiked the coast trail north of Bolinas yesterday.  It was chill and clear and the Farralon Islands loomed closer than I’ve ever seen them from shore.  About a mile from the trailhead a stretch of the trail runs flat atop a high cliff, and Carol spotted a peregrine below, perched placidly in the morning sunlight.

While I was distracted by a dark-morph redtail, Carol saw the first whales.  Although they were at least a mile off, we here high enough that I could make them out to be Humpbacks through the binoculars.

At the last minute I’d decided just to carry binoculars and the camera, leaving the scope behind in the car. We’d used it on the drive up to admire a flock of golden eyes intermixed with surf scoters, and I hadn’t wanted to take the time to strip it down again and repack it.  A mistake. We saw at least a dozen whales during the course of our hike, feeding actively.  One breach, a couple spy-hops, lots of spouts and tails.

On the BBC news this morning was a report that Japan has decided to resume whale hunting in antarctica despite a recent ruling of the international court that they could no longer consider their efforts to be scientific in nature. 

I’m feeling the need to do something—something more than just boycotting Japanese products. A check to Greenpeace?  Sea Shepherd?  
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Please advise.