Why a humpback whale for my first tattoo? She is my totem animal. This beauty is the “Judy Dike” named after my mom who shared with me her love of the sea and my Aunt Dee and Uncle Larry who taught me about the creatures in the sea every time I came to California at the Monterey Aquarium. She was designed and inked by Paul Regalado, the owner of Skinhouse Tattoo Studio in Longmont, CO https://skinhousestudio.com/

The first time a whale appeared in my life was in the bathtub. I remember having a long blue whale that you put a bar of soap in and pushed around in the water.

I saw this album “Songs of the Humpback Whale” by Roger Payne (1970) when I was working as a page at the Longmont Public Library in 1977. I borrowed it and played it on one of those old portable record players with so so sound. But what I heard blew me away. 

The Iowa Premiere of “And God Created Great Whales” Symphonic Poem for Orchestra and Recorded Whale Sounds by Alan Hovhannes (1970) was in Cedar Rapids at Coe College in Sinclair Auditorium in 1982. It was performed by the Cedar Rapid’s Chamber Orchestra in which I was a cellist. This version uses the full whale voices tape Hovhannes intended and the CRCO used. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Too2tqNZAVc

Who could forget “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home” (1986). George and Gracie--the humpbacks, Monterey, wessels, colorful metaphors, the crew as family. My favorite Star Trek movie and one of my favs in general.

Then came “Whales Alive” by Paul Winter and Paul Halley, Narration by Leonard Nimoy, with Voices of the Humpback Whales (1987). It has readings by my honorary grandfather Leonard Nimoy. He was a very loving and caring man. He offered to be anyone’s grandfather if the sent him a note asking, and he would say yes. He did this the in what turned out to be the last year of his life. It was just a simple thing on his part. But it really got me. Still does. I mean who does that. OK, big tangent.

Save the Whales! Letters, donations, Greenpeace, keeping it on the front page. It was a big deal. It still is a big deal! A lot of effort on hundreds of thousands of peoples parts kept the whales from going extinct. And from still going extinct.

In 1991, I was working on my Masters in Library Science on an annotated bibliography. I was so pumped and turned in my 64-page bib on whales. The profs were ok with my “exhaustive investigation” into the subject. They actually knew someone needing background info on whales for a film project and wondered if they could pass on my bib? Cool. Didn’t get the name though or if anything came of it.

Humpbacks truly became my totem animal when Patti and I spent a week in Trinity, Newfoundland during the summer of 1992 at a cetacean researcher’s bed and breakfast (he used the profits to fund his research in addition to grants). Twice a day for three hours at a time we would go out on Trinity Bay and the Atlantic in a 24-foot zodiac and spend time with the humpbacks. Not every trip were we able to find humpbacks. We also hung out with minke whales, a fin whale, puffins, some icebergs (which we got up next to and touched), and the open sea. And I decided to eat what the Humpbacks were eating--capelin, an 8-inch smelt.. So we got some in the shallows and the cook made some up for me. You eat them whole, heads, scales, innards, tails, the works. I had all we caught over two breakfasts. Actually, not too bad. One other person tried one and remarked, “Whatever you say Jeff.” Would I do it again? Absolutely.

It is hard to describe the experience sitting in a zodiac in the middle of a group of humpbacks. The whales that were curious about us swam around us, turning on their sides with an eye out of the water to look at us, came up to us waving their fins, swimming under us, blowing out their breathe in a spray of heavy droplets (that may have had an odd fishy smell but I welcomed it , spyhopping (sticking their whole heads out), tail slapping, fin slapping, then diving. The way they dive is very cool. It starts with a slight upward movement up at the base of their tail, Then the entire tail goes up with the fluke coming up last. Then it all slides down effortlessly into the water leaving a flat ring on the surface that looks like a round drop of oil. We saw whales jump out of the water. One humpback jumped out over ten times in a row. 

As we were coming back the to harbor from our final trip out, I was taking it all in. I didn’t want to leave. And I was given a gift right then. I saw two humpbacks leaping out of the water right next together at the same time. Was I meant to see it? Coincidence? Was it a goodbye? I’d like to think so.