California Surfer receives a whale of an escort during a marathon paddle.
March 31, 2010
When Southern California surfer Jodie Nelson set out Sunday to standup-paddle nearly 40 miles from Santa Catalina Island to Dana Point, she hoped it'd inspire her best friend, who has been involved in a long and exhausting struggle with breast cancer, to keep fighting.
Nelson, 34, whose mother and aunt are cancer survivors, also hoped her nine-hour test of endurance would raise money for two cancer charities and heighten awareness about a plight affecting millions of women.
What Nelson could not have known was that a 30-foot minke whale would swim alongside her 14-foot board and accompany the surfer as she stood and paddled for two of those nine hours, thus joining the cause.
"It was a day that all of us involved will never forget," Nelson said, in reference to Angela Robinson, her best friend, and the rest of a crew aboard an escort boat.
Minke whales are not commonly seen off Southern California, and those spotted by boaters are often elusive. So when a mammal Nelson named Larry joined her endeavor to become the first woman to make this long paddle, she took it as a sign.
"To me it was a total God thing," the San Clemente resident said. "We prayed at 4 that morning that God would reveal his beauty and creation and nature, and allow me to endure this long trek, so for me it's not such a huge surprise that this happened."
Larry did not merely swim close to Nelson. He rolled around repeatedly alongside her and blew bubbles beneath her board. A film crew was on the escort boat and CNN, Fox News and ABC are just some of the networks she says are interested in the story and footage.
Alisa Schulman-Janiger, an American Cetacean Society whale researcher, said minke whales can be friendly but added: "This type of quality encounter is highly unusual."
Nelson raised only about $6,000 in advance of the paddle, disappoingtingly short of her target of $100,000 for the Keep a Breast Foundation and Boarding for Breast Cancer. A few of her celebrity friends let her down, she said, but when this story reaches a national audience she expects the pool to grow considerably.
"I thought, 'I don't need so-and-so,' " she said of a particular celebrity, whom she declined to name. "Because I honestly feel like Larry is going to help us reach the $100,000 mark with our fundraising effort."
Larry or no Larry, completing a standup paddle over 39.8 miles of ocean and sharks speaks volumes about Nelson's strength, stamina and determination.
Larry took her mind off the task for two magical hours, but her mind never strayed from the cause. "I can't even begin to compare what I did to what cancer patients are going through," she said. "But I wanted to put myself out there in a dangerous and scary, overwhelming situation; something that was big and just to show people that you can win that battle with that big, scary thing called cancer.
"I wanted to draw some kind of parallel and just encourage people to keep fighting."
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Comments
trishcuit
Posted on: 04/04/2010 15:13
that IS pretty neat. Thanks for posting.
redbaron338
Posted on: 04/04/2010 16:13
A great story! Thanks for sharing it!
ninjafaery
Posted on: 04/05/2010 11:23
A great story -- glad her fundrasing met with such success.
Gecko -- I'm guessing you are pretty familiar with cetacean behaviour. What do you think the whale was doing? My guess is that it considered Nelson's surfboard the underside of a related whale in trouble and was blowing bubbles etc. to communicate. What do you think?
trishcuit
Posted on: 04/05/2010 12:31
At least it didn't mistake it for a seal and try to dine on it.
gecko46
Posted on: 04/05/2010 16:08
A great story -- glad her fundrasing met with such success.
Gecko -- I'm guessing you are pretty familiar with cetacean behaviour. What do you think the whale was doing? My guess is that it considered Nelson's surfboard the underside of a related whale in trouble and was blowing bubbles etc. to communicate. What do you think?
From our observation and study of whales, I think the whale was very curious about this "creature" on the board. I suspect the whale was attracted by the paddle sounds, decided this was an interesting diversion from eating and swimming, and being playful by nature, decided to hang out with whatever it was for awhile. Obviously the whale didn't feel threatened in any way nor was its behaviour threatening to Nelson. As for the blowing bubbles to communicate, your observation is probably very accurate.
There have been numerous accounts of humpbacks in particular hanging out with and swimming under and around kayakers. In NL, we have humpbacks regularly coming to our zodiacs as we drift, and exhibiting playful behaviour. Whales are highly intelligent and sentient creatures - the behaviour doesn't surprise me.
I liked Nelson's description that "it was a God moment". Only the whale and God know for sure.
gecko46
Posted on: 04/05/2010 16:11
At least it didn't mistake it for a seal and try to dine on it.
It was a minke whale which dines on small fish such as herring, mackerel and krill, so wouldn't be interested in the surfer as a meal.
Even if the encounter had been with an orca (killer whale), I'm confident Nelson would have come to no harm....just a subject of curiousity for the whale.
Wonderingg
Posted on: 04/05/2010 16:26
That is a cool story! Thanks for posting!
myst
Posted on: 04/05/2010 16:28
I appreciated you posting this story as well gecko46. Neat.
ninjafaery
Posted on: 04/06/2010 00:43
So the whale is curious about her and keeping her company? That's pretty cool.