Friday, December 13, 2024

MendoMoments: A Gray Whale Emerges from the Pacific

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Kevin Hofer and a friend launched off the Point Arena Pier on Tuesday, July 27, 2021, kayak fishing for rockfish and lingcod. Bobbing in the tide, hoping for a bite, Hofer and his friend nudged against one of the Earth’s sea-born, mammalian behemoths, the gray whale.

Hofer, a Mendocino Coast native-son and long-time fisherman, told us he and his fishing partner first took notice of a large gray whale and a little farther out they spied a smaller one. Assuming the pair were a mom and baby, the sighting became intimate when the baby gray wheel decided to emerge within feet of Hofer’s boat, take a deep breath, and show off its tale for the Hofer and his friend.

Regarding the encounter, Hofer said it was “definitely sweet” while also “thrilling, scary, and exciting. I was thinking that hopefully, they don’t tip me over.” He marveled at the sound of the gray whale’s deep inhale and exhale.

Consider a stanza of D.H. Lawrence’s poem “Whale Weep Not”

And enormous mother whales lie dreaming suckling their whale- tender young and dreaming with strange whale eyes wide open in the waters of the beginning and the end.

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Matt LaFever
Matt LaFeverhttps://mendofever.com/
For the past seven years, Matt LaFever has covered the North Coast of California in both print and radio news. A Humboldt State graduate, he has lived in the Emerald Triangle for nearly 20 years. His reporting spans local issues like crime and wildfires. When not writing, Matt is an avid outdoorsman, exploring Northern California’s rugged landscapes. Reach out to him at matthewplafever@gmail.com.

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