A few weeks ago our local newspapers reported that a blue whale, one of the rarest animals on earth, had been struck by a NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) contract vessel. It had come to rest finally on the rocky shoreline south of Fort Bragg, CA. What they had forgotten to say was that access to the shore was by 2 ways only. One was over private land and two was to swim in icy water and rough surf for a mile or so to get to the cove. Not knowing all of this a friend of mine, myself and a few hundred other curious souls headed out to Ft Bragg. When we got there many of the curious were breaking through hedges, fences and generally making a nuisance of themselves. Needles to say the local sheriffs were having a grand old time handing out trespassing citations and shaking there fingers at those of us who happened to be in the vicinity. On top of that there were two enterprising youngsters that had set up a stand were if you asked they would let you look at a map of the area detailing where the whale was and subsequently asking for a donation to their favorite charity. I was never quite sure what that charity really was. College fund I imagine. It would seem that from all that we gathered the police didn't want anyone there and the property owners also would have been just as happy to see everyone go away. What's a budding photo journalist supposed to do? Well a journalist's job is to seek the truth is it not? What was the two kids truth? Their truth was that they were trying to make a few serendipitous bucks off the situation. We passed them a couple of bucks for their trouble and found the location of the whale. What was the sheriffs truth. Their truth was that they probably drew the short straw that Sunday and had to go out and keep the peace around a giant whale carcass. After discussing the situation with them further we found out that the only way to gain access would be to get permission from one of the property owners to cross their land. So after the police wagged their fingers at the kids for being promiscuous but not actually breaking laws they were on their way. So now all that remained was to see if we could find a willing property owner. When we drove back up the public road and saw that the sheriffs had stopped and were talking to a man in front of a private gate. Having nothing to lose we parked, got out and walked up to the group. By chance the man they were talking to was the owner of a house on the cliff over looking the cove with the whale. The police then introduced us to Jerry Zari. Jerry's truth was that he understood that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity for most . He just didn't want people damaging his property and making a mess of the area he called his home. After speaking with him for a minute he agreed to let us in to see it in a couple of hours. When we came back he let us in and allowed us to park in his driveway. When he saw that we had our wetsuits with us he asked that we do a favor for them. The favor was to rescue a cormorant that had become trapped in the whales ooze. If it had stayed much longer it probably would have died. So we took some pictures, rescued a cormorant, sent it on it's way to a local bird rescue and then brought out a bottle of white wine which we shared with Jerry and his wife Wilma. So the main thrust of this post is that just because the way seems to be blocked look for a deeper truth in the situation. The kids truth, the polices truth and the property owners truth were different from what most people expected. Oh, yeah, and always bring a couple bottles of good wine.
These pics are proof that 1. There was a dead whale that I took pictures of( albeit not good pictures).
Oh poor bird.
Posted by: Ettina | 11/09/2009 at 10:06 AM