The Ocean Institute Marine Mammal Cruise

 On Sunday we had the most wonderful opportunity to take the kids on a marine mammal cruise at The Ocean Institute in Dana Point. The kids have never been on a whale watching cruise before and they were super excited about the opportunity of seeing a whale. It was a gloomy misty day and we were worried that it would start raining any second. When we asked the kids if they wanted to stay home, their immediate response was NO!

When we first boarded the boat we were not sure if we would get to see many animals. Steve has been on tons of whale watching cruises when he was younger and he told me that the most he ever saw was a "foot print" of a whale.

Once we got out to sea, we were amazed when we first saw a pod of dolphins! We were so excited and as we began to cruise further into the ocean the pod kept getting bigger and bigger. At one point we were surrounded by hundreds of dolphins. The kids response, "Amazing!". There was a part of the ship that had a grated floor so we could see the dolphins right under our feet. We could even hear their whistle as they were talking to each other. "Amazing!" We have seen lots of dolphins at Sea World, but this was totally different. Seeing a pod of wild dolphins was a life changing experience and one that we will all will never forget.

After we saw the dolphins and spent over an hour enjoying their company we went further into the ocean to visit seal rock. We got to see lots of sea lions and birds. Once we were done they stopped the boat in the middle of the ocean and dropped a crane to the ocean floor. They brought up a sample from the ocean and let the children on the boat sort through all the different types of animals that were in it. This was the best for Andrew! He just loves science, and loves animals even more!

Andrew had such a great time on his adventure and was grinning from ear to ear even the next morning. He wants me to take him to the library tomorrow so that he can get some more books on ocean life. I am so happy that The Ocean Institute has sparked his interest in learning more about the ocean.

Thank you Ocean Institute for an amazing day!