Friday--The last pre-dawn yoga morning at the Silver Bank reef and the moon and stars and sea met me as I stepped onto the deck. The wind had calmed from yesterday’s blow so the boat wasn’t rocking as much.

As I was facing the port side of the boat doing a wide squat pose I noticed a white mist illuminated by the nearly full moon. I removed an ear bud and heard an exhale very close to the boat. I held my pose, listened, looked and white mist blew again as the whale exhaled. As if a whale coming to the ship while I was doing my final yoga practice wasn’t enough, a shooting star arched across the sky…over the whale. (You cannot make this stuff up…things like this happen out here, 92 miles off the shore amid humpback magical dreamland).

In that moment of perfect timing I knew that everything in my life is completely in sync. The whale and shooting star reminded me of the impeccable timing of life’s journey when a person surrenders to it.

It seems as everything conspires to rise up and meet the seeker when the time is right.

I closed with a final dedication to my life’s work and felt the violet flame of spiritual transformation engulf me as whales breathed and moved very close to the boat. It felt as if I was being initiated into the next step in my life.

Afterwards I went up to the flying bridge and did my morning dance to the sun and experienced unbounded joy and love pouring to the Ocean, whales and all creatures who call the sea their home.

Then it was time to head back to land. After getting underway we saw the remains of the sailboat that had hit a reef the day before during the storm. Our ship approached to open hatches in an effort to encourage a final sinking. It is a serious navigation hazard to any craft that plies these waters, especially at night.

While the crew surveyed the wreck a group of whales approached and watched with curiosity. They spy hopped, surfed with their heads out of water, and finally when the dingy had been recovered and the hatches opened, breached and fin-slapped with exuberance. There was no doubt they heard the noise and came to investigate. During the initial sinking of the craft, the mayday message said the four crew members were surrounded by whales. Obviously the whales were still following ‘the story.’

The biggest take-away from the week, besides the amazing spiritual communion, is the absolute fact that whales are sentient, aware, caring individuals who think and behave in highly functional ways. Again I am reminded of the arrogance of humanity to assume we have a monopoly on intelligence or that we’re at the top.

Whales watched the entire sailboat wreck operation. They watched us eat and hang out on the motherships. Sometimes a mother and calf would find one of our boats and settle under it, inviting an encounter. The whale that blew her breath onto the boat at the most heart-felt moment of the interview….the whale that came to the boat as I was doing my final yoga practice and stayed during my dedication…the singer that hovered beneath our ship to sing us to sleep….the mothers caring for their young with incredible tenderness…the mother’s coaching their young on tail lobs, fin slaps and breaches…

There is the temptation, after a peak experience in life, to try and stay in that glow of Divine perfection and stay ‘there’ in those precious moments. However, these times in our lives are meant to be spring-boards for us, to catapult us to greater expressions of our highest self. These wondrous moments are instrumental in helping us move forward, to gain momentum in our journey and inspire us to step more fully into the clearest expression of love we can be. At least that’s my take on it.

What Great Mystery fills my heart and mind and causes me to wonder so. You draw me to you like a magnet–heart to heart, mind to mind—Brother, Sister….we are One.

 

*****

Part I–Begin at the Beginning

Part II–Meditating with Whales

Part III–Tender & Gentle

Part IV–Whale Relationships

Part V–Stormy Day

 

Clouds and wind yoga instead of moon, stars and sea yoga this morning. During my practice I kept wondering how I would find this amazing connection to Mother Ocean once I was land-bound and no longer held in her liquid embrace. I felt fearful and lost as I opened to the day. Being so far removed from land brings me great peace, even on a stormy morning but I wondered how I would integrate back into every-day life.

About the time I was doing my much-modified yoga on deck due to rough water, a mayday call was going out from a 32 foot catamaran 12 miles from our mooring. Due to rough seas and being anchored within the protection of the coral heads, none of the boats in our area could respond but a Carnival cruise ship did and the US Coast Guard from Puerto Rico. More on this story during the Epilogue entry tomorrow.

Considering the rough sea conditions I expected we wouldn’t be able to take the small boats out to look for whales on our last day and that my dream of being in the water with a singing whale wouldn’t come to pass. As I walked down stairs to the dining area someone asked if I had heard the singer through the ship during the night. Was that after I put in my earplugs?

Actually I did hear something through the wall but wasn’t sure what it was so I popped in my sound-deadening earplugs and went to sleep. On some level I hope the singing vibrating through the hull of the boat worked some magic within me. I felt like a kid left out of the playground fun.

We didn’t go out for our morning session with the whales but the wind was supposed to die down later in the day. We had the morning free so I reflected on the week. The tour operator says to always take your camera underwater, even if it looks like crappy viz and like the whales aren’t interested in interacting. This trip proved him to be right. The two times I left my camera on the boat were the two times babies decided to come within ten feet of our group. I do have the blissful babies face imprinted in my heart and mind; however, it would be nice to have taken one of those opportunities for photographing the amazing moment. On the second encounter, the baby rolled and played within feet of us….okay Tom, you are right.

During our morning downtime one of my trip mates was interviewing me on video about sustainability and business. At the very end she asked me this question: If I was in a corporate board room with executives, what would I want to say to them. I was speaking from my heart about wanting to tell them to care deeply for the planet when a whale exhaled at the side of our big boat right where we were sitting. I felt a rush of whale mind reach out to my mind and I knew that the connection they have with us is powerful and strong….and more than we can ever even imagine. During the interview I jumped up and shouted….”There’s a WHALE right here!”

My answer to the question? Please work toward building a sustainable economy, not one based on more and more profit. I want them to work toward moving from a profit-at-any-cost mentality to one of respect and balance with planetary resources. Obviously the whales liked my answer for they started circling the boat as I was responding. I added, “The most important thing to remember is that we are a part of nature. Thinking we can take and take and take and not give back is guarantying a grim future for all life on our planet. We are a part of that which we protect…or destroy.”

The afternoon whale watching presented no opportunities for in-water encounters but we did see some spotted dolphins. Compared to the whales, they are like attention deficit, wild kids. We encountered a group of three large whales that were not exactly a rowdy group but a laid back group swimming in a very large circle. We were able to observe them for a nice while before heading back to the mother ship.

What I have learned on this trip in a nutshell: 1) Whales choose when they want to interact with humans (or not interact). Period. 2) They connect with humans that are open to it via some mysterious channel. More than once this week they would suddenly appear when something powerful was happening with me….especially the interview and during the last morning’s yoga (in the Epilogue entry tomorrow). 3) The mothers and babies have the most beautiful relationship of any beings I have ever known, including humans. Perhaps because they don’t have ‘speech’ as we know it, it’s so powerful. They use touch and who knows what else to communicate. 4) My life’s work is directly tied to the Sea and to Her I am dedicated.

This was my last entry for the day: “I’m sitting on the sundeck watching whales blow and leap. They are moving closer to the large boats and the tethered tenders. All across the vast sea, golden white mist erupts from the surface. Small bursts where the Ocean breathes through massive bodies of humpback whales. I feel the Ocean Mother rise up through me as well to tell the stories, to share the Mysteries as they are unveiled, revealed to me. The requirement of me is to be open….available. To return to my life with renewed dedication.”

Part I-Begin at the Beginning

Part II-Meditating with Whales

Part III-Tender & Gentle

Part IV-Whale Relationships