Whale watching turns into warnings
Whale watchers on stand-up paddleboards and in kayaks congregate near a whale fluke off Redondo Beach in January. Photo by Shane Keena [An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that a jet skier launched himself off a humpback whale two weeks ago. Easy Reader apologizes for the error.] Two years ago off the Redondo Beach Pier, dozens of paddleboarders, kayakers, jet skiers and boats closed in on a whale that had come close to shore to feed. They circled the animal, amazed, eager to get closer to the incredible beast. One jet skier got too close. He launched his vessel off the back of the whale, ripping a two-foot tear into the startled animal. “He kind of planed off the top of the [whale],” said Bobbie Hodges, tour guide and naturalist for the Voyager, a whale watching boat that operates from Redondo. “He was traveling at the same speed and knew where he was going to come up and put a gash…across his back and down the whale.” Until recently, whale watchers mainly saw gray whales passing through local waters, usually far from shore. Now gray, humpback, and even blue whales are appearing closer to shore. Generally, only experienced kayakers and paddleboarders, who could…
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