The ocean is both beautiful and mysterious, filled with marvelous creatures of the deep. I took this photo outside of Banderas Bay, Mexico.
You have all seen the grainy photos of Nessie, the want-to-be monster that hangs out at Loch Ness in Scotland. I, too, have stood on the shores of the fabled lake with eyes peeled and camera poised. Unfortunately, Nessie didn’t bless me with her presence. Sigh. Neither fame nor fortune was to be mine.
One of the more famous photos of Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster. This is an AP photo.
But what if I were to discover Nessie in Banderas Bay off the coast of Puerto Vallarta. Or at least something that looked like Nessie. So what if a little help from Photoshop was called for. Would people believe me? Maybe my photos would appear on CNN… or glory of glories, even FOX News, which, as every one knows, is fair and balanced. I suspect I could at least count on support from the local chamber of commerce. Monster sightings are always good for tourism. Anyway, consider the following:
Nessita, Nessie’s daughter looks across the Bay of Banderas in search of a tourist who has eaten too many tacos.
Having spotted her prey, Nessita dives beneath the water, coils unfurling as she goes.
And disappears.
I am basically an honest guy, however. Otherwise I’d be rich or in jail. Right? Plus, all of you good folks who follow me, not to mention Word Press, might get a little excitable if I deliberately misled you. I am already under suspicion for reporting on ghosts and Bigfoot. So, I have to confess. What my son-in-law Clay, grandson Ethan, and I came across while fishing were humpback whales frolicking in Banderas Bay. But even they were wonderful, and strange.
Dorsal fin of humpback whale in the Bay of Banderas.
And the whale’s head.
How was the fishing? At least fair to middling, as the old timers say. Consider it from Ethan’s perspective. Any time you can catch a fish almost as big as you are, it’s a BIG fish. Imagine the tales that Ethan had to tell when he returned to school in Tennessee.
Our grandson Ethan displays his catch, a jack crevalle.
Even Clay and I got lucky.
Nice fish, but would you invite this motley crew into your house?
NEXT BLOG: 2014 Burning Man tickets go on sale in February. I give you five reasons you might want to purchase one.
Wandering through Time and Place 
Oh, we’d invite them in if they filleted the fish first 😀
Who needs the Loch Ness Monster, when they have this?
Ever so right, but still…:)
Wow, I’m reminded of being a small child in Gibraltar and my father and (much bigger) brother coming back from a harpoon expedition with BIG fish. My father made his own harpoons, I can remember helping him to tests the rubber thongs.
Me too, Hilary– I’ve been back to my childhood home. Things have become a lot smaller. (grin) But the fish Ethan had was even BIG to me. –Curt
That’s what I call a fish.. would make one heck of a fish fry 🙂
Yes, you could feed a lot of people off of it. 🙂
Are those barnacles on the humpback’s fin? Or just the coloration? Wonderful to be able to be near such creatures.
The fish are wonderful – and how proud Ethan must have been. The biggest fish I’ve ever seen in real life was a huge halibut that two guys were weighing in Alaska. It was on the weighing hook, and was longer than either man was tall. I’d be willing to call that one halibut fish! 😉
Yep. You are looking at Barnacle Bill, the Whale. 🙂
Halibuts can be monsters. The one Peggy caught last summer in Alaska was a baby in comparison but the meat was oh so sweet. Halibut is my favorite fish for eating.
–Curt
Nice shots of the whales Curt. I can’t tell you how much time I spent with my camera poised, waiting for the perfect whale shot when we lived in Oregon – without much success I might add. I would never have suspected such huge critters would be so elusive. ~James
Peggy and I have a six day sea kayak trip planned for August off of northern Vancouver Island that is designed to float among the orcas. There should be some great opportunities, James. We are excited. –Curt
Love that first photo Curt. It’s amazing. Did you use a filter or was it just the angle and the light?
The angle and the light, Alice. I always use photoshop to crop photos and bring out what interests me, however. There is nothing like having your own photo lab when it comes to processing photos. 🙂 –Curt
Omg Curt. The opening shot is incredible. Belongs in a magz – and I’ve been on a lot of photography blogs. And the …fish? The whatever you call it? You really have seen it all (except I know the very thing that drives you on is you feel you never will have).
I woulda come sooner but I’ve been sWaMped and am fielding responses as a guest author, too.
D.
Hey D., glad you stop by whenever you have a moment. And who would have ever thought, that blogging would be a full time business. 🙂 –Curt
LOL. My royalty ($), all of you.
I would believe you, Curt. 🙂 But have you noticed? Ever since cell phones – and their cameras – have populated most of the world included Loch Ness, have you noticed the claims of having seen Nessie have…dropped to nearly zero? lol And that was a nice fish!
It’s kind of like Bigfoot, sigh. Where is the magic? 🙂 –Curt
Sigh….. 🙂