July 9, 2009 - Orange Beach, AL (OBA) - It was another
beautiful day on the Alabama Gulf Coast. Local angler Lea Scruggs
and his friends Jessica Simpson, Melvin Lowdermilk and Shelby Wolven headed out
on Scruggs boat, the Wahooter, for a day of offshore fishing in the Gulf of Mexico.
When the Wahooter Fishing Team started out that
morning, they didn't expect to have such an exciting tale to tell,
especially not another Whale Tale from the Gulf of Mexico story
originating from Orange Beach, Alabama.
Shelby Wolvin and Jessica Simpson looking over the bow of the
Wahooter as the beaked whale breached the water at the bow of the boat.
The beaked whale had just swam under the Wahooter on its back when it
turned north and breached at the bow.
At about 2:30pm the Wahooter Fishing Team was 35 miles southeast
of Orange Beach trolling toward the northwest when they first spotted
the whale. It was traveling north in about 400' of water. Scruggs
turned his boat, the Wahooter, to the north, started idling and
paralleled the whale's course. The Team was idling along taking
pictures as the whale started approaching their boat. When the whale reached the Wahooter, it rolled over on its back and swam
under the boat (see photo in slide show below showing the whale's white
belly).
After swimming under the boat, the whale turned back upright and breached
the surface of the water right at the bow where Simpson and Wolven were
standing. As the whale breached
the water, it peered over at the girls on the bow.
This caused the excitement level on the Wahooter to greatly increase, as
can be heard in the short video clip below. Jessica Simpson can be
heard screaming, "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God... There's a WHALE
out here!" The entire whale encounter lasted about five minutes. After
the whale swam under the boat and breached at the bow, Scruggs turned
his boat back to the northwest and continued the trek home, while the
whale headed east and surfaced within sight one more time. While whale watching is not a normal pastime in Orange Beach, dolphin
watching is. The whale pictures and video clip were reviewed by local cetacean expert
Capt. Bill Mitchell of
Cetacean Cruises.
He believes it is a beaked whale but, because the
head of the whale was not visible in the pictures, Capt. Bill was unable
to determine
the exact species of beaked whale. There are at least four species of
beaked whales known to live in the Gulf of Mexico. "With the dorsal fin being that far back on its body, it appears to be a
beaked whale. There are several different kinds of beaked whales,
some of them do frequent the Gulf of Mexico, but without a picture of
its head, it's pretty hard to identify what type of beaked whale," said
Capt. Bill.
Lea Scruggs lives in Orange Beach and works with
International Assurance in Foley, AL. He spends much of
his spare time fishing with friend in the Gulf when he's not working.
See Video and Photos below...
Click on the play button below to view 10 photos of the Whale.
Click the play button on the video below to see the whale and HEAR the
girls' reactions.
Another Whale Spotted Near Orange Beach
