When you look into the eye of a whale, your life changes.
In San Ignacio Bay, a California Gray Whale nudged her baby to our boat. When the entire boat erupted in joy, somehow that translated to her. She trusted us. Enough to stay and let us pet both her and her baby.
Her eye was the size of a softball. It was a window to her soul. I saw her tenderness, her affections, and her curiosity of humans. I understood we were linked together.
At the San Diego Zoo, a gorilla sitting tall and majestic, looked directly into my eyes. There was a thick glass plate between us, but I still saw into his soul. I could have looked forever, but he could not. After a few seconds, he looked off and into the distance. What did he see? What did he think? Did he give us any regard with his quick stare, or were we just another form on the other side?
I spotted the pod of dolphins in Coronado Bay. Guessing where they were, I paddled as close as I could, waiting for them to surface. In that unmistakeable arch belonging to an emerging dolphin, with that gush of breath and that almost silent break of surface water, the mammal appeared. The others sprung forth for only seconds before diving again. But one dolphin, wanted a closer look. He emerged, dove, then swam underneath and on his side, to look me in the eye.
That moment with a whale, a gorilla, a dolphin, changes our souls. We perceive their significance, as a creature, as a living soul. We want to use less plastic because plastic is polluting their home. I regret the hardwood floors I installed twenty-five years ago that came from a forest in Brazil. I continue to refuse to spray my lawn and yard for weeds. It all matters what I put in the ground, in the water, what flows to the sea.
With summer travel, I haven't taken on another family in the CASA (court appointed special advocate) program. I'm really just too busy. Maybe I will wait until I finish this master's program to take on children who need my help.
But then I think about looking into the eyes of a child.
When you look into the eyes of a child, your life changes.
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