Whale Shows-Off Newborn Calf to Stunned Whale Watchers in California Who Saw the Birth

[nightwing1240]

A group of whale watchers off the coast of Southern California had the rare privilege of witnessing the moment a grey whale gave birth.

Passengers aboard Capt. Dave’s Dolphin & Whale Watching Safari enjoyed the extraordinary event off the coast of Dana Point, between Los Angeles and San Diego.

A company spokesperson said the crew had noticed the whale behaving sporadically, as they steered the boat slowly toward the animal.

snip

The mother brought her baby right up to a small boat—as if to show it off.

“For a minute, many of us thought it may be a shark or predatory event. But, instead of the end of life, it was the beginning of a new one!”

Link - https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/grey-whale-gives-birth-near-stunned-whale-watchers/
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How cool would it have been to be there and see that! Some much needed good news on a cold winters morning.

[harumph]

1. Interesting story "noticed the whale behaving sporadically..."

However, the appropriate word would be "erratically" not "sporadically."
If the writer said the whale performed a particular behavior such as
breaching - then it could be OK to say "...the whale
breached sporadically" or something like that. I'm not an English major -
but noticing quite a few instances of malapropisms in various online news articles
and even misspellings in the NYTimes. They've probably cut back on
proofreaders to save $. But hey, I love whales!

[mopinko]

3. i dont think proofreading is even a thing any more.

i’m normally of the - it’s a living language- school.
but man, it’s getting unclear.

[mopinko]

2. much as i'd love to see it, those boats shouldnt get that close.

i’ve been on several of those boats, but never again. the last was in hawaii, and we chased a pregnant female around for over an hour and gave up. i felt dirty getting off the boat.
glad this mom wasnt freaked out, but they should never be allowed to get that close.

[GoCubsGo]

4. FFS, she was bringing her baby up for air, not "showing it off."

The damn boat was in her way. If it were up to me, they'd have lost their license for their interference.