Whale Berries

Her obsession with whales started all this. We would travel from Newfoundland to Australia, from Alaska to Mexico, to get into the mating season of different types of whales, where we would watch them happily jumping out of the water and creating high fountains of exhaled steam.

This time it was the California gray whales we came to see in San Diego. Leaving their feeding grounds in the Bering Sea, these magnificent creatures embark on the longest migration of any mammal on Earth, traveling to their calving grounds in the lagoons of Baja California. She told me she learned that in one of her many books on whales.

We were discussing our plans after finishing an enormous seaweed platter at Earthy Restaurant on Market Place along the shore. Angelo, our waiter, announced the dessert menu in his pleasant but thick accent. We dismissed all types of cakes and pastries, oatmeal cookies with anise and apple turnovers with cinnamon – even chocolate mousse. However, the last choice coming from Angelo`s mouth attracted her attention: «hot spicy berries, whale berries …»

– «Whale berries?» She yelled, looking at me.
– «I never heard about whale berries».
– «We have to try them,» she murmured.
– «It takes 10 to 15 minutes to cook them,» added Angelo.
– That`s OK, it`s worth waiting for».

When Angelo left, she guessed: they must be really big these whale berries if they demand so much time to be warmed.

In 15 minutes, Angelo promptly brought our berries platter. It was colorful, shiny, and on top of them sat a fat scoop of vanilla ice cream. The berries looked like nothing special to me, but she found one among them and whispered: «this must be a whale berry».

– «That`s a big blueberry which changed its color while being heated», I commented. «And this one is a big raspberry. And that one in an average size blackberry. They are regular wild berries.»
– «Wild? – not whale berries?», she asked, a little disappointed, yet swallowing those berries with great pleasure one after the other.
– «Yes, it`s just Angelo`s pronunciation. Strange only that he didn`t take your spelling as a mocking of his accent. Maybe they are whale berries after all».
– «I know, for instance, that the whale`s fecal component is used in making some French perfumes …» We were laughing our bellies off.




 ***

The boat for gray whale watching in California was big enough to scare them away – thus we got on the film only distant miniature whales, some dolphins and seals. Then we missed the season of whale watching in Massachusetts bay. So we were determined to be at the right place at the right time in the Dominican Republic to find the humpback whales.

It was mid January and the «naturals» said the rainy season began here in November and had continued ever since. The morning we chose to pack our four wheel drive Ford and go from Las Galeras to Samana City, sky was as vibrant as the sea.

Exuberant by the sun and music during the one hour ride we hardly noticed the rough road with bumps and jamps and dozens of conchos , which delayed our travels along the way. We arrived at Samana Transporte Maritimo a few minutes late, despite my companion`s excellent speed. All three boats had left already to the whale watching area. Only a limited number of vessels were allowed in order to protect these sea mammals.

Young Miguel, a typical Spaniard, supportive and encouraging commented that Woman and Earth is a «bueno nombre» for this action and sent us to test our determination as journalists at the Minadiel office.

The older Miguel came 10 minutes after and stubbornly resisted our negotiations. Fortunately, there was also Francesca in the office, an educated and cool Italian girl who showed interest in our activities. So when two French girls came along asking about any opportunities to go whale watching that day, we organized a team of women to rent a boat for 2 hours at $40 each.

We expected a boat with some comfort yet it turned out to be one of the «yolas» – a small open motorboat with plastic seats and a strong smell of gasoline. The bumps and holes on the road from Las Galeras to Samana City crossing the peninsula from East to West were «nada» next to the waves of rough ocean exercising our butts for a whole «hora» of windy wild ride it took to get to the whale waters. The salty splashy sprays washed well my still sleepy face. Approaching our destination we saw three earlier departed boats returning to the pier.

The captain and two helpers slowed the motor and we tried to find any sign of humpbacks within the glittering waves. Cecile, one of the French girls, complained about a «mal au ventre» – it was her first trip on a boat and she evidently felt seasick. Audrey, the second girl, didn`t know how tried to help her.

I had suggested that they not eat before the trip and offered a banana I had. But the French girls were hungry and bought sandwiches which they ate while being thrown from one side of the double seat to the other.

Audrey survived that, but Cecile soon became pale and started to «vomitar» as she joked later herself «giving some food to the whales». We kept her from falling out of the boat.


 Finally, Cecile felt better and communicated in Spanish to one of the «parejas de capitan», my companion`s reguest to sing for the whales. He was a shy dark skinned guy in a colorful skirt with a crack between his front teeth, just smiling back at Cecile. Nevertheless, when nobody was looking his direction any longer he whistled softly and then began to sing like a little girl in a high, gentle voice. I could only hear «las ballenas, las ballenas».

And yes, las ballenas appeared – first on one side steaming, then on the other side, showing their black backs and large tails. Thousands of humpbacks from the Atlantic migrate to DR each January. Samana Bay is among the best humpback nurseries in the world. These whales have been wintering in Samana for centuries. Humpbacks are mostly gray colored with black and white marks on the tail flukes and on the flippers.

Seeing their enormous size, I understood even more the courage of the New Zeland girl – the native «Whale Rider». I remembered a performance of whales at Sea World Orlando, where Tahima, a fourteen year-old female, was a star. Females are dominants among whales, even thought males are almost twice as big. Artificial insemination is done successfully on whales. Their pregnancy lasts 12 months.

We listened for a while in San Diego to the males singing in a high pitch to attract the females. A real soprano! They`re known also for their yulping, chirping, grunting, cooling and for their breaching – launching into the air and rolling – but not whale berries – we didn`t find them.

1-Spanish expression for locals.
2-Motorcyle taxis used widely in DR.
3-Spanish for good name.
4- Spanish word for nothing.
5- Spanish word for hour.



2004y.