Whale-less watching

One of the reasons I love living here is that on almost any given day, weather permitting, I can take off for a small ocean voyage. Winter is whale watching season, here on the West Coast. The gray whales migrate south from Alaska to Mexico, starting in December. In Mexico, they take a break, get some sun, fool around and they have little baby whales. By about March or so, they start back up north.

These whales pass right by the Channel Islands, which lie off the coast of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. A local outfit, Island Packers, offers whale watching tours. These generally last about 3 1/2 hours and you get to see some really cool wildlife. I love taking these tours. I just love going out to the islands. I first went out a few months after I moved here -- I'd read about the Channel Islands online and was chomping at the bit to get out to see them.

I took Rob with me the first time I went over. This was back before they had the fancy boats they now use to zip back and forth to the island, so it took a few hours to get out to Santa Cruz Island. It was the coolest trip because Captain Randy was only going over because he was celebrating his daughter's birthday -- there weren't enough passengers to make the trip worthwhile, but he went over anyway because of his daughter. We had almost the whole island to ourselves. I couldn't believe how beautiful it was -- and how quiet.

We saw dolphins for the first time and we saw some sea lions, seals and plenty of sea birds.

This was where we discovered the truth about sea parks. Sea parks are cruel and inhumane places where animals are basically tortured. Wild dolphins live in complex societies called pods. They communicate using echolocation, which works kind of like sonar. Dolphins tend to have unique families, languages and characteristics. They tend to be highly playful and are beautiful to watch.

When sea parks capture dolphins to use, the mortality rate is enormous. Some dolphins, like the common dolphin -- the name of the dolphin, as opposed to bottle-nose dolphins for example -- will all die in captivity. They lose their will to live and won't eat and will starve. The dolphins who do survive usually have a lifespan of about 5 years. In the wild, a dolphin has a lifespan of 35 years.

I know some parks are raising dolphins in captivity, which is perhaps more humane, in the way it would be more humane to have a child born into slavery, rather than a child who has experienced freedom. It's the social nature of dolphins that makes them so suitable for marine shows. They do like to please and the parks take advantage of that by establishing relationships between the dolphins and the trainer.

But once you see dolphins in their natural habitat, playing in the surf, diving for food, just generally being happy dolphins in the enormous pods, which can number in the hundreds, you'll understand why captivity seems so cruel. They have unique languages that actually differentiate by dolphin families. It's such a great experience being able to see them in their natural habitat living the dolphin lives they were meant to live. There's really no reason to go see them do some choreographed man-made tricks.

OK lecture over.

I love going out on the ocean and do it at least once a year. There is something about seeing such natural beauty that can chase away even the most stubborn of depressions. This is seriously a lot better than Paxil. It was a really windy day and the sea was really choppy, which made picture taking difficult. It's hard not to shake the camera.

The only down part was that we never saw any whales, which is actually a first for me. I've always seen whales when we went out whale watching. Rob and I actually saw some mating one time. It was amazing. There were two males and one female. Our guide explained that whales have sex with one female and multiple males. This is so they can hold her down while the one does his dirty deed. Why you may ask? Because if it were just one on one and the male tried to trust at the female, being underwater, she would just float away from him. Hmmm. The things one learns that one never even wondered about.

As a veteran seafarer, I've learned that you always come back famished. I don't know what it is about the sea air but I always have to have something to eat. As a result I wanted something quick. I've been working on budgeting our money better, which is long overdue. As a result, I've been exploring the wonderful world of chicken thighs. I've developed some quick and easy chicken nuggets that are way, way better than fast food.

I'm going to start naming my recipes with much cuter names because with the success of Rachael Ray, I've decided I need to be a whole lot cuter. So here is my recipe for:

Nifty nummy nuggets

4 tablespoons black pepper (to taste, but I really recommend the extra pepper)
3 cup canola oil
Six chicken thighs (I use the bone-in because it's cheaper, but the recipe works with boned, skinned thighs
1 cup milk (you can use buttermilk for an added tang)
2 cups flour
3 tablespoons Lawrey's seasoned salt (or to taste)

Heat oil in an electric skillet (mine cooks best around 375 degrees). Cut the bone out of each thigh and cut the thigh in half. Dip the pieces in the milk. Shake the flour, seasoned salt and pepper in a large plastic bag (you can use a Reynolds oven bag or a large Ziploq bag) Add the milk-coated pieces and shake until the chicken is coated. Place pieces in the skillet and cook for about 15 minutes on a side -- smaller pieces may cook sooner. Serve with cole slaw or some other salad and mashed potatoes.