The boat cuts though the blue ocean, jamming to locate a puff of a water spout the captain saw miles toward the horizon.

Everyone’s eyes are on the water’s surface, on the hunt for the biggest mammal on Earth.

Captain Dave Anderson, wearing a tan safari hat, talks into the hand-held speaker to the people on the boat, his words muffled.

“That whale shouldn’t be too far from us now. If you all could look around, that would be helpful. Keep your eyes peeled. Look for that puff of smoke,” he tells all aboard the
Capt. Dave Dolphin and Whale Safari adventure.

It wasn’t long before the mammal’s massive back breaks through the water’s surface, prompting cheers of awe from the boat.

For just a few moments in my day, I was transported to the sea on the hunt for these blue whales - but instead of having my hair whipping in the wind and the smell of the sea surrounding me, I was sitting at my desk, glued to the screen while watching the action through live cameras hoisted on Capt. Dave’s boat.

(photo above courtesy of Marc Carpenter/dophinsafari.com)

Anderson might be one of the first in the world to do live-streaming whale watching, allowing anyone with a computer to be instantly transported on one of their daily trips.
Watch live video from whalewatchingtv.com

The idea first came to Anderson about 10 years ago, but he had to wait for technology to catch up. Still, implementing the program wasn’t easy, and there’s moments of dropped signals that cause the need for a few hits of the refresh button.

The live cams can benefit a number of people - those who just want to be transported while putting off work during the day, or educators who can’t take the kids out on a boat but want to teach them about wildlife in the sea.

Anderson set up a Twitter account, and will tweet encounters, letting followers know when they spot blue whales or pods of dolphins.

“You can watch them with us, literally. You can see them at the same time we’re seeing it,” Anderson said.

This has been another exceptional year for blue whale watching.

“It’s been awesome, just awesome,” he said. “We’re seeing lots and lots of blue whales out there. I can’t say if we’re going to have the best season we’ve ever had, but it’s certainly the  best August.”

The blue whales - the largest mammal on Earth - started appearing in record numbers here in Orange County about six years ago.
Anderson said that people should never assume they will always show each summer. For about 20 years, they showed up in good numbers in Monterey - but now there’s hardly any sightings up there. For years, they lived off the coast of Alaska, and now they are nowhere to be seen up there.

“They move around and they shift their patterns,” he said. “The best thing to do is make the most of it while they are here.”

Anderson says the blue whales are among the most beautiful, their bodies sleek and smooth.

“These whales are just breathtaking – they have a luminescence when they are coming out of the water, they are like a turquoise color,” he said. “Then there’s just their sheer size. They are just enormous. And they are just very fearless.”

There have also recently been a lot of sightings of mother and calves together, a sight shown on the live cam Friday afternoon, a baby swimming very close to its mother. There are anywhere between 4,500 and 10,000 blue whales in the world, with about 2,000 of them in local waters.

Anderson was unsure of how the public would respond to the live cams, but after the launch a few days ago, is sure the concept is going to catch on. There have been viewers from as far away as Europe and Brazil.

“It’s one of those things, if you build it they will come… you hope,” he said.

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