Origins...
It seems a long time ago, but it´s only been 11 years. If I look at where we are today, I never imagined it while a child. Well, if I am honest, if had had the chance (and talent, and money...) I would have been a F1 driver... Go ahead and win Monaco... and Estoril... You see where I am going with this.
Since it did not happen as I imagined it, life went by me for a long time, not really impacting my aspirations and ambitions. Until I met her. She changed my life forever, and since 1999 everything took a turn.
That was also the year when I saw my first whale, a Spermwhale, of course. The texture, the light, it all made a great impression on me, I could not think of anything else. Strike 1!
Back to "real life", office work and two failed university incursions. Job was not bad, some success, but no real fulfillment. On to 2003, personal life changes, and off to Faial I go! To meet her...
No real clue of where my future was going, but that sighting back in 99, kept coming back to me and being now, very close to it everyday, it was a matter of time until I was hounding some new friends to take me with them to see the whales. The put up with the mountain of questions I was able to formulate in record time. One said I was like a sponge. Well, I´ll take it.
Having had one year experience in the industry, I got a job doing something I found very rewarding, guiding people around the Island. It was a lot of fun, and allowed me to eventually buy the company and meet up with someone that changed the course of events.
Filipe is from Faial, born to a family of hard working farmers, dedicated recently to organic farming. He was also doing island tours and approached me to propose a partnership. The easiest conversation I have ever had. As they say, the rest is History...
My whale "addiction" is very hard to explain and describe it using words, but let´s give it a go!
Looking back at my childhood, I remember loving hearing the bedtime stories my dad used to read to make me go to sleep. And one of them was the memorable "Moby Dick", kid version of course. He must have read it to me a couple hundred times, it never made me sleepy, but good effort dad! Another one of my heroes was "Astérix", from the french authors Goscinny & Uderzo. Small in size, heart the size of the world, loves his friend, protects those that need protection. Lesson learned!
Time went by, whales forgotten for a while and then a 10 year period goes by in which I join the Sea Scouts. Coincidentally, my team was the "Spermwhale" crew (as it was called). Strike 2!
You might imagine what strike 3 was... Meeting the girl of my dreams, the love of my life, Carla!
Some of you, the ones closest to me, know this story all too well, you may even find boring, but you also know I can repeat myself without even noticing. The job I do allows me to meet some of the most extraordinary wild animals, from the tiny Loggerhead Turtles bobbing on the Ocean surface to the mighty Blue Whales, searching for krill. But if I am completely honest, the most rewarding bit of this, are the marvelous Human beings that come into my life. I have been rewarded with friendships that will last a lifetime, but I will not mention names (i would certainly forget some).
Don´t want to make this a long rambling, just want to finalize with a brief description of where we are today, at this very moment, going through a crisis, no one knows when it will end.
There are new faces to the company this year, as well as familiar ones. I am still around writing boring blog posts and pretending to be funny on Facebook; Filipe is juggling dozens of fronts, managing his family, farming, company stuff and his day job; Ana is the administrative force behind all this, now with the precious help of Miguel, the young kid I met when he was only 10 (look at him now), and Fátima, looking after the graphic aspect of the enterprise; and the new faces, Marta and Maria, both from Catalonia, both "whale crazy", going through all the scientific data and photos form the previous 10 seasons. There will be the opportunity to get to know these characters better, I promise.
For now it is all. Take care, I hope you enjoy this reading.
Peace
Pedro
Since it did not happen as I imagined it, life went by me for a long time, not really impacting my aspirations and ambitions. Until I met her. She changed my life forever, and since 1999 everything took a turn.
That was also the year when I saw my first whale, a Spermwhale, of course. The texture, the light, it all made a great impression on me, I could not think of anything else. Strike 1!
Back to "real life", office work and two failed university incursions. Job was not bad, some success, but no real fulfillment. On to 2003, personal life changes, and off to Faial I go! To meet her...
 |
| Looking young |
No real clue of where my future was going, but that sighting back in 99, kept coming back to me and being now, very close to it everyday, it was a matter of time until I was hounding some new friends to take me with them to see the whales. The put up with the mountain of questions I was able to formulate in record time. One said I was like a sponge. Well, I´ll take it.
Having had one year experience in the industry, I got a job doing something I found very rewarding, guiding people around the Island. It was a lot of fun, and allowed me to eventually buy the company and meet up with someone that changed the course of events.
Filipe is from Faial, born to a family of hard working farmers, dedicated recently to organic farming. He was also doing island tours and approached me to propose a partnership. The easiest conversation I have ever had. As they say, the rest is History...
My whale "addiction" is very hard to explain and describe it using words, but let´s give it a go!
Looking back at my childhood, I remember loving hearing the bedtime stories my dad used to read to make me go to sleep. And one of them was the memorable "Moby Dick", kid version of course. He must have read it to me a couple hundred times, it never made me sleepy, but good effort dad! Another one of my heroes was "Astérix", from the french authors Goscinny & Uderzo. Small in size, heart the size of the world, loves his friend, protects those that need protection. Lesson learned!
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| Cover of album #1 |
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| Actual cover of my book |
Time went by, whales forgotten for a while and then a 10 year period goes by in which I join the Sea Scouts. Coincidentally, my team was the "Spermwhale" crew (as it was called). Strike 2!
You might imagine what strike 3 was... Meeting the girl of my dreams, the love of my life, Carla!
Some of you, the ones closest to me, know this story all too well, you may even find boring, but you also know I can repeat myself without even noticing. The job I do allows me to meet some of the most extraordinary wild animals, from the tiny Loggerhead Turtles bobbing on the Ocean surface to the mighty Blue Whales, searching for krill. But if I am completely honest, the most rewarding bit of this, are the marvelous Human beings that come into my life. I have been rewarded with friendships that will last a lifetime, but I will not mention names (i would certainly forget some).
Don´t want to make this a long rambling, just want to finalize with a brief description of where we are today, at this very moment, going through a crisis, no one knows when it will end.
There are new faces to the company this year, as well as familiar ones. I am still around writing boring blog posts and pretending to be funny on Facebook; Filipe is juggling dozens of fronts, managing his family, farming, company stuff and his day job; Ana is the administrative force behind all this, now with the precious help of Miguel, the young kid I met when he was only 10 (look at him now), and Fátima, looking after the graphic aspect of the enterprise; and the new faces, Marta and Maria, both from Catalonia, both "whale crazy", going through all the scientific data and photos form the previous 10 seasons. There will be the opportunity to get to know these characters better, I promise.
For now it is all. Take care, I hope you enjoy this reading.
Peace
Pedro
Just for the record, Carla looks no different through the years...as for Pedro, well he is still a child inside and he's been exposed to the elements of the ocean for many years as a wonderful skipper, so, be kind! Love them both and long may Azores experiences continue to enrich the lives of many, as it has me.xx
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