Last weekend, ChildReach took a tour around the Bay in a boat called the Dauntless. We started our sea-trek at historic Pier 45. As we embarked and pulled away from shore we heard the deep, grumbling horn of the SS Jeremiah O'Brien, one of two surviving and fully functioning WWII Liberty Ships. They start up the engines and sound the horn only once a month, our Captain Page informed us, and we were lucky enough to witness it. We took a closer look at the USS Pampanito, another historic WWII sea-vessel. The submarine looked menacing up close, mainly because none of us even saw it until it was looming 50 feet from our boat; the camouflage was incredible.
As our journey continued, we moved away from war history and closer to natural history. We spied sea lions playing in the bay, and more exciting than anything, DOLPHINS! Well, technically, they are harbor porpoises. We were only able to see them for brief moments; while it was a beautiful day, none of them seemed to want to play outside of the water. They came to the surface for two quick breath-fulls of air at a time. Here is a link to the Bay Nature Institute's article about Harbor Porpoises: http://baynature.org/articles/jul-sep-2011/safe-harbor. The article explains that which we are extremely lucky to see these creatures as they have returned to the Bay within only the last 30 years.
ChildReach and the families of Raphael House had yet another beautiful day in our beautiful City By The Bay.
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