Two whales swimming, diving and rolling in the water just steps from the sand at Aliso Beach stopped beachgoers in their tracks.

“It was a delicious, spiritual moment,” said Maria Bishop of the priceless encounter on March 23. “It was as if you moved, you would break it. It was about the moment. I just wanted to soak it up.”

Bishop and her husband were walking the beach that morning when they came upon dozens of people standing looking out at the ocean.

See Bishop’s video here. 

“Everyone was still; no one got closer or talked,” Bishop said, recalling the group of about 50 who stood toward Aliso’s south end. “It was so close, and the waves were breaking just at the edge. There was no sound, which made it so intense. Everyone was focused on the water.”

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At one point, Bishop said, she worried the pair of whales, which could have been mother and child, were in distress. But, as she watched them swirl and roll in the waves, she said, she believed they were “just having fun.”

“It’s just a privilege to be so close to something that beautiful,” she said.

It was her husband, she said, who encouraged her to film the scene.

Later, though she’s not one to be on social media much, she decided to share what she captured on Nextdoor because she wanted others to experience what she felt and observed.

After posting it, she said she was heartened by the hundreds of positive responses from people.

“It’s a good feeling as a society that so many people had such great comments,” she said. “There were so many that were pleased to see the video.”

Though Bishop, originally from Portugal, has lived in Orange County for 30 years, she said she’s never gone whale watching. After witnessing the two whales, she and her husband want to plan a trip out of the Dana Point Harbor.

The sighting has also made her more curious about whales and inspired her to watch documentaries about them. And, now with her own video, she relives her experience multiple times a day.

“They are such amazing animals that bring you so much joy,” she said. “What a blessing it would be to see a whale every week.”

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