【天下一家】加利福尼亚马拉松冲浪义举者受到了小须鲸的精心护航

California surfer receives whale of an escort during marathon paddle

By: Pete Thomas, GrindTV.com

When Southern California surfer Jodie Nelson set out Sunday to standup-paddle nearly 40 miles from Santa Catalina Island to Dana Point, she hoped it'd inspire her best friend, who has been involved in a long and exhausting struggle with breast cancer, to keep fighting.

Nelson, 34, whose mother and aunt are cancer survivors, also hoped her nine-hour test of endurance would raise money for two cancer charities and heighten awareness about a plight affecting millions of women.

What Nelson could not have known was that a 30-foot minke whale would swim alongside her 14-foot board and accompany the surfer as she stood and paddled for two of those nine hours, thus joining the cause.

尼尔森万万没料到的是，一条十米长的小须鲸，伴着站在近五米长的冲浪板上奋力划浆的她，在九小时的航程中，伴着她游了两小时，谱写了一段人鲸一家的佳话。

"It was a day that all of us involved will never forget," Nelson said, in reference to Angela Robinson, her best friend, and the rest of a crew aboard an escort boat.

Minke whales are not commonly seen off Southern California, and those spotted by boaters are often elusive. So when a mammal Nelson named Larry joined her endeavor to become the first woman to make this long paddle, she took it as a sign.

小须鲸在南加州并不常见，当船民们发现它们时，往往很难接近它们。因此，当一条尼尔森为它取名为拉里的哺乳动物小须鲸，加入她进行马拉松冲浪的首位女性的义举，尼尔森认为它标志着一种意义。

"To me it was a total God thing," the San Clemente resident said. "We prayed at 4 that morning that God would reveal his beauty and creation and nature, and allow me to endure this long trek, so for me it's not such a huge surprise that this happened."

Larry did not merely swim close to Nelson. He rolled around repeatedly alongside her and blew bubbles beneath her board. A film crew was on the escort boat and CNN, Fox News and ABC are just some of the networks she says are interested in the story and footage.

Alisa Schulman-Janiger, an American Cetacean Society whale researcher, said minke whales can be friendly but added: "This type of quality encounter is highly unusual."

Nelson raised only about $6,000 in advance of the paddle, disappoingtingly short of her target of $100,000 for the Keep a Breast Foundation and Boarding for Breast Cancer. A few of her celebrity friends let her down, she said, but when this story reaches a national audience she expects the pool to grow considerably.

阿丽莎·舒曼-简妮，美国鲸类协会的一位鲸类研究工作者，声称小须鲸对人类是友善的，但是，“像具有这种品行的意外相遇，实属罕见。”

"I thought, 'I don't need so-and-so,' " she said of a particular celebrity, whom she declined to name. "Because I honestly feel like Larry is going to help us reach the $100,000 mark with our fundraising effort."

Larry or no Larry, completing a standup paddle over 39.8 miles of ocean and sharks speaks volumes about Nelson's strength, stamina and determination.

Larry took her mind off the task for two magical hours, but her mind never strayed from the cause. "I can't even begin to compare what I did to what cancer patients are going through," she said. "But I wanted to put myself out there in a dangerous and scary, overwhelming situation; something that was big and just to show people that you can win that battle with that big, scary thing called cancer.

"I wanted to draw some kind of parallel and just encourage people to keep fighting."

Those wanting to help Jodie with her mission can do so via her page on the Keep a Breast Foundation website.

Photos: courtesy paddlewithpurpose.com

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