Working -- Jacob Tollison

-- Story by Deepa Bharath, photo by TKTK

HE IS

Enjoying the ocean and the outdoors, and helping others do the same.

A LITTLE FUN ZONE

Jacob Tollison has loved fishing since he was a kid. The 22-year-old

Huntington Beach resident captains whale-watching tours, doubles as a

deckhand and also takes people out on fishing trips from the Balboa Fun

Zone.

Tollison started his job at Newport Landing, Sportfishing and Whale

Watching about five years ago. What attracted him to the job?

“The outdoors and the thought of not having to sit in an office all

day,” he said. “You don’t have to commute, you’re out in the sun, the

weather’s nice. What more can you ask for?”

His day begins pretty early most mornings. Especially in the summer,

they could begin as early as 5:30 a.m., when chartered fishing trips

start from the Fun Zone.

On days like that, he is out on the ocean till about 7 p.m.

“That’s the most challenging part of this job -- the long hours,”

Tollison said. “Some weeks I end up working up to 80 hours.”

A WHALE OF A TIME

He captains a boat once a week and works as a deckhand the other days

during the whale-watching season, which is between February and May.

“I help people spot whales out in the ocean and also make sure they’re

safe,” he said. “People get really excited when they see whales.”

And why not? Less than three weeks ago, he, along with one of his

groups, saw 40 killer whales swimming off the Newport Beach coast.

“The most common ones we see during the season are the gray whales,”

he said. “But this year, we’ve been seeing these killer whales and also

the finback whales, which are not as common.”

A ROUGH ROAD

It has been about a year since Tollison got his captain’s license --

not an easy task.

“It’s only a six-week training program,” he said. “But I had to work

four years to put in the hours I needed for the license.”

That requirement is 720 eight-hour days on the job, Tollison said.

But the time and effort is worth it, because Tollison says, for him,

it’s not just a job.

“It’s my whole career,” he said. “It’s what I’ve always wanted to do.”