Reflections on water

Crescent Bay Point frequently attracts whale watchers but perhaps none as dedicated as Robert McIntyre.

Seven days a week the Fountain Valley resident arrives at 5:30 a.m. and stays for 8 to 12 hours.

“I get up in the morning with knots in my stomach saying I’ve got to get here,” McIntyre said.

With seven video recorders, two telescopes and a pair of binoculars, McIntyre said he has recorded everything that crossed his path in the last 10 months.

He says he has captured more than 2,700 hours of video tape of whales, dolphins, sea lions and pelicans.

On a folded sheet of paper kept in his pants pocket, McIntyre records the species that swim by and the times of day they are spotted.

“This is the most beautiful spot in the world. I’m here out of passion and I want to be able to educate people who come here to visit,” McIntyre said.

Passersby asking about the whales will be treated to a quick and detailed account of recent activity.

McIntyre, 42, has recorded 27 whales in one day and as many as 59 in one week.

He counted 258 gray whales in January, 166 in February and so far has recorded 90 in March

For reasons unknown to McIntyre, the dolphins cruise by about every two hours and 20 minutes. And for another unknown reason, more whales are spotted on Mondays and Fridays.

A school of perhaps 1,000 dolphins could be seen through a telescope racing south past the point.

McIntyre has named 51 sea lions after Greek mythological characters and stars in the constellation.

“This is my family,” McIntyre said.

“The other day a lady said ‘look how fat that sea lion is’, and I said you don’t call someone’s Mom fat.”

On occasion McIntyre will try to communicate by barking a seal-like call.

Residents in the neighborhood have become accustomed to McIntyre’s presence.

“I see him every day out there at six in the morning when I’m exercising,” Laguna resident Eric Jensen said. “One of the neighbors fed him breakfast when he was sick.”

McIntyre says he hooked up walkie-talkie communication with one neighbor to alert her when whales were coming by.

“I called her Agent 99 and would let her know when it was time to come down,” McIntyre said.

Amateur photographer and Riverside resident Bryan Perez comes down to visit and photograph the whales perhaps twice a week.

“I don’t know if the guy has an electrical sense or something, but a few weeks ago he said ‘I think they’re going to breech’ (leap out of the water) and they did,” Perez said. “Whales rarely breech, and I got a picture.”

McIntyre’s devotion to marine life is attributed to complete independence.

“I don’t need to work. I have no wife or girlfriend,” McIntyre said.

After 10 years in the business of designing equipment for the military, McIntyre said he left to pursue greater satisfaction.

“I just came out here one day last June and never left,” McIntyre said. “I’d like to stay out here for four years. Every day is different, I take in the beauty around us.”

With thousands of hours of film at home, McIntyre said he hopes to one day edit an educational tape for charity.

“If people could only learn from animals and coexist peacefully we’d all be better off ,” McIntyre said. “Animals are reflections of who we are.”cpt.24-whaleman-1-CPhotoInfoA61P88IT20060324iwkbsdknPHOTOS BY DON LEACH / COASTLINE PILOT(LA)Robert McIntyre keeps his eyes and telescope trained on the offshore area surrounding Seal Rock for signs of passing whales. cpt.24-whaleman-2-CPhotoInfoA61P88J020060324iwkbsekn(LA)McIntyre shows a picture he took of a gray whale as it surfaces between Seal Rock and the shoreline.