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It took me way too long to figure out that the article isn't about literal whale watching. I was expecting something about a small number of customers spending

by _kst_ 9y ago

It took me way too long to figure out that the article isn't about literal whale watching. I was expecting something about a small number of customers spending large amounts of money to go on whale-watching cruises.

mikestew 9y ago
Normally I downvote the hell out of "I read it as 'aliens want to penetrate my anus", har har har!", but in this case I would side with the "kiss this guy" crowd because that is precisely what the title says, even though that's not what the article is about. I, too, wondered and then thought, "meh, makes sense. I went on a whale watching tour once and don't have much desire to do it again. Ergo, someone is keeping those boats in the water, must be the 'whales' of whale watching tours." Hell, I'd go as far as to massage the data just so the pun would work.
- mulmen 9y ago
  Never let the truth get in the way of a good story?
fencepost 9y ago
That was my impression from the headline, driven in part by a conversation earlier this week about many whale watching day cruises giving a free pass to come back if you don't actually see any whales. The person I was talking with had gone on a cruise while traveling, got a pass, passed it to a coworker who was going to be in the same area, then it repeated at least two more times over the course of more than a year. One purchase, at least 4 trips.
- mulmen 9y ago
  My family has gone on three cruises now for the price of one. The company guarantees that we will see Orcas around the San Juan Islands in Washington State. We have seen seals and humpbacks but never Orcas. We go back every couple years, the last time we saw Orcas from the ferry to get to the tour boat but not on the cruise itself so we still have the tickets.
LeifCarrotson 9y ago
Whale watching businesses watching for whale watching whales?
patrickk 9y ago
"Whale" in this context is derived from the gambling world, where it describes a high roller player: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=whale https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=whale
dboreham 9y ago
My brain was several seconds into feeling good that I’ve never paid to go on a whale watching boat... Perhaps someone should write an article about the shady side of aquatic cetacean observing trips. The headline just needed quotes around “whales”.

by _kst_ 9y ago

mikestew 9y ago

Normally I downvote the hell out of "I read it as 'aliens want to penetrate my anus", har har har!", but in this case I would side with the "kiss this guy" crowd because that is precisely what the title says, even though that's not what the article is about. I, too, wondered and then thought, "meh, makes sense. I went on a whale watching tour once and don't have much desire to do it again. Ergo, someone is keeping those boats in the water, must be the 'whales' of whale watching tours." Hell, I'd go as far as to massage the data just so the pun would work.

mulmen 9y ago
Never let the truth get in the way of a good story?

fencepost 9y ago

That was my impression from the headline, driven in part by a conversation earlier this week about many whale watching day cruises giving a free pass to come back if you don't actually see any whales. The person I was talking with had gone on a cruise while traveling, got a pass, passed it to a coworker who was going to be in the same area, then it repeated at least two more times over the course of more than a year. One purchase, at least 4 trips.

mulmen 9y ago
My family has gone on three cruises now for the price of one. The company guarantees that we will see Orcas around the San Juan Islands in Washington State. We have seen seals and humpbacks but never Orcas. We go back every couple years, the last time we saw Orcas from the ferry to get to the tour boat but not on the cruise itself so we still have the tickets.

LeifCarrotson 9y ago

Whale watching businesses watching for whale watching whales?

patrickk 9y ago

"Whale" in this context is derived from the gambling world, where it describes a high roller player: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=whale https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=whale

dboreham 9y ago

My brain was several seconds into feeling good that I’ve never paid to go on a whale watching boat... Perhaps someone should write an article about the shady side of aquatic cetacean observing trips. The headline just needed quotes around “whales”.