Doug Thompson

When Doug Thompson was 13 years old, he had his first chance encounter with a Gray Whale--an experience that bound his life to whales. He was surfing off the coast of Huntington Beach, California, waiting for a decent wave on an unusually calm day. Doug felt a swell and turned to look for the wave that might carry him to shore. Suddenly, a huge spout of warm pungent water blasted through the glassy sea and sprayed Doug. A Gray Whale about 40-feet long surfaced. She rolled slightly to one side and looked straight at Doug with her deep dark eye the size of a softball. Doug stared back, face-to-face with the Gray Whale. After what seemed like a long time, the whale pumped her tail slowly, turned in a half circle, and glided away. "I was alone again," recalls Doug, "and despite my youth, somehow I knew I would never be the same."

For Doug, that day was the beginning of a relationship with whales and the ocean that has lasted more than 50 years. Now, Doug is the National Director of the California Gray Whale Coalition, a nonprofit group that focuses on protecting the California Gray Whales. (www.californiagraywhalecoalition.org)

Doug lives and works in Southern California, and has traveled internationally as a marine naturalist for more than 30 years. The "Los Angeles Times" describes Doug as an "environmentalist extraordinaire."

He has organized and led more than one hundred long-range natural history expeditions, from Mexico to New Zealand. For many years, Doug has led expeditions to the Gray Whale birthing lagoons in Baja, Mexico. In his book and DVD, "Whales: Touching the Mystery," Doug describes the unique and inexplicable behavior of the "friendly whales" who approach small skiffs with their young for interaction with humans. His footage of Gray Whales and humans in a unique interspecies connection leaves you awe struck.

As a marine naturalist, Doug enjoys worldwide credibility as a leader in exploring our relationship with whales, dolphins, and other marine life. His understanding of our place on this planet brings a deep, rich history of our connection to the sea. Doug's lectures are welcomed time and again by universities, corporations, ocean institutes, world-class resorts, and retreats.

In addition, Doug has developed numerous natural history programs with national award-winning producers and celebrities, including Shari Lewis and the National Emmy-winner James Deckard. The DVD included with his book was developed and produced by Doug Thompson and David Miller of The SummerTree Institute. Miller received national and international Emmy Awards for co-creating and producing the first worldwide children's television series, "The Big Blue Marble." Other awards garnered by Miller include The George Foster Peabody Award and The New York International Film Festival Grand Prize.

You can visit Doug Thompson's web site at: www.summertree.org