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Out Of The Blue... It’s often said that the best ideas come when you least expect them and change your life forever. That’s for sure what happened with Whale Tails…
Over the years, surfing had become the catalyst for many adventures. According to a few professors and an ex-girlfriend’s mom, we’d had already had considerably more than our share. Inspired by wanderlust and the inescapably dull presentation of our second year Marine Biology class, we decided to combine education and travel into our Retire First plan. From that moment on life had been good and it was just about to get better… We continued counting out coins, as the surf got louder. With a little over three dollars between us, we headed down to the corner store and grabbed an oversized bag of chips and a container of the brightest non-refrigerated guacamole ever made! With a few cents left over and a snack for ten men, we hurried back to the truck for a better view of the waves. As I opened the chips, To The Last Whale came over the radio. I’ve always loved that song. I was taken back to a Crosby & Nash concert where a majestic humpback floated gracefully across an enormous screen. I was momentarily lost in that vision and the thought that nobody designs quite like nature, when a chunk of the kryptonite colored guacamole dropped right into the hole on my Zuma cassette. That’s when it happened; the light went on and the idea for Whale Tails was born. I looked over at Ric and said, “What about making chips in the shape of Whale Tails? They’ll be “Better For Dipping By Natural Design”. “Why not have a shape that allows you to double-dip the first time around?” I could see Ric’s mind slipping into overdrive! We immediately blew off the best surf of the month and headed wild-eyed down the hill towards home. Along the way, we talked about how great it would be to have a product that inspired people to get more involved in their choices and be able to give something back to the whales and the environment we all share. We talked about the stories (tales) we could write on our bags about these gentle giants and their lives. We talked about working with institutions, theme parks and adventure companies and how it all could relate to the education and preservation of our very interconnected and fragile world.
The original Whale Tail was an outline of Cat Paw’s tail drawn on the back of the Adopt A Whale envelope. She was making her rounds near Stellwagen Bank and will probably never know how grateful we were for her timing. Ric's wife, Terry, grabbed some tortillas and cut out the shapes as the oil heated up in the skillet. She tossed them in and we couldn’t believe our eyes as Whale Tails came to life! Just like in nature, no two were alike. The shape was perfect. We then put some salsa in a bowl and gave ‘em the true test. Thanks to nature, they were made for dipping. At this point we were jumping up and down and pulling out phone books to find chipmakers and packaging companies.
Thanks to your great taste and the desire to make your purchase count, Whale Tails are now available in all of the Southern California Whole Foods locations.. You will also find our chips at Jimbos Markets in San Diego, New Leaf Markets in Santa Cruz as well as at many of the community markets along the coast from San Diego, north to San Francisco, Oregon and Washington. Our friends at Birch Aquarium La Jolla , Aquarium of the Pacific Long Beach, ClearWater Aquarium Florida, and the new Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, realized that Whale Tails were a natural fit and if you’re in the area, you should swing by and check out their exhibits. It’s amazing how much you can learn in a day that will stay with you the rest of your life.
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It was the fall of 1989 and unusually warm, even for Southern California. Ric and I were looking out the windshield of his ’52 Chevy truck at the biggest south swell of the season. As the aqua lines marched in from the horizon, we were searching for some change to replace the missed lunch that had gotten us to the beach an hour earlier than usual. We were laughing about how little cash we had and a few of the choices we had made since meeting up in fifth grade.
We were home in fifteen minutes. In our excitement to get in the door, we dropped the stack of mail we had pulled out of the box. Staring up from the floor was an oversized envelope with a return address that simply said Adopt A Whale. You can imagine our shock and surprise when we opened it to find 50 pictures of Whale Tails! Under each picture was the whale’s name, gender, where it lived and a behavioral observation. This organization was educating school kids about whales and their environment and asking us to get involved. Hadn’t we just talked about this? For the first time in our lives, we were nearly speechless! 
I wish I could say that the rest was easy, but I can tell you that really good things seem to take their own sweet time. It was important to us to build a business that was true to our original vision and reflective of our goals to get more involved in our world. We are incredibly grateful for the inspiration and support we’ve had from some amazing individuals and organizations alike. 