Wildlife 'Right Out of the Gates'

We always feel blessed when an encounter with a large marine mammal happens just after leaving the dock. Guests sometimes arrive feeling anxious, uncertain whether their dream of seeing a whale in the wild will actually come true. Like everything in nature, it often takes time to reveal itself. We have to travel a few miles, search for blows in open areas of water, stop the engines and listen intensely and scan the horizon with binoculars.

This afternoon soon after leaving Alder Bay, we saw the evidence of a Humpback whale, when a large plume of air suddenly appeared rising above the sea. We went to investigate and found a mum and calf Humpback traveling close to shore and close together. Their surfaces were synchronized and when seen side by side it was evident that the calf was much smaller than its giant mum.

Later in the afternoon after watching another individual Humpback, we circled back towards Alder Bay and came across the mum and calf tucked deep within Beaver Cove, along the shores of Vancouver Island. We were thrilled to witness this family duo breaching and slapping the ocean surface with both their flukes and pectoral fins; a dynamic show which enthralled those who watched.

Today we took a different route and went through a narrow channel which opened up to an archipelago of islands. We pulled up towards one of the smooth granite cliff faces, to view one of many pictographs which were painted on rocks by the First Nation people.  It makes one take a moment, step back in time and recall the days where First Nation village sites were dispersed amongst these islands and along the shores, thriving with families living off the land and sea.

It was a lovely adventure on the water and a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.