A Rewarding Day On The Water
A gale force warning has been issued for this area on the marine weather channel but lucky for us it kept at bay and will likely blow throughout the night. Rain was also in the forecast for today but only a trickle was experienced on the latter part of our afternoon tour.
Guests arrived back thrilled with their experiences on both tours today while adventuring with Seasmoke Whale Watching. Our local Humpbacks must have been hungry and a food source readily available as they foraged and successfully fed all day. We witnessed the recently invented trap feeding aswell as the well-practiced lunge feeding and this morning a Humpback breached. How incredible to observe a 30 ton, 45 foot whale leaping clear out of the water. At one stage two large heads and gaping mouths, came to the surface at the same time, as though it was choreographed. A feeding frenzy ballet came to mind as we watched in awe.
Bait balls galore were seen through much of the larger bodies of water which was the sustenance for both the whales, gulls and other birds. Thousands of Common Murres took part in the feast and the collective vocals from these strange sounding birds made for entertaining surround sound.
We noticed that the Stellar sea lions have taken over yet another piece of real-estate as one more rock has started to fill as the others become maxed out with space. It will be a noisy winter which may be a comfort for those brave locals who boat throughout the colder, darker months.
A pod of about six to seven Biggs Orca were sighted during our afternoon tour. They traveled close together within their pod seeming as though they had a destination in mind. There was no stopping to feed or hunt or socialize, they were mammals on a mission.
We will see what tomorrow brings as we watch the weather closely with hope that the south easterly gale will blow itself and the seas will be calm and welcoming.
