The Great Whale Watch

April-May 2001

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.
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by Sandy Huff

You can learn a lot on a beginner 'trip' as Sandy reports. Photo Courtesy of OceanWest Expeditions.

You don't have to be an experienced paddler to go on many of the paddling adverntures offered commercially. Here's Sandy's experience.

We learned to scan the horizon. There, at one'clock, a pair of Dall porpoises rolled their perfectly triangular dorsal fins in graceful arcs. Dead ahead, a huge bald eagle swooped to land on a thickly forested island. On our left, at nine'clock, a stately blue heron minced across a thick pad of floating kelp bladders like a tip-toeing ballerina.

And under us was the clear, 41°F waters of Johnstone Strait, one of the busiest and most historic lanes of water in this hemisphere.

We were kayaking off the top end of Vancouver Island, the 520-kilometer long exclamation point that starts just north of the US-Canada border. This "Inside Passage" has seen Kwakiutl Indians build their long houses, trappers and explorers roam in long dug-out canoes, and miners with gold fever steam up to the Alaskan gold rush. Nowadays, tightly regulated fishermen take salmon in long nets, huge cruise ships the size of floating cities glide past on their way to view distant glaciers, and paddlers experience the incredible scenery and wildlife close up.

John and Peter, our guides, are certified kayaking instructors, and even teach wilderness rescue and first aid skills. Best of all, they know their area-every bird, otter, and bit of floating kelp. I never could stump them, even in identifying the sea cucumbers, goose-neck barnacles, or huge orange starfish left among the rocks by the outgoing 12-foot tides.

Though the trip was advertised as easy enough for beginners, I'd worried at first that my "mush for muscles" shoulders couldn't handle the load. After all, the dynamics of tides, current, and weather in this constantly swirling passage are legendary. I canoe a lot at home, but Florida's easy-going rivers certainly don't compare to this open-water ride.

Not to worry. The five of us on this trip-two guides and three tourists-paddled in two doubles and a single kayak. John carried two radios, a cell phone, and enough maps to find Hong Kong. We were also always within sight of at least one fishboat, and usually within swimming distance of some shore. It was easy.

We paddled about four to six hours each day, with long stops for elaborate lunches and exploring. One stop was at an abandoned Indian village, where loaded blackberry brambles thrust their spiky leaves through gaping, un-glassed windows, and hand-carved totem poles quietly moldered away in the shadows. Another stop was a hidden nook, a green swale surrounded by surrealistically piled rocks. I felt like a little kid in a jungle gym as we clambered up the side of each monolith to gape at new views. Another day we stopped at a whale-watching station, where volunteer scientists use elaborate underwater microphones, computer tracking, and plain old staring to keep track of the 300-some killer whales that live in the area. They've learned to identify each whale by its markings, scars, and shape of its dorsal fin. Some whales are year-round residents, while others are transients that come and go with the seasons.

We made camp on two islands, tucking our space-age tents under 300-year old pines that rustled quietly in the afternoons and fell silent at dawn. Underfoot, a knee-deep mat of fallen needles turned simple walking into a gleeful moon-walk.

The toilet facilities John and his cronies have come up with have to be seen to be believed. The first loo is built inside a mammoth hollow stump. I felt like Winnie the Poo inside his tree house. With bio-degradable TP. The other rest facility is a five-foot tall tower with a toilet seat on top. It looks exactly like a kid's Lincoln Log fort, made big. The view of surrounding islands is superb, though I wondered if any of the passengers on the passing cruisers happened to own high-powered binoculars.

How much gear can you pack inside three kayaks? It was amazing. John and Peter pulled out tents, sleeping bags, stove, water, groceries, dry bags-and even a case of John's private label wine. Peter, John's assistant guide when he's not being a master carpenter, turned out to also be a gourmet cook, and produced succulent feasts that we savored almost as much as the views.Nights were chilly, and next time I'll pack a warmer sleeping bag plus a thin blanket.

KILLER WHALES

Orcas spy hopping in Johnston Strait. Photo courtesy of Ocean West Expeditions

We were just paddling along the shores of Hanson Island when we heard the WHOOSH-CHUFF of their breathing. Around a rocky point about a city block away came Mom, baby, and big brother. We only spotted them for a few minutes. With deceptive speed, they circled once while Mom and big brother eyed us, then vanished behind another bluff. Whales, for your information, don't merely swim. They waltz.

I wonder how that family of whales is doing these many months later? I also wonder about that colony of seals we saw in a heavy fog as the Zodiac whisked us back to civilization. And surely by now another thick layer of Chinese hat limpets recoat the rocks on Swanson Island. A hatful were delectable sautéed in a dab of butter. And how about the two families of otters? Those babies must be almost grown now.

Yup, this definitely calls for another visit.

Sandy Huff, who lives in Florida, took this trip with Ocean West Tour Company of Garibaldi Highlands, BC which runs multiday kayak trips in British Columbia and Baja.They also offer sea kayaking lessons, tours and rentals in Vancouver.
Toll free 1 800 660 Web: www.ocean-west.com Email: info@ocean-west. ©