B.C. - Whale watching, Ucluelet.

 

After our morning walk, we met the whale watching group at the ramp to the small craft harbour in Ucluelet.  There were 9 of us and Scott, our guide/pilot. 

We all boarded Vitamin Sea,  were given life jackets (modern comfortable ones, not the old fashioned bulky orange ones) and Scott went over the boat operation and safety features.

Then we headed out of the harbour

and up into the inlet to look for bears along the shoreline. Scott told us they sometimes forage for berries along the shore and fish at the entrance of the river.

No bears, so we came back past the community,

cruising past the California Sea Lions. We hadn't realized that there are 2 kinds of Sea Lions here. The Stellar Sea Lions tend to hang out in more isolated areas.

These were, of course, just as noisy as the ones at Powell River and we felt sorry for the people who lived right there.

Heading out to the sea and most of the mornings fog was gone.

Out of the narrow area Scott could let her rip.

weaving around

all the islands.

One of the passengers, a tall young man from Belgium, was watching the shore with his binoculars and spotted

Bears!

As we approached the cub ran off into the forest, leaving Mum who seemed unconcerned.

Then he made his way back . We watched and snapped photos for a while. The couple from the U.K. were thrilled. They were nearing the end of a 30 day trip to Canada and had only seen chipmunks so far.

Then continued on our way. The fog was still hovering out to sea.

We were all scanning the waters for a "plume". It would stay in the air for a few seconds giving us time to spot it and identify where to look for the whale. I was either hanging out the port side window or starboard side of the transom. There was plenty of room for us all until there was a sighting and then we were all huddled at one spot.

After the plume the whale would usually surface again, sometimes sink and come up again and sometimes dive

and then we would see the tail come out of the water. Scott would try and figure out if it was a deep dive, in case we were unlikely to see him again or if he was feeding and then he would try and position the boat so we had a good view.

In total we saw 3 different Humpback Whales (seeing these I realized that the ones we saw from the ferry were Humpbacks). Each one gave us a number of sightings. My camera was not great for this. It takes a while to focus and by then I was just taking a photo of a swirl in the water so I spent most of my time just enjoying the experience, not going for a photo. The ones below are Rick's, he had his camera with the "whomper" lens on (400mm). He bought it with him for wildlife pictures but its too heavy to carry around most of the time. It paid off here.

 

I had asked Scott, at the beginning of the tour if Sea Otters were possible and as we made our way back, in increasingly choppy water, he circled a few islands, with kelp beds, looking for them

Success! Photo by Rick.

.

Mum with baby. The lighting was tricky for photos but we could see them clearly, so cute.

Some were quite curious

and one

swam out towards the boat and posed.

I was used to seeing pictures of them floating on their backs, which some of them were, but swimming they are quite big. Males can reach up to 5ft and 100lbs.

We headed back in

with Scott sharing our sightings with another tour boat.

On the way back in we saw a Bald Eagle (Scott said most were inland right now, fishing on the salmon rivers) and

another shoreline Black Bear.

It was an excellent tour, 3.5 hours on the water and fantastic weather, we couldn't have asked for anything better.

B.C. - Wild Pacific Trail, Lighthouse Loop

Conscious that we only have 4 days here, I texted our host, asking if there was a whale watching company he recommended. Turns out he conducts wildlife tours and told us he had room on a 12:30 today or a 10:30 tomorrow.  Tomorrow looked foggy in the morning, so we opted for today and he gave us a discount for already being customers. 

Coffee, breakfast and off for a morning hike.

 

I had taken pictures of Terrace Beach yesterday. Today you couldn't see the beach, let alone the water.

Places overlooking the beach. Beautiful, but I did wonder about mold, so damp all the time.

The trail was gravel and well maintained. Up hill at first and then along the coast with places to sit and look out periodically. Nothing to see in this fog.

We started to hear the mournful call of the lighthouse fog horn.

Sunday morning and it was a well used trail...

not just walkers but also

people walking dogs

and joggers.

The lighthouse looked different in the fog than in the bright sunlight of yesterday.

The loop continued past a bog, through woods and back to the parking lot.

Like the lighthouse fog horn we could hear this bell buoy before we saw it. They are used to warn of narrow or shallow areas.

We stopped at the grocery store to grab a bite for lunch then headed down to the small craft harbour to eat it and wait for the start of our tour.

B.C. - Powell River to Ucluelet.

 

We were up by 6am (way too early in my book) and down in line for the ferry at 7am for an 8am sailing.

There was a group of kids, under 15 boys, even younger girls, heading to Victoria for a regular season game. Wow, hockey parents are amazing.

And these are vehicles headed for some serious fun!

The young woman we met on Valentine Mountain, who worked for B.C. Ferries, told us you could see whales on the crossing.

So, after getting a hot chocolate, I was up on deck for the duration.

I saw something, but was concerned it was just a Cormorant drying its wings, when Rick saw another we realized they were whale tails. Shortly after we saw 2 plumes. Now, having done a whale watching trip today, we realize it was 2 Humpback Whales. No pictures, too far away.

We landed in Comox and started the drive across the island, not stopping until we reached Cathedral Grove.

Huge, old growth trees.

It was a busy spot,

being a Saturday.

But still

surprisingly peaceful

and

spiritual.

It had been cloudy on the ferry passage and the first part of the drive. Often the tops of the mountains were cloud covered so we couldn't see how high they were. But gradually, as we drove the twisty, mountain road, it started to clear.

We stopped by the river that the road had been following

to eat our sandwiches and apple, for lunch.

Another pull off at a huge mountain lake.

Too early to check in, we grocery shopped in Ucluelet

and wandered around.

Checked out a couple of the nearby beaches,

the lighthouse

and, of course, the docks.

Then we checked in at our cabin. No sea view this time but surrounded by forest and a hot tub on the deck!