Friday, February 3, 2012

#Three #29in29

Momma and baby swimming along. in the Strait of Juan de Fuca

A friend of ours who is a videographer was shooting a commercial gave us a call because he needed more people for the boat.  Whale watching off the Coast of Vancouver Island in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.  We had a magical afternoon and must have seen at least 80 Orca whales.  I was thrilled!  We were very fortunate when we went out  because there was a 'super pod' in the area and it was comprised of several different Orca pods swimming in the strait.   We were out there for at least 6 hours and I wished it would never end.  The guide was amazing, he had a a background in marine biology and he could tell you anything and everything you could ever want to know about Orcas.  He could name the whale by the shape of their fins and identify which pod they were from.  He just seemed to know where they were going to pop up and he would cut the motor so they were not disturbed by us or the engine noise.  It was a fabulous afternoon and I will treasure the memories always.

Blog challenge #29in29 FuzzyGalore.com

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Dar:

You are so lucky. When we were in Haida Gwai'i we were on the Zodiacs to Hotsprings Island which is 4 hours south. Everytime we saw whales our guide cut the motors and they were so close to our Zodiac. We also went into a cove and saw hundreds of Bald Eagles

bob
Riding the Wet Coast

Fuzzy said...

OMG - that must have been AMAZING! I've never actually seen an Orca in real life.

Being that your photo is of Momma & her little one... that makes it all the sweeter.

GREAT post!

Troubadour said...

Orcas are fantastic and are one of, if not my favorite creature. They are simply awe inspiring and I would love to have been there with you.
What a great photo.

Trobairitz said...

WOW, awesome photo.

It must have been an amazing experience. You're lucky to have a good friend to invite you for the day. And to see so many around the same place too.

SonjaM said...

Just amazing! We have been whale watching a few times on the island. Always a wonderful experience. Thanks so much for sharing this magic encounter.

VStar Lady said...

AMAZING!

Bluekat said...

Awesome shot!

Andrew Thomson said...

Fantastic experience eh? I've also been lucky enough to have been out in a boat amongst killers and it's something I'll never forget. My Dad and I spent the rest of the day kicking ourselves for not taking a camera with us...

ToadMama said...

Oh, just imagining being there gave me chills. Really. My last Orca encounter while visiting Alaska is one of my all-time favorite moments.

Dar said...

Bob - Haida Gwai'i is a beautiful place! It's pretty awe inspiring to see these magnificent creatures up close. I loved it when they would spy hop out of the water. We we so lucky because according to our guide some of the youngsters in the pod were playing, they were slapping their tales on the surface of the water.

Fuzzy - I was speechless, you know that feeling you get when you are doing the perfect turn or a perfect run of twisties, that is the same feeling I had when I saw the whales. I was exhilarated.

Troubadour - I wonder what the whales think of us when we come invading their space. It makes me feel terribly bad when I know how much humans have devastated their habitat.

Troubairits - It was an amazing experience, it is made me feel so teeny tiny and that I knew I had to do better as a steward of this earth. The guide said that the super pod doesn't happen that much. It was amazing listening to him talk, he really was passionate about his work.

Sonja - I think I would do it again and hope that one day we will. It was such a last minute thing and the best part was that it was free!

VStar Lady - It was breathtaking, They were just a few feet away from the boat. I couldn't believe it when they breached the water along side us. It was thrilling!

Bluekat - Thank you! It was all done on a little Canon Power Shot SD1200IS Elph. I wander everywhere with that in my pocket and I am so glad I brought it that day. We had our Canon G7 and its battery died, thank goodness I had mine. I hope I get to photograph these beautiful animals again.

ToadMama - Its hard not to be awestruck by these creatures. Alaska is on my bucket list of places I would like to go. Not sure if I would ride or if I would like to cruise there via ship. Need to think about that one, but I bet it would be a pretty amazing motorcycle ride.

Dar said...

Andrew - for some weird reason your comment ended up in the spam file. Weird! At least you got to see these beauties up close! I will never forget it and it was all the sweeter because my daughter and husband were with me. I know it is something she will never forget.