On whale watching tours from Grizzly Bear Lodge we spend the day in the area of Johnstone Straits. These pictures were taken at Bold Head in Blackfish Sound about a fifteen-minute boat ride from Telegraph Cove on Vancouver Island. I remember this day well as I normally take our guests to Bold Head and we tie up in the kelp bed to have our picnic lunch as it is a quite area frequented by humpback whales most of time several hundred meters (yards) away. However on this day in August one humpback came to visit us and played in the kelp. The first photo gives an idea of how close it came to the boat the second even closer. No the second photo is not a blow up of the first because if you enlarge the second you will see a harbour seal’s head in the background. Humpback whales often play in kelp beds and I believe the reason that this one came so close is because we were sitting quietly, motor shut off, and eating lunch. There were no other boats in the area and after the whale came close we were very quite in the boat and no one hit the side of the boat or made noise moving about as these noises are easily transferred through the water. We had more than a thirty-minute visit.
