Whale Watching
We’re not all about the bears, whales are abundant here too!
Killer whales and humpback whales are often seen during our wildlife tours. There are resident whales and transient whales that can be seen feeding and playing in our waters.
Its a Tough Office
Beautiful morning, with a boat fishing on Johnstone Strait. This area is frequented by the Northern Resident Killer whales in the summer, who are after the same thing as this fisherman (salmon). On a day like this its hard to beat it.
Humpback After a Lunge Feed
This Humpback Whale has just come up from under a school of baitfish and hopefully got a mouthful of fish. The photo captures the moment that the whale has closed his mouth and forced a burst of water out through his baleen.
Black Bear On the Bluff
We always keep our eyes open for Black Bears cruising the beaches at low tide. Sometimes it also pays to look up. Black Bears are much sleeker then Grizzlies and have short claws, which makes them excellent climbers. In the late summer there are often salal berries growing on the rocky outcroppings, which the bears enjoy.
Awsome photos
Two incredible photographs the first being a humpback whale lunging through a ball of herring directly toward the boat. A perfect photo showing the herring in the spray, the baleen along the lower jaw and the growth on the pectoral fins. The second shows a female orca coming out of the water on its back with a calf on its belly. A unique photo that I have never seen duplicated or heard of from another guide in the area. Comparing the two photos one would say the humpback is much clearer, more close-up and would win as a photo until you were told that the orca photo was taken twenty of more years ago on 35mm film. So no second chance or multiple digital shots just a once in a lifetime photo.
Not bad!!
The “not bad” title is patting myself on the back for one hand controlling the throttle and steering wheel and the other is taking a picture of some pacific white sides playing beside the boat. I am not saying that one click got the photo because I tell the guest if you get one or two good pictures from fifteen minutes with the dolphins you have done well. However there will be many of sky, water and splashes.
Whale watching – A classic!!
Not much to say except it was a beautiful day whale watching. Calm water and a pod of orca / killer whales with sun glistening off their backs. May we have many more.
Herring Balls and Humpback Whales 2 of 2
Many herring balls form off Bold Head which is a land mass not far from Telegraph Cove a tourist destination on Vancouver Island north of Campbell River. The plan is to sit near a herring ball and wait until the gulls shoot into the air and be ready. The ideal photo is a humpback lunge feeding.
Herring Balls and Humpback Whales 1 of 2
On your whale watching day most of the time is spent is the waters off the east shore of Vancouver Island. This water is rich in wildlife and it is not uncommon to see seagulls congregating in one area, in fact, that is a good thing. Whether you are sports fishing or looking for humpback whales you want to see flocks of gulls to have a “good” day. The herring in the waters along the shores of Vancouver Island are at the bottom of the food chain (just above plankton and krill). You know you position in the food chain when your main defense is getting in a tight ball and revolving from inside to outside so you can breath. The many ducks and diving birds in the area force the herring into balls, which try to escape by moving up to the surface. This attracts gulls and attracts whale watchers.
Perspective 1 of 2
As a guide I am always looking for different photos for the blog and this is one of them. A photo of a guest taking a photo of grizzly bears from the viewing stands. The lodge uses the stands on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River in the fall after August 24th. The grizzly bears come to the river because of the abundance of salmon that come to spawn in the man made spawning channel. The bears often walk down the natural river by the stands and then move into a large pool where the salmon wait before moving into the spawning area. NO the bears are not that far away it just seems that because of my camera but who will really care after viewing tomorrow’s post.
