Driving the boat out of Roche Harbor today. The report I had before heading to work had the whales up by Vancouver. Beyond our range on this boat. Maybe they'll come south?
I went early to Roche, had a nice hot breakfast at the cafe there before doing safety training on the boat; then prepping for our morning trip. The whales were still too far north.
Breakfast was tasty, the training went well... we shoved off, nearly on time... thanks to a couple guests from the Land of No Clocks. Then, a more hopeful report: the whales were moving south(ish) in the Strait of Georgia. The "chess game" begins: if they go this way, we'll go that way... if they go that way, we won't be able to catch up with them. I hope they don't go that way.
The reports became more hopeful, and our "chess moves" turned out to be good. When we got to the whales, they were grouped up, much like yesterday. Same J and K-Pod whales, this time north of the San Juan Islands (yesterday, they were south of the San Juans). Just as active. It was another spectacular day on the water.
We weren't able to shut down and watch them go by as much today. I had time to take just a couple photos - the first one...
That is whale belly, on its 4th breach in a row. Yes, there were quite a few breaches again today. Guests seem to enjoy that the most... I appreciate seeing them in their natural habitat, doing what they do.
Another breach off the bow of our boat - no, I didn't get that one...
That splash in the upper center of the image is where the whale was. ;-) Yes, those people on the bow of the boat are wearing jackets. It was a bit chilly on the water today. Oh, look! Another breach in our 10 o'clock position...
Nope; I didn't get that one, either. ;-) And, I didn't have time for any other photos. We had a couple close encounters, and the especially unique situation where whales were at the proper distance on either side of the boat... while we moved along with them. It had been a long trip to get to them, and they were "walking us home." Very nice!
The skies weren't the "sunny" predicted by the weather weasels, but the southwest wind wasn't an issue since we were northeast of the San Juans... the water was nearly flat calm the whole trip.
I could get into more detail with the activity we saw, but it would sound a lot like yesterday's trip... a trip I described as the "trip of the season." Two days in a row. Pretty amazing.
We had a little boy on the trip who whacked his head by his eye (just as I told guests this would be our last looks)... he was traveling with his grandparents, who were clearly "out-energied" by the two grandkids (3 and 7). They left the kids unattended in the cabin, and the 3 year old boy fell on the steps. Who leaves a 3 year old unattended?? I am guessing the parents will have something to say about leaving the kids in Grandma and Grandpa's care in the future... our first mate and a nurse who was on the trip cleaned the kid up.
Perfectly calm water, the boat moving about 5 to 6 knots. The little guy probably won't remember the trip, but he'll likely have a little mark to remind him not to be jumping on the stairs.
I offered to have a vehicle waiting at the marina to take them to the clinic, but Grandpa said they have a car here and will take care of it.
I felt bad for the little guy. His Grandmother said, "Well, at least he got to see whales before he fell."
One of the things we went over with the safety training this morning was first aid. All of our boat crew personnel are trained in first aid and CPR. For sure, it was all fresh in first mate Erick's mind today.
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