My youngest brother has been working in our area for several weeks and that has become a golden opportunity for some hiking and other adventures. Saturday, June 2nd, we went whale watching, he and I, and were gone for the day, from about 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.
We left from Bellingham and the day looked to be cloudy and rainy, but began to clear about the time we left the harbor, and turned out to be a beautiful and relaxing day, though there were storm clouds on the horizon when we returned and the next day brought rain.
We were not far out Bellingham harbor when we saw numerous Harbor Seals on a small rocky island, the name of which (if it had a name) I do not remember. The captain steered us close enough for some good pictures and a good view of them, the closest I've seen them.
Further out in the sound as we sailed among the islands we saw several eagles and other waterbirds, but all too far away for decent pictures. We did however see a California Sea Lion on one of the navigational buoys in the sound. He waved to us as we went by.
Finally, some three hours out we saw a small pod of Orcas being followed by other boats and followed themselves ourselves for about half an hour before turning back home. There were four of them, a big male, two females and one delightful little baby.
We were informed that the Orcas or Killer Whales that can be seen in Puget Sound are of two kinds, transients who move in small pods and are only seen in the Sound for short periods and several larger pods who make the Sound their summer home and travel in much larger pods.
We were also told that the Orcas who live in the Sound are mainly fish-eating, but that the transients eat other mammals, seals, other whales, etc. We learned, too, that all the Orcas are identified by numbers and names, are carefully studied and watched.
That was the first time I had seen Orcas in the "wild" and though it was difficult to get good pictures because of the distance one is required to keep from them (200 yards by law), it was a delight to see them and learn about them and we hope to go again some time.
4 comments:
This must have been an amazing trip Ron. I've never seen whales up close like this--its something we'd like to do when we go out to Victoria, British Columbia soon.
That misty hillside photograph was just darling. I loved it.
And the clouds! My clouds always turn out smeared and ugly. Yours are so marshmallow full.
Thanks for commenting, Julie. We've lived here for years and had never gone whale-watching and then went twice in one year.. As to photographing clouds it was a good day for that, and there are filters that help with it.
Hi Ron,
I think the quality of the photographs have got nothing to do with the quality of the equipment but with the skill sets of the photographer.
The clouds are very Thoreau.
Julie
Like the reference to Thoreau, Julie, and you are correct that the person behind the camera is more important than the equipment, but the equipment can help.
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