Here is where you learn that there are 3 different communities of Orcas; residents, transients, and open water. The residents stay exclusively in the waters around Vancouver Island and consist of a northern group (where we are) of about 200 and a southern group around Victoria of about 85. The transients stay for the most part on the outside of Vancouver Island but do occasionally roam into the same waters as the residents. The 2 groups though do not mix or mate. In fact the residents eat exclusively salmon and the transients almost exclusively seals and sea lions. The estimate for the numbers of transients on the BC coast are also about 250 or so. The last 'open water' group stays exclusively further out on the continental shelf and much less is known about them. The southern resident group (of about 85) has declined in number by about 20% over the last 10 years so things are not looking good for them, while the northern resident group has declined by about 7% over that time. It seems to us like 200 is not a lot of a base to try and build up from so perhaps we will not have these beauties with us for too much longer.
The climate here is similar to the Broken Group in that the water is chilly (10 degrees C), the mornings are calm (sometimes foggy) and the wind picks up in the afternoon after the sun has burned through the fog. There are also some strange tide and current things happening here as a result of the length (200km) of this strait. The tide can turn and start to go down and yet the current continues to drift in for a couple more hours before it then finally turns and starts to go out. It's strange to see the tide to go almost half-way down towards low tide before the current actually changes and starts to run out to sea!
There are a couple of channels that one could go off from the main strait, but they have wicked currents flowing through that cause rapids to form and are only passable during the period of an hour or so when the current stops and starts to reverse direction. We decided not to paddle through these areas and instead paddled 8km up the strait and made camp on a rocky beach which we used as home base for day trips.
One other thing to mention is that it is not exactly wild and isolated here. This strait is the major shipping lane towards Alaska and in fact during the days we were there we say at least half a dozen enormous cruise ships go by, not to mention tugs and barges and no end of sport fishing boats and these are famous waters for large chinook salmon.
On our first day, we decided that we should hunt for driftwood because the evenings can be cool and a small beachside fire adds to the ambiance of the surf and stars........well, Lori was on the beach diligently doing her part when she heard the sound of a deep breath and puff....she whirled around and there just 100 feet away was a lone Orca swimming by. What an amazing first-time sighting.
Here is a photo of John showing how large the kelp is here - the bulb part bobs on the service of the water and many times you think you're seeing a seal....but no.
The campsite we chose was situated on a small point of land .... little did we know that 6:30 the next morning we would be encouraged to scramble out of our tent because we could hear Orcas swimming right by our site! There was a pod of about 6 to 8 and the sounds these magnificent creatures make as they come up for air is incredible. It really gets you excited - better than any java ever could! Truly delightful!
One morning as Lori was brushing her teeth, two porpoises swam past. There was a resident squirrel at our site who was quite comfortable coexisting with us as he collected and munched on pine cones while we prepared our daily meals. Other creatures viewed there were seals and eagles.
The next day we had a calm morning and decided to paddle the 3km across the strait because we could see that the whale watching boats seemed to go out there each mornin. As we were 3/4 the way across we spotted an Orca a few hundred metres away...we lucked out with our timing. Then suddenly looking to the side we saw that there were 3 more coming our way and we were paddling in almost a direct collision course...a bit unnerving. So we stopped and even backed up a bit and then 3 more came swimming past us perhaps 50 metres or so distant. According to Straitwatch, these 3 Orcas were brothers. We even got to witness a tail flap.....totally awesome! For lunch, we stopped on a beach and were treated to an up-close appearance of a sea otter - it swam within 10 feet of us along the water's edge and didn't seem to mind us at all. It should also be mentioned that on a regular basis, perhaps every 5 minutes or so, salmon would be jumping clear out of the water.
Okay, we had a great time, so when our last morning arrived, it was hard to leave but were thankful for yet another calm, foggy morning in which to make our way back to Telegraph Cove. Little did we know that Orcas were coming our way heading in the same direction as us. Because it was still foggy, we couldn't see any great distance (maybe 100m max)....but then the familiar breathing sound could be heard. Its exciting...and a little intimidating too.
But within a few minutes of hearing them, the 3 brothers appeared - these guys were big. We were apparently in an area where they like to feed so before we knew it, we and a few other kayakers were within 30 meters of 3 big boys - one came within 10 meters! Fantastic! They didn't stay around as long as we would like because there were whale watching boats on the scene as well. So we slowly, but gratefully made our way to journey's end. These orcas in general seem pretty disinterested in us, displaying no sense of curiosity at all but truly an amazing experience to see them from so close up in a kayak.
Here's a photo taken by another group of kayakers with Lori and John in their kayaks in the background.And below is a photo Lori took with the bow of John's kayak in the foreground.
WooooHooooo!
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