My girlfriend and I went on a 3 week trip to Canada and Alaska in September 2007 with the hopes of seeing bears, moose, bald eagles, caribou, killer whales and the northern lights. We were successful on all counts except the whales.
We flew into Vancouver, hired a car and then took the ferry across to Vancouver Island. Stunningly beautiful scenery and a surprisingly long drive from Nanaimo in the south of the island to Telegraph Cove, near Port McNeill in the north (Vancouver Island is about the length of Ireland!) We took a 3 day kayaking trip with Discovery Expeditions (highly recommended!!) out to stay on a tiny little island in Johnstone Strait.
As soon as we got there the guides told us not to get our hopes up as the orcas hadn’t been back for quite a few days. Our trip was towards the end of the season, so if we ever go again, we will certainly try to go a lot earlier in the year. But the 3 days were absolutely fantastic despite the lack of orcas. It was so relaxing – we got our pick of about 10 tents dotted round the island, so we picked the one with the best view. Every evening was spent eating fish caught fresh from the Strait round a campfire, watching the sun go down and listening to the waves lapping the shore. Bliss…
The first day was considered too rough for us virgin kayakers, so it became a relaxing day exploring the island. We spent a long period of time watching a little mink running back and forth between the shore and it’s nest with bits of seaweed in it’s mouth!
On the second day we finally got out on the kayaks. Great fun – we managed to see a few bald eagles, some dall porpoise (which look a lot like killer whales) and a sealion which we were able to paddle right up to. In the afternoon, one of the guides took us out on the motorboat in another attempt to spot some Orcas, but again no joy. We did see a humpback surface very close to the boat though which was incredible. On our return, we were allowed to take out 2 glass-bottomed kayaks which was excellent – paddling around the coast of the island looking through the bottom for starfish.
When we woke on the third day, one of the guides excitedly told us that we could hear the Orcas on the hydrophone, so they were obviously back in the area. But alas, they never headed in our direction. We did hear them though…!
Towards the end of our holiday once we’d got deep into Alaska, we had another crack at seeing Orcas albeit not from a kayak. This was on a cruise on the Kenai Fjords. An absolutely incredible day – we saw enormous glaciers calving into the ocean, black bears, bald eagles, sea otters, more dall porpoise and a solitary mountain goat – but again no orcas. And this despite the lady who sold us the tickets guaranteeing we would see them! I said, “We spent 3 days on Vancouver Island and didn’t see any, so I’m not holding out much hope”, to which she replied, “Well, they’ve seen ‘em every day for the last 2 weeks – how’s that for ya?” Bitch….
