Seals, Orcas and Salmon - in our backyard!!

As you may know, Doug and I just got back from a major kayaking trip taking us along the exposed Pacific coast for two weeks of adventure. This morning, already nostalgic for our trip, we decided to take the boats out for a little jaunt in our local waters. We were not prepared for what came at us today.
We launched at Sandpiper, the beach three blocks away from our house.  Deciding to head to Ford's Cove to get chips and pop to have with our lunch... just because we could... we started out hugging the sandstone walls along the south of the island. There are some amazing sandstone sculptures with arbutus backgrounds and some huge boulders to paddle through. It has a very different feel than the craggy sea cliffs topped with Douglas Fir and shore Pines that we are used to.

In short order we arrived at the store at the marina where we did in fact get some chips and pop. We felt like we were 10 years old on a kid's adventure.

After leaving the store we headed to Norris Rocks where there are typically hundreds of sea lions in the winter months. Being September, the lions are not yet there but in their place were hundreds of seals. We had to look for a nook to sneak into without spooking the entire rookery. No luck. The poor critters felt unsafe enough that they evacuated their rock and headed into the shore waters.

We had our lunch - with chips and pop - and just as we were finishing our little feast there was a worked up bit of splashing at the edge of the rocks. Unbelievably enough there were orcas chasing the seals up onto the outer rocks. A pod of at least six orcas circled for about half an hour. There was even a teeny little one no bigger than a dolphin. It was an incredible sight. We loaded into the boats and headed out into the waters where the orcas resurfaced minutes later. Doug got these great shots from his kayak.

The pointy fins and the fact that they were going after seals tells us that they are "transient" orcas. They keep to smaller groups that aren't as tightly knit as the "resident" orcas that are common to the southern Gulf Islands. The transients eat almost exclusively mammals, although who could turn up their nose at a nice spring salmon.




Part of our objective of this kayaking trip was to get out and catch at least one salmon. They have been running lately and everyone is bragging about their fish booty. And now, we can brag too. Doug hooked a big chinook that he reeled in within a couple of minutes. It was a bit too lively for him to land by himself in his kayak so he gave me the net and I managed to scoop it up. What an incredible day. As I write, Doug is filleting the fish. We'll bbq some tonight and freeze some to share with friends later. What an unbelievable day! Who needs to travel to the great beyond for ocean adventure!