It had at least stopped raining when we woke this morning and set off to a nearby restaurant for breakfast. We were a little early so I wandered around outside and found this amazing driftwood sculpture.
We drove back into Tofino (actually I wondered why we didn't stay there instead of half an hour's drive away - $$$ I guess). We were back at the same boat company as yesterday but this time for their whale watching trip.
The weather was lovely, with atmospheric mist on the water.
There were quite a few Belted Kingfishers flying around the dock.
And obligingly posing.
We set off in the opposite direction to yesterday's Bear trip.
The skipper was very proud of the fact that this was the only place in the world you could see cattle on the beach - I didn't have the heart to tell him about Poovar Island in Kerala where the cattle also swam.
Our first encounter with Sea Otters, this one being mugged by a gull. They are really endearing little creatures who love floating on their backs clutching their favourite food - sea urchins.
The sea urchins themselves feed on kelp and so their presence, and that of their sea otter predators, is an indication of a good healthy kelp stock in the water.
Not entirely sure if "No Wake" meant don't create wash from the boat or literally don't wake the California Sea Lions.
After
just over an hour we found our main target: two Gray Whales feeding near each
other in an inlet; which apparently was unusual because they are normally out
along the ocean coastline, although the sea was sixty metres deep where the
whales were feeding which is actually deeper than the norm. One of the whales was an unknown individual;
it was thought that it may have recently arrived from Alaska to feed up before
continuing its migration down to Baja California. The other was a well-known individual who had
been seen in the area since 1992 and had been named “Ditto”. Unfortunately we were still quite a way off
either whale for decent photos and trying to watch both sides of the boat for
blows was really tiring.
I asked our leaders if we'd have been able to get closer in a smaller boat, but apparently not, these people were breaking the rules. I hope their licence gets revoked as I'm not in favour of harassing the wildlife.
I did manage a couple of decent tail flukes.
More Sea Otters, this time they've anchored themselves together to help ride the tides. The rafts can be anything from 10 to 100 animals large and is generally either male or female and pups.
Aren't they cute!
Heading back to port.
After lunch we walked along nearby Long Beach and once again we were seriously underwhelmed. African safaris aside, this trip has been the most expensive we've ever done and of course we understand that wildlife sightings cannot be guaranteed, but I do wonder what our leaders actually thought was possibly there to be seen as it felt more like a Sunday afternoon walk a local nature group might do in the vague hope of seeing something, anything, remotely interesting.
Ian decided to do his Indiana Jones impressions with some kelp.
Sanderlings fly past.
We then had a boring walk along the Lighthouse Trail which took us on the coastal footpath with the Pacific Ocean crashing against the rocky coastline occasionally visible through the trees. Some interesting tree formations though.
Minnie Mouse had obviously been past recently.
We finally arrived at the eponymous Lighthouse just as it was closing so no chance of climbing up for the view!
A previous trip report had mentioned Goose-necked Barnacles being seen here and never having heard of them I thought they looked quite amazing (internet image).
Our leader was not particular interested (presumably because they don't fly) but unfortunately they were too far away to be seen except through a scope.
This Stellar Jay posed very nicely for me.
Back at the motel a Bald Eagle helpfully posed on the treetops whilst everyone got pictures.
Dinner was at a nearby floating restaurant which was very nice but we were out on the deck so it was rather chilly when the sun went down.
