A Day on the Sound
I worked for Stan Stephens yesterday, as I sometimes do on my Sundays off. It was the short trip, just the 6.5 hour, but it was a lot of fun. I was a little worried because it was leaving later in the day than usual...not until 2pm. The wind usually picks up in the afternoon and ruffles the water somewhat, so I was a little concerned that we'd get some swells. Nothing too bad, but some people get seasick over nothing at all.
I shouldn't have worried.
It was gorgeous. Overcast, but the cloud cover was high. It didn't rain, and the sun peeked through occasionally. There was nary a bump on the water, and (if you count what we saw in the distance), we ran across at least 8 humpback whales.
I got myself a Youtube account, so here are a couple videos (one of whales and one of sea lions, and some photos as well.
This is the sea lion haulout at Point Bullhead. If you can make out that growling sound over the engine noise, that's what hundreds of Stellar sea lions sound like. Also, the voice saying "Oh my gosh they're playing! They're so funny!" is NOT me, but rather one of the passengers.
As I said, we saw many humpbacks, including several fairly close up. Of course, the couple times they did something REALLY cool like showing their snouts or slapping a fluke, I was too late to get it on video, but I did manage this one of two whales fluking (going into a deep dive). The voice you hear at the end of this one is Captain Amanda. Amanda's worked there for many years in the office, but this is the first year she's been a full-fledged captain. I consider her a friend and was delighted that she requested me on a trip with her this year (also, it was nice to hear a new voice on the PA!)
And here are a few plain ol' photos!
I was a little too late on the trigger for this one...pity.
Big ol' broad back of a humpy...coming right towards us!
Again, a little too late on this!
This is a cave at Bullhead. It has puffins in it. LOOK TRUST ME, OKAY? THERE ARE PUFFINS!
And for those of you who wanted to see the photo of the bear that was on my neighbor's porch the other day, here it is. Much like the puffins, you JUST HAVE TO TRUST ME.
I shouldn't have worried.
It was gorgeous. Overcast, but the cloud cover was high. It didn't rain, and the sun peeked through occasionally. There was nary a bump on the water, and (if you count what we saw in the distance), we ran across at least 8 humpback whales.
I got myself a Youtube account, so here are a couple videos (one of whales and one of sea lions, and some photos as well.
This is the sea lion haulout at Point Bullhead. If you can make out that growling sound over the engine noise, that's what hundreds of Stellar sea lions sound like. Also, the voice saying "Oh my gosh they're playing! They're so funny!" is NOT me, but rather one of the passengers.
Click to viewAs I said, we saw many humpbacks, including several fairly close up. Of course, the couple times they did something REALLY cool like showing their snouts or slapping a fluke, I was too late to get it on video, but I did manage this one of two whales fluking (going into a deep dive). The voice you hear at the end of this one is Captain Amanda. Amanda's worked there for many years in the office, but this is the first year she's been a full-fledged captain. I consider her a friend and was delighted that she requested me on a trip with her this year (also, it was nice to hear a new voice on the PA!)
And here are a few plain ol' photos!
I was a little too late on the trigger for this one...pity.
Big ol' broad back of a humpy...coming right towards us!
Again, a little too late on this!
This is a cave at Bullhead. It has puffins in it. LOOK TRUST ME, OKAY? THERE ARE PUFFINS!
And for those of you who wanted to see the photo of the bear that was on my neighbor's porch the other day, here it is. Much like the puffins, you JUST HAVE TO TRUST ME.