July 16, 2016, Saturday — Whale Watching on the sound

Anika's Notes


Got up to eat breakfast at a cafe by the docks. Went whale watching. Saw orcas and humpback but none of the ones jumped out of the water.  :- ( but I still had fun :- ) Went back to the hotel to rest and swam a little too. ate dinner . went to bed.



We had a
very early start to go to the Fishermen’s Wharf to pick up our Eagle Wings Whale Watching Boat. They had a great crew that were very informative. We saw a bunch of male orca dorsal fins in an area where the resident orca pods were feeding. They were very hard to capture on film, though.
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Anika waits in the cabin of the boat

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Orca tail is sighted

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Then we went to another area where some solitary humpback whales had been seen, and we hit the jackpot, spotting at least a half-dozen or more of the usually solitary whales, lured over by a bloom of krill.
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boat's wake as we depart for humpback territory

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diving humpback

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We had a surprise event, a guy on the boat used the occasion to propose to his girl! We took pictures of the happy pair and sent them on by email.
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amphibious bus/boat run by Hippo Tours

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water taxi near our mooring

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water taxi








Back to the hotel briefly, and then a trip to the Royal Victoria Museum to see their early peoples exhibit. I think Anika liked the totem poles and some of the drawings.
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totem

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Anika looks on from above

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First Nations ceremonial cape

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First Nations totems

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Anika in front of a totem

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First Nations healing plant

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Back to the hotel again where Martha took Anika swimming. Anika did a lot of dives and handstands on the bottom and underwater swimming. A favorite trick was to time it so when someone was doing the backstroke in a lane, Anika would swim under the across the lane underwater but on her back, looking up at them and they never knew she was there. Early bed tonight. We have a drive to Chemainus tomorrow early to see the big art, and then another shorter drive to Namaino to get the ferry to go to Vancouver.