Day 1 - It was just a glancing blow

We arrived in Kitimat yesterday at around midday, by bus from Yellow Cedar Lodge in Terrace. The flight the day before (Monday) from Vancouver to Terrace was glorious. Our DASH-8 flew at 24,000ft, which meant that we were just that little bit closer to the massive Coastal Mountains – their jagged, snow-covered peaks interspersed with aquamarine lakes, and white glaciers moving slowly towards rivers and the sea.

The group is ten people, led by Sue Flood – one of the “best in the world” wildlife pros. With me were Trevor from Sydney, Janet and Paul (UK), Eryl and John (UK), Sue H with her son Stephen & daughter-in-law, Charlie (UK).

Sue F met us at the airport. I knew it was going to be so good to be with her, learning more and more, and refining my photography - but what would we see and experience?

After a night at Yellow Cedar Lodge in Terrace, “Doc” drove us to the harbour at Kitimat where Island Roamer was waiting for us, her blue sail-covers bright against the white hull and glistening water. The tide was out, the sun was shining and excitement built as we met the crew who helped carry our gear aboard.

It was good to be back on the water, and our crew has been fantastic: Brian Falconer our skipper with his vast knowledge of the area, his passion for conservation & for the local people; Mark is First Mate & an amazing engineer; Emily, our naturalist has a great breadth of knowledge of animals and vegetation in this part of the world; and our all important chef, Joshua, continues to make delicious food – in fact, as I write, the aroma of chocolate cake is filling the lounge & wafting up to the cockpit.

Back to Kitimat. Within 15 minutes of leaving the dock, Brian spotted a humpback. Cameras were out, and a few shots taken before we headed southwest towards Gribbell Island, and on the way to our adventure.

I jokingly said to Brian “more whales please” and soon after lunch we were in an area with at least 6 and possibly 10 humpbacks, including one with a calf. What a joy – which way to turn? Brian manoeuvred the boat to get us close to different groups. It’s always a guess as to where they’ll appear next, although they tend to move in a consistent general direction unless they’re feeding.

Then we saw a group of Dall’s porpoises, small black & white animals that fly through the water at tremendous speed, making it impossible, or nearly impossible, to capture them with a camera. Despite valiantly trying, all I managed to get were splashes of “where one had been.”

We tried to keep up with the Dall’s porpoises, but the group disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. As we turned back towards the humpbacks, one surfaced right up against our hull and just below where I was standing – the noise of the blow and the whale’s size certainly raised my heart rate. I missed the shot, but saw it all! It was now so close that as we continued to turn, it brushed against the hull, giving us a very slight nudge, before sinking back into the ocean.

It was a glancing “blow” that surprised us all, including the humpback. We saw it a few minutes later, and it seemed to be fine, continuing on its way, and showing its tail fluke before diving deep into the water.

Later in the day as I was looking at my photos, with Sue providing very valuable information on settings for the animals we expect to encounter, Emily came to the lounge to tell us that they had spotted a black bear on the shore. Cameras were grabbed, and out on the bow we were looking at and photographing a black bear eating barnacles – they clearly have very sharp teeth and claws to pull these off the rocks!

It really was gorgeous, very healthy and quite large. Island Roamer is a great viewing platform in these circumstances – we all walked quietly from side to side, taking photos in the fading light and just watching it go about its evening foraging. Although photography of a dark animal in fading light on a moving platform presents quite a challenge, I’m very happy with some of the photos I took, and look forward to sharing them a little later.

What a “Day 1” it has been! It’s hard to imagine what Day 2 will bring.