Thursday, July 3rd, 2008

The ocean air on the Island’s west coast is thick and wet. No need for moisturizer here. I woke up early in the morning and headed into town to get a seat on a boat for a whale watching tour.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from the tour. I’d never been to this part of the world, so the idea of seeing a whale up close sounded pretty cool. I was still getting over the fact that these giant beasts that we see on the Discovery Channel actually live here.

The tour itself was more than simply a whale watching experience. We visited a small island where bald eagles live. There are many on the coast and I must have seen at least a dozen of them before the tour was over. We then visited a number of other little islands in the Clayoquot Sound where we saw seals, sea lions, sea birds, and sea otters. The crown jewel, however, was seeing a young Grey Whale at the end of the tour.

Although all we actually “see” is the top of the whale as it comes up to breathe, it’s an amazing thing to be so close to such a huge creature. The closest it came to the boat was about 30 feet, and it was very difficult to take pictures because it only comes up for a few seconds. It was also very close to the shore, diving down to the bottom to feed on the creatures that live in the sand on the sea bottom.

This was a very cool experience. I recommend it.

After the tour, which lasted several hours, I returned to my room to change and hit the beach. Although the sun was shining, it was only 18 degrees out. I walked to the nearest beach to check out the rock formations and the small tide pools that leave all sorts of neat little creatures behind.

Atop one of the formations, I saw little crabs, fish, starfish, plants, and some creatures I could not identify. I then sat atop a comfortable piece of rock and made a few calls home. During a telephone conversation I decided to change locations, and as I walked along the rocks I slipped. I fell right down on my ass, and as I fell my phone leaped from my hand, arced high up into the sky, and then anded right in the middle of a small tide pool. I quickly got up and jumped in the pool to get the phone. Of course I tried to use it, but it was dead.

I have heard stories of friends who have dropped their phones in water, and after a few days of drying the phones work again. I hoped the same would happen to me, but for the time being I was very uncomfortable after being stripped of my ability to call home, call for help if needed, or have contact with the outside world. Something would need to be done about that.

For the time being, however, there was nothing I could do about it. I enjoyed the beach for another hour, even waded into the ocean. I discovered that although the water looks inviting, it’s only 5 degrees. I could only stand in the water for about a minute before I had to leave.

I went back into town for dinner. I enjoyed fresh oysters baked on the half shell with spinach, garlic, and asiago. It was amazing. I followed that up with a pad thai with local fresh shrimp. I will miss the fresh seafood here.

I went back to my motel for an early bedtime.