Aug. 1st - Pierre's Echo Bay

Nikki came to get us at 10am but it was still very foggy so we had her come to the boat to meet Shadow first to waste a half hour.  The fog actually never really lifted until we started back around 4pm.  We told her that we wanted to see whales &/or bears.  She only knew of 2 places this year to look for bears as there haven't been many - 1 was Simoom Sound where we had seen one.  

So, whales it was.  We started in 1 spot where she'd heard a whale blow but never saw him.  Then we stopped on a rock island to gather some greens for lunch (wild onions, a plant that tastes like asparagus, seaweed & some other misc. things).  We stopped by a little island where there was a huge eagles nest high in the trees & saw a baby perched there, probably waiting for the adults to bring back food.  Nikki had seen 2 babies earlier so not sure what happened to the others.

Next we headed out to Johnstone straits, where we saw a lot of humpbacks coming out of the water.  Nikki had the radio on to a station where the whale watching boats talk & we heard there were Orcas running so she went to that spot.  That was amazing - they are so pretty with their white spots & we saw a lot of them, adults & babies.

Next we were headed to a place to have lunch when Nikki saw a bunch of birds close to the water & she thought there was a herring ball there so we headed that way.  We'd also seen a couple of humpbacks in the area so she thought they would head there too.  It was absolutely amazing!!! There were hundreds of seagulls circling & maybe 6-8 eagles.  The Eagles would touch the water first & pick up herring to eat in flight.  They eventually left & the seagulls swept in - very, very loud & flying all around us.  It was like being in the Bird movie!  A couple of times they flew up in the air & Nikki thought the whales were coming in.  The 3rd time that happened the humpbacks appeared & started eating the fish & coming out of the water.  For the very 1st time, I actually saw one of their mouths which was HUGE.  It was truly an amazing experience.  Rod got some great pictures & eventually you'll see them.

Next we went to a little rock island where apparently kayakers set up a place to stay & that's where we had lunch.  You have to be very careful about doing fires here because of the drought (& in fact there not allowed). But Nikki did one on the rocks & wet down some vegetation close by & then wet down everything afterwards & threw it in the ocean.  It took quite a while to get it going because of the wind (she uses no matches - does it the way Indians used to in the old days).  We had out stir fry but she'd forgotten her rice so we ate the way survivalists do - just the plants she'd gathered, a little smoked salmon & berries she brought with her.  Then she made tea with a gorgeous tea set that she bought on Craig's List & gave us little chocolate & coconut balls that she'd made at home.  Quite nice.  While all of this was going on, there were 2 humpbacks going around were we were, breaching constantly.  Another great show!  

We headed back & we're back to the boat around 4:30.  I quickly showered & then we headed up to the pig roast dinner.  We sat with Ihrigs, Morris's & a couple of guys on a boat docked behind us (63'). They were very interesting to talk to.  The guys sat together & the girls sat together so we could visit better - that's what we've been doing each night.