Thursday, August 18

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAPLE! WE HOPE YOU HAD A PURR-FECT DAY!

Day 311 – Today we went whalewatching with Prince Rupert Adventure Tours, a 4-hour boat ride on a 72-ft. Catamaran. We departed from the dock at 12:50 p.m. The boat was maybe half full. We headed north through straits and around islands, then east in an inlet where the whales like to feed. We were just 20 km below the Canadian border with Alaska. It took us an hour and 20 minutes to get there.

It was clear at first, then we entered a fog bank for maybe an hour and a half, and then it cleared and it was sunny, calm, and beautiful out. The high today was 71 degrees. The scenery was gorgeous, as expected. We passed two very small Native American villages. Saw some fishing boats & fishermen and actually saw salmon jumping completely out of the water – these waters are so plentiful. There were a couple of kayakers; that’s all of the people we saw except those on our boat, of course.

We looked for Bears or Moose or Elk – didn’t see any. There were sea birds, seals, a sea lion. And WHALES. Once we entered the feeding grounds, there were Humpback Whales – lots of them! It is difficult to say exactly how many whales we saw in just this one area because some could have been repeat sightings of the same whale, but there were many simultaneous sightings of two to three whales at a time. We’re thinking 7 to 10 whales total is a good guess. We spent an hour and a half in this same area, and there was always something to see. Just floating there with the motor off, watching the whales eat, play, swim, dive, and there was one full-body breach (which Rob saw, but no picture, though).

We arrived back at the wharf at 5 p.m. We realized on the way back to the dock that this would be our last ocean sightseeing boat tour on this trip. Tomorrow we will leave the Pacific Ocean and gorgeous coastline. We’ve been enjoying it since California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. We’ll still see the trees, plenty of them, and lakes and rivers, but soon mountain scenery will dominate. I think we will miss the sea.

For more detailed information about Prince Rupert RV Campground, click here.