Success! I launched from Telegraph Cove this morning and paddled down to Johnstone Strait. After about an hour and a half I noticed a couple of boats on the other side of the channel hanging about. So I headed over and as I got near, sure enough there were a couple of black fins poking out of the water. I charged closer (though not too close - you aren't allowed to approach within 100m) and got out the camera and started shooting. There appeared to be four orcas just playing around in the area. It's quite hard to get good pictures of whales a co
uple hundred yards away while bouncing and trying to maneuver your kayak - especially when you drift into a small tidal race. But I got a few pictures that came out OK.After a little
while the whales headed off down the channel and all the boats pursued (but at a respectful distance). I couldn't quite keep up and before long I was about 500 yards behind the last pair and then they just stopped appearing on the surface. Since that was the direction I was headed anyway I just kept paddling. After about five minutes I noticed a couple fins about 1,000 yards ahead and just then a whale popped up right in front of me - about 50 feet. I didn't have my camera out since I was paddling to catch up so I couldn't get a close up shot. And he was headed away so by the time I was ready to shoot he was back at a distance. But it was good to see one close enough to get a true measure of their size and to really appreciate the beauty of these creatures in the water.
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