RE: [Paddlewise] Whalewatching (NW U.S.)

 
A few weeks ago I had a grey whale encounter I'll remember for the rest of
my days.  The whale swam right up to us -- he was so close I could have spit
on him.  He hung out right in front of us to give my paddling buddy and me a
good long look and then swam away.  As we sat there rafted together
excitedly talking about what we saw, the whale swam right at us and did a
deep dive (the kind ending with the tail straight up in the air) right in
front of us. 

I'm hesitant to say where this happened since I don't want it to get swamped
with kayakers.  But what the heck, I'll tell you'll anyway since we are all
"e-family".

This was just North of Depoe Bay on the Oregon coast.  Depoe bay is a fairly
forgiving place to enter the open ocean.  The day we were out was moderately
rough (6 foot swells and 15 to 20 knot winds), but the bay was still easy to
enter and exit regardless of what the tide was doing.  

We are eager to go back and try again, but the Oregon coast is not very
forgiving this time of year.  We were going to try last weekend, but the
ocean was forcast to have 10 to 14 foot swells!!! I like rough water, but
I'm not sure I want to be out in water that big.

--Tim

    


-----Original Message-----
From: Edward Sullivan
To: paddlewise
Sent: 10/30/98 9:02 AM
Subject: [Paddlewise] Whalewatching (NW U.S.)

Must...not...enter...Makah...debate...

There; I'm controlled for now.

Friend told me she saw resident whales at Newport OR. Can anybody tell
me a good place off N.Oregon or S. Washington for some respectful,
non-intrusive viewing?

Can surf launch, but wouldn't mind having dryer protected option.

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