As per the MMP rules you should not try to chase whales or plot an intercepting course. Traveling at kayak speeds that really is not likely to work for you anyway. Thrying to predict where whales will surface next is nearly impossible. However if they are in a feeding hotspot and you want to get close to whales just park yourself near the food and you are going to see whales. I have helped Mike Petzold of Caribou Expeditions guide on a couple of trips in the Saint Lawrence near Taudosac Quebec. When you can see krill under your boat its time to see whales! As for danger it is very unlikely that whales would bother you unless your harassing them in the most obnoxious manner. There has never been a case of a whale bumping a kayak in the Quebec that I am aware of although I did see Mike doing a hanging draw while surfing the bow wave of 70 foot fin back that sure looked like it was going to bump him. He was one, maybe two feet from the whale as it passed parrallel to his kayakand he sure thought that that was bit too close. The whales have an incredible sense of where ther bodies are and they will almost never bump a kayak by accident. When they get really close we usually tap our decks with our fingers to make sure they notice we are there, and to make sure we don't startle a whale. I have had huge finback whales come at me dead amidships and just slip under my boat missing me by inches. They can arch and flow like water and gracefully glide under your boat at the last second. It is amazing to watch and bit unerving to say the least. Close is fun - say 20 to 30 feet is great, but when we are talking inches away from your boat it is hard not to be a bit scared! On a really calm day sometimes you can see them roll over on their sides to look at you as they pass under. Making eye contact with a whale is an increadible experience! Mike had a great summer this year including close encounters with a sperm whale and regular visits in the morning by the chalets by a blue whale. He even had a blue whale surface five feet from his kayak. I asked if he got good photos. He said yes lots of them however at the end of the day he discovered there was no film in the camera. For anyone wanting to take his tour, fear not Mike is a much more attentive guide than photographer! *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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