[Paddlewise] Trip to Johnstone Strait Summer 2000

This summer in lieu of our annual river trip my paddling friends traveled to
Johnstone Strait.  Johnstone is famous for the high concentrations of Orcas,
some of the highest in Western Canada.  We paddled down to Johnstone Bight
and watched the Orca’s massage parlor.  The Orcas love to rub their tummies
on the pebble beaches, the exact reason for rubbing the pebbles is not
known.   We had a fine show one evening as one of the large bulls breached.
The orcas visited us daily.

We crossed Johnstone Strait to visit some of the neighboring islands.  This
is a major shipping channel and the cruise ships pass through on their way
up the inside passage.  We played dodge ‘em with the freighters and barges.
Happily we had our weather radios for a strong blow was predicted.  We found
a good camp and settled in for a few days and watched the barometer drop.
Johnstone is notorious for heavy seas.  The area has strong rip tides and
with opposing winds, conditions can deteriorate quickly.  While we waited
for conditions to calm in Johnstone we paddled out into the calmer waters
near our camp. We rose early and watched the sea otters paddling around our
camp.  A female Orca had become a daily visitor to our little bay.  We often
heard her rasping breath before we saw her.  These waters are extremely rich
and we paddled through large schools of herring.  A ruckus ensued with
gulls, aucklets diving into the herring to grab some appetizers.  The
rhinoceros auklets caught so many herring they were barely able to fly with
the silver fish wiggling in their beaks.  Awkward heavy bodied birds they
have tiny horns on their beaks that look like small spectacles.  A comical
sight!  Where there are schools of herring there are salmon, and salmon
attract orcas.  So Ms Orca arrived as a dinner guest, passing through the
melee of herring, salmon, screaming gulls and auklets to grab her share of
the feast.  We watched the commotion and Ms Orca surfaced about 10 from my
slender kayak.  It was a thrilling close encounter.

We also paddled out to one of the nearby islands and visited an old Indian
village complete with hand carved totem poles.  A local tribesman was on
hand to tell us tales of the raiding canoe parties.  The tribes in this area
had a fierce history; there are many tales of their war canoes crossing the
treacherous waters of Queen Charlotte Strait.  I imagined the terror of the
local populace as these fierce warriors arrived for a raid.

Johnstone strait was magical with glistening glaciated peaks rising about
the mists of the ocean.  We then traveled down to the Discovery Islands.
These small islands are scattered like puzzle pieces in the passage between
Vancouver Island and the mainland.  The islands choke the flow of water from
the large tide changes and the narrow passages create strong rips and even
tidal rapids.  We carefully timed our quick dash through the slim channels
for slack tide.  On passage had 14-knot currents rushing through it.  We
listened to the roar of the tidal rapids and could see large standing waves
in our binoculars.  However at slack tide it was peaceful.  Only the long
strands of kelp lying on the rocks indicated the force and direction of the
current.  We visited the Octopus Islands, sharing some quiet moments with
the loon’s mournful cry.  Enjoying the solitude and peace of kayaking.  With
the loons and Orcas renewing our souls we headed back to the mainland with
great reluctance. Paradise lost.

There are pictures of the trip
http://community.webshots.com/album/3697920zJDueeYmNR  Unfortunately, I did
not get good photos of the Orca ;-(   -- MZ

website:
http://members.home.net/mzuschlag


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