A Gathering of Whales, Where?!?

A gathering of whales on Haida Gwaii! What???

You know, this place that used to be called the Queen Charlotte Islands, up until the Council of the Haida Nation decided to kindly and respectfully return the name “lent” to the islands back to the Queen while letting her know that from now on, the archipelago would now be going back to its original name Haida Gwaii, which translates as “Island of the People”.

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By Mid-may, spring had mostly sprung and a plethora of animals and beings blossomed already, but spring hadn’t yet reached its optimal conditions. The grand finale had yet to come following the yearly procession of giant herring schools weaving its way through the maze of islands and defying the fierce current, birds by the hundreds were returning along with the ravenous sealions…

On that day, the sunshine was glaring and the heat already palpable. In harmony with the sunrise, birds had been chirping, croaking and whistling since 4:30 a.m., a chorus I had no difficulty getting used to listening to as it was usually reaching fullness within 45 minutes, before returning to sleep till 7:30 a.m., where I’d wake up for a quick shower and a copious smoothie admiring and contemplating the magnificence of the day.

This was the sort of day where everything could happen and it did. I knew the tide was right for me to see the opulent table as the Haidas would say: When the tide is out, the table is served! Only 5 minutes from my place, driving along the ocean entrance to Skidegate Inlet, I kew I had to keep an eye wide open for the beach found in front of the world famous “K’ay Museum”, the traditional and modern museum dedicated to the living culture of the Haida people living here for well over twelve thousand years.

This glorious morning was far from disappointing: The lush vivid greens of salmon egg bearing eelgrass and a beach that has enough food to feed families was offering a magnificent glistening spectacle. Only a few seconds later, a swift legendary spray came rushing out of the placid waters. It was a whale, the first humpback of the year arriving in the inlet. Reassuring my doubts with a second appearance, a mandatory stop had to be done and, since I am always carrying a camera in my bag, the tool of my photography trade was fished out of its compartment before the truck had even stopped.

Positioning myself to attempt a shot or two, it was already time to go to work… Two whales had finally arrived from their thousands of kilometres trip. “We’ll catch up soon enough dear friends!”, I thought.

As time went by, these past tens years offered me the best of opportunities to hang out with whales, either from behind the wheel of my vehicle of simply from the beach. Once in a while, a close encounters allowing one to smell the fresh pungent krill smell coming out of their breath. Apparently, pound for pounds, the krill is the most abundant animal on the planet and can be found on the surface of all oceans.

On the way back from school, a small group of cars and trucks had stopped by the same location where I had done the same earlier that day to witness the phenomena. The gatherings had started. Tourists along with passionate locals were found on the side of the “highway” admiring the giant mammals. Meanwhile, two kayakers were seemingly playing a game of tag from a distance with the two ocean mammals.

All of a sudden, a synchronous convergence presented itself: As the two kayakers were slowly retreating away from the whales, the humpbacks were moving along the same parallel and, out of the corner of my left eye, a seagull and a commercial speed boat were swiftly converging toward a potentially once in a lifetime shot of such a grouping.

The suspense mounted, the seagull’s and the boat speed would bring them into my visor in seconds now, exactly where the kayakers would be, but would the whales emerge out of the depths again, in time for the shot? It was in the hands of destiny. I pushed the button a few times squeezing the button down with my fingers hoping for at least one picture to come out right, if the whales were to show up… And they did!

Over the course of the following few weeks, multiple opportunities presented themselves and allowed more quality time spent with the whales, their calves and a few other animals. Returning to the location of the museum gave me the perfect stand point to meditate and photograph.

One evening, the calling was on and found myself out there. Walking passed the longhouses and their monumental totem poles, I continued on the beach as the sun was very slowly making its way down. Coming up to summer solstice, up in Haida Gwaii, the sunsets are super lengthy as the angle of the planet allows for the sun’s descent to keep the northern skies bright with a golden glow.

Humpbacks had been seen for the past week and a half around the museum and I thought it was time for me to go out there have a proper visit with them. The catch of the day for any photographer up there is to come across the 6 foot wide tail or a full breach out of the water. Imagine that, the size of a bus diving toward the sky! Catching it on the spot is a prize. These are hard pictures to take as the events only come every so often. Further more, the relative distance and the moving animals make for the extra dose of difficulty, a challenge worth taking on that day.

This huge bull was coming toward the female and its calf. Depending on the amount of body coming out of the water, you can sometimes tell if a whale will be going for a deep dive or a simple shallow venture for a few seconds. At this moment, the male’s back surfaced prominently with a sharp angle on its back.

The barnacles growths over its tail becoming clearer and clearer as the waterfall of salty water receded and its flat surface exposed its colours. It was a breathtaking moment, exhilarating!

Staying with them for about three hours, it was finally time to go. At this point, the precious time spent with the cetaceans was even accentuated by what seemed to be a grunting sneeze coming from behind. I turned to go inquire and found this huge otter on its way back home not too pleased with my presence around the area. As I left, a kingfisher came swooping by and stalling up in the air, hovering in one spot adjusting its aim to dive for a fish.

What a treat it is to be living in such wealth, such grace…

Here’s a quick view from my place as I arrived less than 5 minutes later:

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Well, I hope you have enjoyed this latest post on a very special annual gathering of whales! ;) On my next post, I’ll be starting to share about the travelling that happened as I moved out of this idyllic place known as Haida Gwaii to move to Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island, a magnificent night crossing on the Pacific Ocean to rejoin with British Columbia’s mainland, an unforgettable drive to Terrace, in the middle of the Coastal Mountain followed by the whirlwind of an incredible trip along some real Steemit “Whales”, to the upcoming “Crypto-Friendliest City in the World”, Loutraki, Greece!!!

Stay tuned! Keep your smiles, take good care, thrive on and namaste :)