Port Hardy, BC to Telegraph Cove, BC
August 15, 2007

 

Today will be spectacular!   Since it took some effort to ride up this far in such a short time, we feel that we should just take our time and explore.   We plan to spend the night in Port McNeill, just about twenty-five miles down the road.   Before we do, we will take some time to visit the logging village of Port Alice and then take a boat ride off of Telegraph Cove.  

The road to Port Alice was a perfect route to travel by motorcycle.   Lined by alders and conifers, the road would take us past streams filled with summer steelhead and salmon, rivers, lakes and of course the scenic little town of Port Alice.   The ride stimulated all of our senses.   Around every turn we were treated to fantastic views.  

It was on the road to Telegraph Cove that we saw something that I hadn't seen in years... a log train.   Growing up in the redwood area of northern California, it was common to see log trains.   Those days are gone now, but this train near Telegraph Cove sure brought back the memories.  

Telegraph Cove is a small fishing, turned tourist, village where they are happy to take you by boat to see some of the local wildlife.   It was after 5:00 when we took our little three hour tour.   We were not expecting much, but were surprised at the abundance of things we saw.  

(It's worth mentioning at this point that the camera that I am using is an old and slow digital and the following shots were taken without a telephoto lens.)

Shortly after leaving Telegraph Cove we came across a pod of orca or killer whales.   These are resident orca and are not named 'resident' because they live around here, but because they primarily travel these waterways.  They are here for one thing... Chinook salmon.   'Resident' orca differ from 'transient' orca by the way they act and by what they eat.  Residents are playful and like to be seen.   These beautiful orca go where the salmon are and pods of orca are found the length of Vancouver Island, up into Alaska and down the Pacific Northwest.  Transient orca are quiet and stealth. They hunt mammals. 

You can tell a male orca by its tall dorsal fin.   The dorsal fin of the female is about half the size of the male's.  

Humpback whales were feeding in the area as well.  They were filling themselves on crill before heading south to warmer waters.  The whales find the warm waters of Hawaii and Mexico a great place to relax and to mate... not unlike the rest of us. 

The marine biologist that was with us told us that we had come upon a rare sight that she had only seen once before.   Orca and humpback whales were hanging around together.   Orca sisters and a humpback whale cow and her calf were taking in the lazy afternoon.  

This area with its abundance of sea life and fowl was magical.   Bald eagles were leaving their nests near by and were getting ready to feed.   An orca male decided to come over and get a closer look at us.   You can get a better perspective of his size as you compare the height of his dorsal fin to the size of the men in the boat.  

We couldn't find the words to describe how fortunate we were to have such a wonderful day.   As the day ended we headed back to Telegraph Cove and then rode our bikes back to our motel in Port McNeill.   Ahhhh... What a great day!