San Juan Islands
Sunrise: a bright yellow orb on a clear ocean horizon, water is glassy calm . . . where am I? This morning has the look and feel of a Baja dawn, but we are in British Columbia. This is a shorts and t-shirt day. We are heading south in Georgia Strait, Vancouver (the city) to our east, and Vancouver Island to our west. Just north of Orcas Island, marine mammals are sighted! What else could they be? Orcas! It is a pod of six animals, including a large male with tall dorsal fin. What are they doing? It appears they are practicing feeding . . . using small seabirds called murrelets. Are they having murre d’ouevres? Two of the orcas spy hop. We watch them roll upside down, and slap their tail flukes on the surface. Viewing conditions are just perfect. Every time the orcas surface, the sounds of squirrels dancing on typewriters is made as dozens of digital cameras capture each moment. Each whale’s breath is fully documented: 25 lenses at 5 frames per second and 3 seconds per breath. These orcas have been fully preserved as pixels.
After lunch we dock in Friday Harbor and clear customs for our re-entry into the U.S. Fresh Dungeness crabs await us on the dock for our Captain’s Farewell Dinner. On this hot summer day we stroll into town where some of us sample ice cream, while others research local micro-brewed beer. There are orca skeletons and sounds at the fine Whale Museum.
At day’s end, we gather in the lounge to muse and reflect upon the week as we view hundreds of fine images taken during this Photo Expedition. What a lot of memories and experiences we have shared in this southbound voyage.
Sunrise: a bright yellow orb on a clear ocean horizon, water is glassy calm . . . where am I? This morning has the look and feel of a Baja dawn, but we are in British Columbia. This is a shorts and t-shirt day. We are heading south in Georgia Strait, Vancouver (the city) to our east, and Vancouver Island to our west. Just north of Orcas Island, marine mammals are sighted! What else could they be? Orcas! It is a pod of six animals, including a large male with tall dorsal fin. What are they doing? It appears they are practicing feeding . . . using small seabirds called murrelets. Are they having murre d’ouevres? Two of the orcas spy hop. We watch them roll upside down, and slap their tail flukes on the surface. Viewing conditions are just perfect. Every time the orcas surface, the sounds of squirrels dancing on typewriters is made as dozens of digital cameras capture each moment. Each whale’s breath is fully documented: 25 lenses at 5 frames per second and 3 seconds per breath. These orcas have been fully preserved as pixels.
After lunch we dock in Friday Harbor and clear customs for our re-entry into the U.S. Fresh Dungeness crabs await us on the dock for our Captain’s Farewell Dinner. On this hot summer day we stroll into town where some of us sample ice cream, while others research local micro-brewed beer. There are orca skeletons and sounds at the fine Whale Museum.
At day’s end, we gather in the lounge to muse and reflect upon the week as we view hundreds of fine images taken during this Photo Expedition. What a lot of memories and experiences we have shared in this southbound voyage.
