I have a whale of a tale to tell you boys!!

[Bryan/BC]

There we wus... just cruising south in Goletas Channel ( top of Vancouver Island).

We were just heading 15 miles back to the ramp and then a couple of cold ones. Just a low swell so we were booting along at a good rate. In the distance I saw a log floating low in the water. "Log" , I muttered to my partner. "Wait- no----WHALE" "oops- no, its a log" "---HEY--- its a log and a whale!!!

We slowed down to a crawl and got a amazing whale show that rich 'Mercans pay big bucks to see when they come up here. The whale was large mature humpback . And it was using a large diameter 30ft log for a scratching post! I shut off the engine and sounder and let the tide drift us in toward the whale. While Fisheries regulations say that boaters should stay 100 yds off a whale, I guess the whale didnt read that notice. As we drifted closer, he spy-hopped and after giving us the look- over , went back to the log.
He would come up under the log and lift it out of the water, then he (or she--) would rub his body along the length of the wood. A couple of passes he swam in upside down and rubbed his belly. He also rubbed those enormous flippers the humpbacks have along the log as well. By this time we were only 50 ft away-- but I didnt want to start up the motor as it would have spooked him.

My partner started to suggest rude things about what the whale was REALLY doing-- but he is a pig :D

Anyway-- we had no camera with us, so after the whale departed after about 10 min, we resumed our run back to the barn... blaming each other for not having a camera. Lasting impressions--
Man-- those guys have REALLY bad breath, and they pack a real load of freeloading whale lice and barnacles. no wonder they scratch the itch!

[Howard/Jax]

I could swear I saw you do the same thing in the Ocean off the Velas in Puerto Vallarta. Only difference was you were rubbing against an empty Bacardi bottle. Not so strange for you.

Kidding aside, it really was a shame neither of you had a camera. It would have been a picture for the ages. Now it is just another tall tale from the " Prevaricator from Courtenay" :D

[SpeckTackler]

What a great day to be on the water Bryan! To bad you did not have your camera.Rusty

[PK]

ALWAYS.. ALWAYS..AlWAYS have a camera..

ya' never know what is gonna pop up in the spread like behind our boat in Cabo last year.. it sure wasn't what we were after with a long bill that's for sure...

and NO.. don't even say it.. it is NOT him!

[Bryan/BC]

I hear you!! One other time on the water I missed a National Geopgraphic shot of a pod of killer whales.

Bluebird day, not a ripple on the water , snow covered mountains in the background and here comes the whole pod-- about 12 of them, ranging in size from a couple of calfs to a couple of BIG bulls. Now the fact that there were there is not umcommon, but thier behaviour was. They were swimming in a perfect line abreast. It was a syncronized swimming display. All perfectly lined up side by side and coming up to breath at exactly the same time. They were only 40yds away-- and guess what.....NO CAMERA!!!! I will never get that opportunity again

[Zane]

Yep, me too. fishing around the rocks north of Catela three big orca between us and shore swimming around the rocks through the kelp. The huge one was trailing massive amounts of bull kelp from his fin as he would come up to the rocks and raise his head up looking for seals. They were really close to the boat and there I was NO CAMERA:mad: :mad: . The camera is the first thing I put in the boat now and it stays for the whole trip:cool: :cool:

[Joe/GA]

Yop! Yop! Like PK sez, always, always bring a camera.