Whale watching in the Salish Sea provides sights to behold

Makes one wonder if the whales are smarter than the people watching them

VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA

I’m not sure why it took Shelley and me so long before finally booking a seat on a whale watching expedition, but we certainly picked the right spot.

Yes, there are indeed a number of great whale watching sites along the Pacific Coast, and the Salish Sea off Victoria is known to be one of the best.

On top of that, I’m certain that the cleverly named Prince of Whales offers the best tours from Vancouver Island, with skippers and crews who know these waters and these whales well.

As a result, the Prince of Whales offers to take you out again for free if your original trip doesn’t result in any whale sightings.

“Watching whales in the wild is inherently unpredictable,” the promise begins.

“We cannot guarantee that we will see whales on every tour. With a success rate of over 95 percent, it is highly likely that you will see a whale. But, if this isn’t the case, don’t worry!”

(The only thing I’m worried about is that unnecessary exclamation point. Please save it for when we see our first whale.)

“We will get you out on another tour,” the promise goes on.

“Our guarantee is offered year-round, never expires, and can be redeemed at any of our three departure locations.”

Best of all, the free hot chocolate they provided on your first ride will still be free on the second.

Actually, I will admit that the free hot chocolate was the deciding factor when we decided on the Prince of Whales over the several dozen other companies offering such tours. Oddly, we encountered so many whales that we never got around to the hot chocolate. Maybe there will be a refund check in the mail.

As I understand it, the various sea captains are comrades rather than competitors, which means they keep in touch with one another so they can immediately switch course if reports come in about whale sightings somewhere other than where we were heading.

We were warned that it would be cold out on the open water, which it was, but refreshingly so rather than unbearably so. While there is ample seating inside for the faint of heart, most of us spent our time in the breezy salt air of the upper deck, where every view was a good view.

It’s billed as a four-hour or so tour, perhaps a bit longer if the whales are scarce and the captain doesn’t want anyone to go home unfulfilled.

As an added bonus, the Prince of Whales provides some incredibly well-informed naturalists who offer non-stop commentary about the lives and loves of these incredible mammals and willingly field every dumb question a land-locked Californian can ask.

I now know the difference between an Orca and a Humpback and a sea otter. Or at least I think I do.

We saw some of each, plus a small island completely covered in sea lions basking in the sun and barking loudly at us as we went by. Apparently, they like hot chocolate too.

While both the Orcas and the Humpbacks came close to our boat and both came out of the water in full view to more excitement than a 99-yard touchdown run in the Rose Bowl, for my money the Humpbacks put on a better show.

Shockingly, our on-board naturalist not only knew the family history of each whale we encountered, she actually called them by name. I am not making this up.

Along the way, as every passenger took close-up photos with their cell phones dangling dangerously over the edge of our boat, those in charge invited us to share our photos on a dedicated website, so if you didn’t get the best angle you wanted, someone else likely did.

I mean, when these massive creatures decide to leap in the air, they don’t exactly hold the pose for a photo-op.

So, what follows is a photo gallery including photos that Shelley took, along with photos from our fellow passengers and others provided by the Prince of Whales staff. (My photos did not make the cut.)

Best of all, we arrived back at The Empress just in time for Afternoon Tea, an experience that made me forget all about that on-board hot chocolate I passed up.

Reach me at bobdunning@thewaryone.com

(Tomorrow: A visit to a Vancouver Island treasure, the incredible Butchart Gardens.)