One of my favourite authors for light reading during vacation time is Patrick F. McManus. Pat was the author of such gripping tales as Never Sniff a Gift Fish, Real Ponies Don't Go Oink and They Shoot Canoes, Don't They? My library is full of such classics. Pat's books were mostly a collection of articles he wrote for outdoors magazines like Field and Stream, giving a tongue-in-cheek account of his life growing up in rural Montana and Idaho, and his dedication to his passion, using fishing and hunting to avoid real work. I recently began reading a few later books I found online and as usual I feel inspired.
This leads me to my passion, wildlife photography. I am not saying my photos are works of art or anything, but I love wildlife and the pursuit of photographing as many different species as possible, perhaps even publishing an album or three, mostly for my own pleasure. To date I have photos of 264 species of animals, 868 birds, 256 varieties of sea life in addition to some insects, collected from four continents. I am always looking to add to my collection, or improve on photos I have now.
When in a nature setting, you will not find me without a camera strapped on my back or in my hand. I have even been known to take my camera when going to an outhouse in some remote area, just in case I see something along the way. This is done to avoid my recurring nightmare, which I have had in various forms for the past 30 years. I am walking, driving, or as I am apt to do, flying and soaring like an eagle, when I come across the most magnificent sight. The image is unbelievable, the wildlife so amazing, that I know I could never do it justice by just telling anyone about it. Who would believe me? I grab for my camera only to find that I FORGOT IT!!! I break out in sweat. This is a disaster. I will never see this again! I completely forget about the fact that I am the only person in my dream who also forgot his clothes and is traveling around in underwear. Why do I keep forgetting to get dressed! By the way, I do not have a cell phone in these dreams, and I would never stoop to using a phone camera for such an awesome sight in the first place. I feel sick and depressed at not being able to capture this once-in-a-lifetime experience. Waking up is a relief.
I live on the west coast of Canada and have done so for almost 60 years. Over that time I have traveled by ferry to Vancouver Island and its surrounding islands many times. This area is known for the orcas that frequent the islands. While others may spend their ferry ride chatting or sleeping inside, I spend most of my time on deck, sometimes bundled up against the wind, scouring the water for signs of whales. Once, and only once, I did see a lone orca for a few minutes. A few times I think I did see a quick glimpse of a tiny fin from a porpoise, but I could never be sure because they are too far away to confirm.
This summer we went to Saturna Island. We rented a nice house, (converted trailer), which overlooked the channel between Saturna and a small neighbouring island. Just down the road, within walking distance, was East Point, a park which opened to the water. To the west you could see Washington State and to the north Point Roberts and the southern end of Vancouver's Lower Mainland. In addition to the sea lions who frequent the rocky outcrops, and sea birds, this is also the good spot to see whales. In fact the brochure advertising this place features the orcas that hangout here. We spent many hours here. Others are also often here looking for whales, including naturalists with cameras set up for action. On our final visit I did talk to the local naturalist. I was a little excited to report that that morning I did see two porpoises! He kind of yawned like I was boring him. He said that this area was a nursery for porpoises, so they are frequently seen in large numbers here. So my two little fin sightings were no big deal? Way to rain on my parade! Then he said that a week earlier, a pod of orcas had swam through the channel in front of our house, playing and breaching for quite a while. Well, whoop-ti-doo! Also, someone had spotted a humpback whale that morning. Other than that, there were no sightings.
When we returned home I read in the local paper that the southern resident orca pod who frequent our waters had left the area and have disappeared for the past several weeks. No one knows where they had gone. Then, a few days later came a report that the pod was back, and there was a meeting of this pod with another pod of orcas, and they spent hours breaching and playing together. Salt in my wound.
But, we are not done yet! Good friends of ours left a few weeks ago for their family house on Thetis Island. They shall remain nameless. We have visited there a number of times with them. He sent me this photo:
These four orcas and some porpoises were spotted from their house! Good grief! These things are everywhere but where I am. Later he mentioned that on the ferry ride home, the ferry captain announced that there were whales on the port side. I have never heard such an announcement. He claimed that for my benefit, they did not even go look. Was that really the case, or have orcas become so common place that they can't even be bothered with them anymore?
Did I mention the time we were on an excursion in Costa Rica, and the guide showed me a photo his buddy sent him from back in town where we just left. It was a large boa constrictor wrestling with a wild rabbit in the middle of the street. Later, after we boarded the boat after going for a hike in a nature reserve, he told us that he was a little behind the group as we were walking through the jungle, and a tapir crossed the path, only a few minutes behind us. (Tapirs were on the top of my bucket list for that walk.) Does anyone see a pattern?
