In search of whales

Stretch

Today four of us met at Middle Cove to go in search of whales.  Its one of these things where the anticipation is an objective in itself.  One never knows how these paddles will go.

There was a  sizable sea in the cove and it was a cool 11C.  We weighed our launch options as Middle Cove is a dumping beach.  The extreme left seemed to be the best option and we all got on the water without incident. 

Looking up

Once on the water we were greeted by a significant swell pushing into the cove.  It was going to be an entertaining day.  We could see a large flock of seagulls out at Torbay Point that indicated where we could encounter whales.

Lumpy water

I saw spouts of spray.  All at once a humpback whale surfaced and dove again swimming into Outer Cove before I could get my camera out.  Drats I cursed my luck.

Waiting

Out at Torbay Point the gulls had moved on and so apparently had the whales.  We sat bobbing up and down in the swell hoping for whale sightings.  We did see a couple more at some distance and heard them clearing their blow holes but were frustrated not being able to get one on camera.

Take-out for lunch

Disappointed at the scarcity of whales we decided to paddle back across the mouth of Middle Cove towards Motion to check out the action.  Conditions had calmed somewhat from earlier in the morning so much so that behind the protection of the off shore rocks we were able to pull out onto the seaweed covered rocks.

Tide pool

 Always something interesting in a tide pool.

Perch

Hazen used his paddle as a walking stick to stabilize himself walking across the slippery rocks.  Most of the time there's no possibility for a take-out here but it was easy and convenient.  We had a snack, or lunch, depending on the degree of hunger.

Its called Motion

This area between Middle Cove and Torbay is called Motion.  Its called Motion for a reason.  Hazen went to check out the waves breaking over the rocks.  We didn't stay long before paddling back to Middle Cove and the end of our paddle.

Bright sunshine

The sun, high in the cloudless sky, drenched everything with overpowering brightness as we made our way back into Middle Cove.  We had only paddled 13 kms because we had spent a considerable amount of time bobbing hopefully that a whale would present itself close by.

It wasn't a bust.  We did see whales.  Just no pictures of whales to share.  Sorry.