The skies were overcast this morning but there was no fog as we departed Newcombe Harbour. We cruised down Petrel Channel, detouring through Ala Passage to check out the “Math Islands” (Sine, Cosine, Tangent and Azimuth), before entering into Principe Channel. We kept a sharp lookout for whales as we had seen them in this area last year, but no luck. That was about to change, though, as we entered Otter Reach. We hovered after sighting our first Humpback whales, but that was just the beginning … As we entered into Squally Channel, we saw whale blows and flukes in all directions – and then a breaching whale – and then another! Another whale put on a prolonged display of tail slapping, over and over again. It was truly awesome! Needless to say, we hovered and watched the show for quite awhile. Some whales came close enough to some of the boats that they could hear (and smell!) the whales’ breathe. Inside Passage reported that whale breath is very fishy stinky smelling. On the other hand, how many people get to say they’ve smelled a whale?
We reluctantly headed for our anchorage in Hawke Bay on Fin Island, as the whale show continued. Hawke Bay is a tight and slightly tricky anchorage, so we rafted Mystic Eagle and Inside Passage to Deception, and Navigator to Arctic Star, thus limiting our anchoring footprint. Once our boats were settled, though, several dinghies went out to continue the whale watching and even those of us who remained on our boats could still see whale blows and flukes just outside and framed by the opening into our little bay. What a memorable experience!
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