Seymour Canal is a riot of marine wildlife. After pulling out of Windfall Harbor, we headed for open water, found a nice SE breeze, killed the engine, and filled the sails. We made 4-5 knots towards our destination of Mole Harbor.
None of us had ever seen so many whales in one place. In the distance, there seemed to be 3 or 4 humpback whale spouts continually visible on the horizon. We slowly sailed past one humpback that seemed to be just resting on the surface – as we drifted past, the whale arched its back, launched its tail into the air and dove deep for another mouthful of krill.
We were next joined by a school of Dall’s porpoises surfing in our bow wake. They spent at least an hour taking turns zipping back and forth across our bow. One porpoise would get a little push from our wake, and then would peel off to the side and be immediately replaced by another. The air was filled with the sound of small pops as each porpoise would quickly surface for a quick exhalation and a new breath.
A magical experience, and we were lucky to share it with our friends.
Click the links for some videos of the porpoises:
