Whale of a Tale!

We (48N 128W) are about 160 miles off Cape Flattery. Saw our first bull kelp fronds this morning...a definite sign of home!

While cruising along at about 4 kts in a following sea last night, I heard what sounded like a big wave crashing against the hull...except the seas were calm and not breaking. Popping my head out the companionway, I saw the hulking back lying about 30 meters behind the boat. Lo, Lo, LOOOOOOOOOO, WHALES! Get UP!!!

While completely overcast, the diffuse moonlight filtering through the clouds made for an ethereal setting. PPSSSSSSHHHHH went the spout a mere ten metres off the port quarter, directly up wind, leaving us misted in the spray. Then another, 50m to starboard, and another, right next to the boat...we were surrounded! Based on the somewhat limited lighting and their breathing profiles, we're guessing that they were grey whales. Despite only seeing their backs between the blow hole and the dorsal fin, they were massive...at least as long as the boat. Having these behemoths within 5 meters of the boat with the 2 meter running seas did make us a bit nervous, especially considering the sometimes tragic history of whales and sailboats.

After the next giant spouted upwind, we were inundated in a fetid stench. After mutual accusations of flatulence, we realized that it was the whale. The discovery led this pair of scientists to pose the probing question of whether whales can actually fart? Or, was it a belch cloud or just plain old whaleitosis? The fact that we had been misted earlier without the associated aromatic gases suggests farting or belching, since these guys are likely on the same diet out here. Sadly, we doubted that there would be much interest in funding this critical research.

One of the whales was apparently amorous of Demelza, hanging around her for two hours. He would slowly approach from the stern...50m, 30m, 10m...until he was virtually surfing down the waves towards our transom. PPPPSSSSSSSTTTTT. One last breath before swimming right under the boat, within meters (we even picked him up on the depth sounder) of the transom. "Please don't break off our rudder accidentally or think that we are an upside-down whale that needs righting...or a sexy female that needs...." He must have done a circuit every five minutes or so. While it was hard to see him under water, twice we saw huge white flashes vanishing underneath the boat...we thought that he had turned on his back as he passed under us, exposing the belly. We were truly impressed by the agility they all showed avoiding contact with us in such close quarters and seas.

Lo lamented that it would have been nice to see them breaching. I wasn't so sorry given their obvious fascination with us, imagining how one slight misstep in the whale ballet would render our boat into little pieces.

We were in variable winds and he/they adjusted pace accordingly to stay right with us. Every now and again, they showed us glimpses of their swimming abilities by darting past us, leaving only a wake and a fleeting trail of bioluminescence. Needless to say, this was a pretty special "welcome home" for us!