Paddling With Giants

Paddling with

Giants

By Aya Kristina Engel

There’s nothing in life I love more than paddling to a remote island, harvesting seafood from the area and cooking it over a campfire, then sleeping on the beach. This is my happy place. So this summer, my friends and I decided to go to the northern tip of Vancouver Island to a place called the Broughton Archipelago. We launched from Telegraph Cove, a remote fishing village known for whale tours, big salmon runs and whales gal-ore!

We loaded our inflatable stand-up paddle board with everything needed for a week (including water). Camping gear, food, whiskey, hot chocolate; all the goods, and set off for adventure. Day 1 and 2 we sought out whales. We tuned our radios to channel 7 (the whale watching station) and paddled in the direction of humpback activity. We heard spouts and paddled closer, soon we were surrounded. For about three hours we had several pods of humpbacks circling us! We kept trying to get closer while still paddling cautiously, because you never really know where they are or what they’ll do next. And they are SO GIANT! It is intimidating. Standing on our boards, we could hear them moan, and sing! Then all of a sudden, a humpback did a FULL BREACH (a full jump) out from the water, in front of mine and Ariane Tasca’s boards! We froze in shock of the enormity of this ancient giant creature being playful with us. Imagine a whale, the size of a semi-truck, jumping out of the water, while you are on a vulnerable inflatable paddle board. We had to react quickly because the breach caused waves in the water that could have easily knocked us over. I felt so small.

I’ll remember that moment for the rest of my life.

Day 3 we paddled east when Valtteri Rantala spotted a large black bear on the beach. We paddled right up and found him turning rocks, feasting on crabs. The bear couldn’t care less about our presence and was clearly focused on lunch. Fun Fact: There is a narrow window of time when the eating is good for bears on the beach at very low tide, when the marine life is more exposed.

We left the bear breakfast scene, which felt like something right out of National Geographic, then 15 minutes later we spotted our first pod of dolphins! We paddled hard to get closer, and then THEY changed direction and came toward us! All of a sudden they were right beside our boards! But they were fast, and it all happened so quickly, then they were off again.

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Day 5 & 6 we paddled back west and got to see some more humpbacks. We camped on a famous channel called Blackfish Sound, known for its Orca activity; it’s basically an ocean highway for both whales and big boats. It was NOT quiet sleeping here. I timed it—a loud whale spout would go off “PPPPP- POOOOUUUUUUUUFFFFFFFFFF” would go off every 1 minute 30 seconds.

In the pitch black, I could hear so much commotion on the water; between huge sea lions splashing around, orcas singing, and humpbacks spouting. It was a West Coast orchestra at its best. Side note: that was the only night I had to wear earplugs to sleep.

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Our final day, we crossed a big channel and paddled back to Telegraph Cove. Most of my friends didn’t even know we have orcas, dolphins, humpbacks and sharks on the BC coastline. I guess it’s something usually associated with being in Mexico or Hawaii. But being wildlife spoiled in Canada, you can go in nearly any direction and see something remarkable. So naturally there are hundreds of relatively unknown secret gems to discover.

For now, I have plenty more islands to paddle. I feel blessed to live on a coastline with so much wildlife. I believe it is important for people to get outside and experience the rugged wilderness. If you don’t, then you will never understand how special and precious it

is. In southern Vancouver Island, the orca population is rapidly declining and the resident orcas are considered endangered. This is because of the heavy tanker traffic, the pollution, and the salmon being over fished.

If more people got outside and experienced the magic of a whale breach or paddled with dolphins, apathy would dissolve and people would protect our local waters more. I have paddled and surfed all across the world and there aren’t many places left that remain this wild and untouched.

BC coast line is a truly magical place and it is important we protect it for future generations. Please, get involved with your local wildlife activists!

Follow Barnacle Babes and get outside!

-Aya Kristina Engel #protecttheinlet

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