Canadian Canoe and Kayak Wilderness
Adventures
http://wildernessadventures.ca/NahanniRiverRaftAndCanoe.html
1-866-383-9453
adventurescanada@yahoo.ca
Sea Kayaking with Orca whales in
We provide meals beginning with Dinner on Day 1 and
ending with breakfast on Day 6.
GETTING
TO
Many of the major North American carriers fly into Vancouver
or alternately, Seattle. Check with your travel agent for details. There is a
bus service, Quick Shuttle [ www.quickcoach.com ], from
GETTING
TO TSAWWASSEN FERRY TERMINAL
Pacific Coach Lines provides bus service from Pacific Central
Station in
ACCOMMODATION:
It is difficult to recommend accommodation as needs and price
considerations vary. Tourism
We suggest A ccent Inns/Vancouver Airport . They are
moderately priced and provide pick-up/drop-off service from the airport and
ferry terminal. We have arranged a
special rate for our guests. If you are driving to
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SEA KAYAKING
Sea kayaks allow the
paddler to slip silently across the waters, explore shallow inlets and coves,
and approach marine mammals and birdlife without disturbing their calm.
Previous experience is not necessary. Our expert guides will provide
instruction in technique and with safety. We use double and single sea kayaks
for our expeditions. You can expect to paddle for approximately 4 hours per
day.
Due to the
unpredictability of weather, participants must be willing to expect the
unexpected. As we are moving camp each day, there may be the need to paddle for
longer than intended periods to accommodate winds, or rough water. Unsafe water
conditions may necessitate sitting on shore until conditions for safe travel
present themselves.
Johnstone
Strait, near the northern tip of
We
will do our best to locate orca pods and
As kayaking goes, there is little to compare with the thrill
of paddling alongside these awesome, exhilarating, and
magnificent mammals. Coupled with this, is the myriad of
small bays, sandy beaches, protected coves, lush rainforest and marine wildlife
that is characteristic of these waters.
WHAT
WE PROVIDE
All Expeditions: transportation from the point of origin and
return, national or provincial park user fees unless otherwise stated, camping
fees, cooking gear, camp stoves, meals/snacks/beverages on the expedition,
tents, meal preparations, tarps, major first aid supplies, emergency radio or
satellite phone, and professional guides. Meals are provided starting with
dinner on the 1st day and ending with breakfast on the 7th
day.
Sea Kayak Expeditions: sea kayaks, paddles, PFDs
[life jacket], spray skirts, paddling jackets.
Sea Kayaking with Orca whales in Johnstone Strait: Itinerary
Day
0: Arrival in
Day
1: We will take the 7:45 am BC Ferry from Tsawwassen to
Days
2 – 6: Several factors, such as weather, tides, current, group
ability, group goals, and the distribution of pods will ultimately deci de our
campsites, paddling time, and route, and as such, a day by day, precise
itinerary, is undesirable & impractical.
We have developed an itinerary which focuses on the areas in
We will return to our put-in point on Day 6 and return to
The campsites identified on the map are possible ones.
The guides must determine, based on the factors listed above, what is most
practical.
WILDLIFE
VIEWING GUIDELINES People who enjoy watching and photographing wildlife can
sometimes harm wildlife unintentionally. Most animals react with alarm when
approached by humans on foot or in a canoe or kayak. Depending on the
situation, an animal may remain, flee, or in some cases, attack.
Such reactions are stressful and cause the animal to expend
energy. Although an animal might easily compensate for the energy lost in a
single, short disturbance, prolonged or repeated disturbances may add up to
higher costs than an animal can afford.
Repeated disturbance may cause wildlife to avoid an area,
even if the area provides the best food, nesting site, or source of essential
minerals. Even a single disturbance during nesting season might be harmful to
sensitive species such as loons.
For
Birds:
- Always view any nesting species from a distance. Large
masses of sticks in the tops of tall, broken topped trees along the coastline
are often the obvious nests made by bald eagles. You may spot other nests as
well. Avoid nests and never handle eggs or young.
- Do not handle baby birds. People often find young fledgling
birds that have just left the nest. Do not move these birds
often they are near the nest and their parents know how to
find them!
- Leave injured birds where you find them. These birds seldom
survive in captivity.
- Use binoculars or a spotting scope to avoid disturbing
birds.
- Be aware of the bird's behavior and watch for clues that
you might be disrupting normal behavior.
Signs
that you are too close to birds!
- Repeated flushing. - Raised head, looking at observers.
- Skittishness.
- Excessive preening or pecking at dirt or foot, bill wiping.
- Alarm calls, repeated chirping and chipping.
- Broken wing distraction display.
For
Mammals:
Avoid pursuing animals for photographs. Use telephoto lenses
to photograph wildlife at a distance. Those prize winning photographs seen in
magazines are often taken by professional photographers who spend thousands of
dollars on specialized telephoto equipment and have had years of experience.
Be especially careful around females with young. Disturbing
them can cause unnecessary expenditures of energy. Females are generally very
protective of their young - getting too close can put you in a dangerous
predicament. Leave injured animals where you find them.
Signs
that you are too close to mammals!
- Head raised high, ears pointed in the direction of the
observer. - Skittishness, the animal jumps at sounds or movements.
- Animal moves away or lowers head with ears back in
preparation for a charge, erect hairs on neck and shoulders.
- Displays of aggression or nervous behavior.
Signs that you are too close to marine mammals!
- A rapid change in direction or speed. - Escape tactics such
as prolonged diving or fleeing into the water from
a haulout or rookery. - Evasive swimming patterns. -
Interruptions of feeding or migratory activities.
- Aggressive postures or charges directed at intruders.
- Attempts to shield a calf or pup from a human observer or a
vessel. - Vocalizations, finning, tail lobbing, tail raking, or breaching.
Orcas
of
The Romans called
them orcas, literally “demons from hell”. Spanish whalers called them “whale
killers” after their vicious and co-ordinated attacks on other whales, and now
they are called killer whales or simply orcas. Having received some pretty bad
press over the years, their image has improved recently as a result of research
which has shown that they are intelligent, social creatures, and harmless to
humans.
Orcas are the largest
members of the dolphin family, and are second only to humans as the most widely
distributed mammal on earth. They are characterized by their large size (males
can reach 9.5 m and weigh 10 tonnes), distinctive black and white markings and
a prominent dorsal fin that can reach up to 1.8 m in length.
There are, in fact,
three distinctly different types; residents, transients, and offshores.
Residents are the most studied because they do not stray very far from their
home territory during summer, and they return year after year to the same area.
Transients roam over a larger coastal area than the residents, and travel in
smaller groups, sometimes hunting and traveling as a pair. Very little is known
about offshores at this time. They are known to travel in large groups of up to
60 individuals, and they seldom venture into protected waters.
In the early 1970s,
it was discovered that it was possible to identify orcas by unique markings on
their dorsal fins and the appearance of a “saddle” patch at the base of the
fin. This led to photo identification and the ability of researchers to monitor
orca populations, track their movements, and study their social behaviour. Pods
can also be identified by their vocalizations.
The majority of orcas
in
These feeding
patterns explain the high resident population in
Thanks to the
identification procedures much is known about their social structure of
maternal groups, sub-pods, clans, and communities. These terms are used to
describe groups of orcas that range in size from 4 (maternal group) to up to
300 (a community). Pods typically contain 20 orcas but as many as 50 have been
observed.
Orcas are unique in
that family units stay together and do not disperse. A maternal group may
contain four generations whose ages could well parallel a human family. Females
may reach an age of 80, and usually give birth around 15. Orcas belong to a matrilineal
genealogy, that is, an individual’s ancestry is traced through it’s mother and
her relatives. To avoid inbreeding it is
thought that males
mate with cows in other pods, so paternity is usually not known.
Orcas identify each
other and other groups by vocalization called dialects. These high pitched
squeals, squawks and screams (not to be confused with the “clicking” sounds
that are used for echolocation) form their “language”. To the trained ear it
can be used to identify pods. Dialect also distinguishes resident, transient,
and offshore orcas. The vocalizations appear to be used as a communication device
to stay in touch with family members or to identify other orca pods. Different
families do not appear to communicate vocally because they have different
dialects.
On the whole, the
numbers of orcas of
Trip Fee: $1239.00 CAD pp (plus 5% GST sales tax)