THE “CAPE ANN”

COAST GUARD HEADING OUT

TAKING THE COLOURS DOWN

THE “BARTLETT”

THE “CAPE ANN” COMING BACK IN

This is a good example of what happens when there isn’t good light. Detail is lost due to low contrast.No sweeping shadows or colour!

Cloud cover is to blame.It blocks all the wavelengths of light that are warm.”ROY” red,orange & yellows.Without “ROY” hanging around,theres no picture party!

THE “W.E.RICKER” ANCHOURED FOR THE NIGHT

THE “CAPE ANN” COMING BACK IN

TOFINO HARBOUR AT SUNSET

THE “CAPE ANN” COMING IN TO PORT

THE “SIR WILFRID LAURIER”

 

 

THE “CAPE ANN” COMING BACK IN

GOING OUT ON PATROL

COAST GUARD CRUISING

CANADIAN COAST GUARD IN FRONT OF TRANQUIL INLET

TOFINO AIR COMING IN

BEAVER HEADING OUT,BOAT COMING IN & COAST GUARD TIED UP

THE “CAPE KUPER” & THE “CAPE ANN”

Headed out today. Went up into Fortune Channel looking for my bear friends. Found only one up there.Didn’t recognize it,took a few shots & decided to go over into Gunner inlet to try my luck there.Ended up finding two bears there. Neither of them could see the other at the moment. Bears are constantly watching out for each other!
The first bear I found, I’ve seen before in this spot. It looks like a large male. I got out of the boat to get a better angle. It did keep a eye on me but he wasn’t concerned about me.
I only move when the bears head is down & watch where I’m stepping. I try not to make any noise. When it looks at me,I freeze. As long as I’m not moving while it’s watching me,they generally don’t get skittish.

Left my furry friend in Gunner inlet. Thats when I found a third bear. Didn’t recognize it. Took a few shots & continued out of Gunner.
Headed to Tsapee Narrows. The Daredevil came over & so did Delilah. Not sure why but I couldn’t connect with the focusing? It happens sometimes.Eagles move so fast that it’s all I can do just to hang on when they zoom past!
Didn’t get much,but had to move on,the sun was getting low in the west. Headed back into town.
Noticed Tim or Tam on Lovekin point. With that forest fire sunset I couldn’t resist shooting a few.

Went over to Deadman island to visit with Romeo. Juliette stays on the nest to keep her egg warm. Romeo brings her all the food she needs. He is the best mate any girl eagle could have!
That forest fire north of us made the sunset turn a deep bright orange! Forest fires always make great sunsets!
Took a few shots of Romeo & that gorgeous sunset. The sun went behind some low coastal clouds & that was all she wrote.
Said goodnight to Romeo & called it a night.
Another great shoot under my belt!

SUCCESSFUL SEARCH,GOING HOME

A young native girl on a class outing,got lost yesterday. She had to spend the night alone up in Bedwell Sound. She only had a T-shirt & shorts on. This helicopter was used to find her.
It appears she’s ok. When I shot this,they were taking off from the Coast Guard Station to head back to base.

THE “CAPE ANN” COMING IN

THE “CAPE ANN” COMING BACK IN

A TOFINO TRAFFIC JAM

THE “CAPE ANN” COMING BACK IN

THE “CAPE ANN” HEADING OUT

CANADIAN COAST GUARD TAKING OFF

Notice how the heat from the turbines has obscured the trees? When a photon goes through different mediums & or temperature difference,it’s path is altered. The image is distorted as a result.
It’s the same reason stars twinkle. You can also see this natural phenomenon while looking through a camp fire.

THE “CAPE ANN” & A BLUE HERON ON PATROL

A Blue Heron flew into my scene! Let it never be said that I don’t take advantage of opportunities!

THE “ATLIN POST” COMING BACK IN

THE “ARROW POST” & THE “CAPE ANN” AT BERTH

I’m heading out earlier & earlier it seems! The sun is setting so much sooner!
Headed down to Tsapee Narrows. All of my eagle friends have been away on/off to the salmon grounds! I’d love to know exactly where they go of course but thats just fantasy.
I took a client with me last Wednesday. He wanted eagle pictures. Wouldn’t you know that not one of my eagle friends was around! I was very disappointed of course! They all go to where the salmon are running to get their fill,so I can’t blame them……….just my bad timing.

So when I got down to the Narrows & saw the Daredevil flying over to greet me,it brought a smile to my face! I assume they are full of salmon & one of the reasons why they seem so lazy? They are still moulting as well.
I made up a new game tonight! Sometimes after one of my eagle friends grab a fish,a fluff of down will let loose & begin to float down wind. I manoeuvred the boat to grab it! I got the one the Daredevil let loose tonight! As soon as I catch it,the beautiful structure is destroyed! It clumps into a small wad.
Still a challenge to try & follow this beautiful piece of down & try to catch it before it hits the water!

Only stayed a short while with my full friend. The sun was already getting close to the horizon. Headed back to the harbour & went to Deadman island to see if my friend Romeo was around? Turns out he was but very lethargic as well! He did two runs & that was all she wrote. He looked like a big fat turkey! Juliette wasn’t around,so she must of been still down at the grounds?
I still had some light left in the day so just went around the harbour looking for anything to shoot? I decided to come back in & call it a day. Normally all the excitement ends than but there was something else in store for me tonight!

I put away & cleaned all my boat gear as per normal & locked up. I decided to go out onto the 1st. dock to just watch the afterglow of the sunset. I saw a friend in his boat with clients coming back & decided to get my camera back out. Took a few shots & packed it back away & put my pack on my back. I had just started to walk away when it happened!
I looked up because of a bright light & saw a large meteor screaming across the heavens! It was going from east to west & was a bright welders white colour. It broke up in the sky & did not hit the ground. Those are called meteors but if it had hits the ground,those are called meteorites! I looked at the metadata of my last shot & it was 8:21pm. It had to be only 2 minutes after I took that last shot,so am calling the time around 8:24 pm (Pacific). Sure wish I could of gotten a still or better yet a video…………….but hindsight is always such a tormenting road!

Had a great evening out tonight & the meteor was the icing to my cake!

THE “ARROW POST” AT BERTH

THE “BARTLETT” ANCHOURED FOR THE NIGHT

THE “BARTLETT” AWAITING THE NIGHT

THE “CAPE ANN” ON DUTY

It was good enough to head out today. The clouds had parted & the sun was out in all it’s glory!
It was high tide when I headed out,so I knew the chances of me finding any of my furry friends wandering around………….. wasn’t good! Headed up to Fortune Channel to see if I could prove my doubts wrong…………….but only ended up confirming them! I did two passes along the eastern shore & didn’t find a single one of my furry friends. They must of all been napping……………or on line surfing? Can’t blame them,I would be too If I could.

Decided to leave Fortune & head back to the harbour. When I came around the SE corner of Meares island I knew the nights shoot was coming to a close real fast!! (before I left tonight,I checked out the visible satellite site. I could see this large solid band of cloud creeping down from the north!)
So when I saw that massive solid wall of cloud advancing eastward,I wasn’t shocked!
I could see that I had about 15 minutes at best to get a few shots.I also knew that the only eagles I’d be getting tonight would be the Tsapee Narrows couple……..the Daredevil & Delilah!
Turns out Delilah wasn’t around,but the Daredevil did go back & forth to the nest,so I assumed she was busy at the nest?
It was just two guys,the Daredevil & little old me! I could only get a few shots,but I did enjoy being with my feathered friend! He’s brings a huge smile to my face!
The air was calm,so when he went by me (close) I could feel the air blast! It’s an a amazing sound that comes off of their wings! If you ever get close enough to hear it,you’ll never forget it!
After taking my shots,the sun was snuffed for the night & that was all she wrote for tonight. Headed back to Tofino’s harbour.
I did run into a Blue Heron near Strawberry Island & after a few shots,called it quits!
Short shoot tonight but still had fun!

PADDLING BY

THE “CAPE ST. JAMES” & THE “CAPE ANN”

The “Cape St. James” was in town. Can’t say I remember seeing her before?
These vessels are designed to be able to roll. The men are strapped in & the doors are sealed. Must be a hell of a ride when one of them rolls because of a huge wave!

THE “CAPE ANN” & HER STATION

THE “ATLIN POST” ON DUTY

THE “CAPE ANN” IN FRONT OF OPISAT

COAST GUARD HEADING OUT

It was sunny & cold today! So I bundled up & put on my wool balaclava!
I saw the Coast Guard getting ready to head out & asked them if I could take a shot of them. I told them where I wanted them & went down to the spot to wait for them. I always love using the snowy mountains of Strathcona as my background!
Sure enough they came zipping by & I got the shot!
Continued down the inlet to Cannery bay. I wanted to see if the Lions had arrived yet? After arriving it became obvious that they were not home!
Very disappointing! I think this year is going to be poor for them? They follow the food & if they are not here than that means the food isn’t either!
Because I was in the neighbourhood,I decided to head over to Tranquil to check on the Trumpeters. Sure enough they were they but very skittish to get close to! I went into the system just to burn some time. I always love going into Tranquil! Had some quiet reflective time to myself & than left.
The sun was lower than what I had thought! I only had time to visit with the Daredevil/Delilah at Tsapee Narrows! They both seemed happy & healthy today! Stayed only a few minutes with them before the sun went behind the tree line.
Said goodnight & headed back into the harbour.
I noticed Tam on her perch tree at Lovekin Point. There was a crescent moon out,so I lined them both up for a few shots.
The light had gone by this time,so I called it.
I was disappointed that the Lions hadn’t shown up yet,but it was still great getting out………..always is!!

THE “ATLIN POST” TOWING A DEAD ORCA

The clouds parted today,so I got out for a shoot but no sooner had I launched my boat,than I noticed the Fog beginning to move in!
I knew the town would be covered soon,so I headed down the inlet. A friend told me there was a dead Orca at the Grice Bay ramp! I wanted to get some shots while they were doing their autopsy,but arrived too late! The Canadian Coast Guard cutter “Atlin Post” was already towing it out to sea!
Disappointed I headed up into Fortune Channel to look for bears? I found one & recognized it.It was a bear that was a bit skittish! I call it “Scaredy Cat”. I can’t get within 200 meters before it trots off into the forest!
Went over into Gunner to see what was going on & I did find a bear but the light was already gone & it was too far away to get anything crisp!
I knew my night was going to be poor with the fog moving in! I wouldn’t be able to get any shots of my eagle friends & the bears were not cooperating either! Big strike outs tonight! No Orca,bears (close up) or eagles!
I came back in early to lick my wounds! No light…..no shots!

UPDATE – (Sept 18th,2013) I received this info about that dead Orca from Rod Palm (Strawberry Island Research)

“September 12, at 14:00, 8 nautical miles off Long Beach, Claire Mosley (Biologist on Jamie’s
Whaling Station vessel “Leviathan 2”) spots something curious floating in the distance; a few
pleading words to Skipper Chris McCue and the course is altered to check it out. They didn’t
expect this but there it is – a big bull Kawkawin (Killer Whale) dead in the water. Chris calls us,
and the machine starts turning. Here’s the skinny: a call to Skipper Marcel Theriault (Ceara
Salvage) – says he could have his vessel “Beach Hopper” on scene within an hour; a call to
Graeme Ellis and John Ford (the top whale brass at the Pacific Biological Station [PBS]) – “Can
you guys budget a recovery?”; their network kicks into gear and within an hour Marcel is on his
way. “Meanwhile back at the ranch”–oops sorry, back at the whale, the whale-watch fleet has
been rotating a presence so that the location is not lost. A call back from PBS and Marcel is on
site and has the whale in tow by 17:30. Shortly after, the Coast Guard vessel “Atlin Post” takes
over to tow against the ebbing tide. Once they’re in the harbour, Marcel pulls it over to us here
on Strawberry Island, where we explore the body and bask in its aromatic splendour for 36+
hours. At dawn on Saturday, Marcel working in conjunction with the “Atlin Post” pickup the
whale and have it delivered to the Grice Bay boat ramp, where Long Beach Auto is able to drag
the carcass up out of the water. Graeme is first on scene and right away identifies the whale as
the 33-year-old Northern Resident I46, who generally ranges through the inside Northern waters
of Vancouver Island. Shortly after, a keen and able-bodied necropsy crew headed up by Dr.
Stephen Raverty (pathologist at the Provincial Animal Health Center at Abbotsford) is getting
down and dirty taking I46 apart and bagging organ tissue samples and de-fleshing the bones for
shipment to the Ottawa Museum. By mid-afternoon the deed is done, and Marcel along with the
“Atlin Post” take charge of the remaining meat, blubber and assorted body parts for disposal in
the open ocean.
I46 was a late middle-aged Kawkawin who appeared to have normal bodyweight, and had fairly
recently been eating, as was evident by the salmon bones that were found in the upper intestinal
track along with a barbless treble hook that had not traumatically obstructed digestion. No
major external or internal trauma was found, so it’s now up to the lab at Abbotsford to see what
they can find with their histo-, toxo- and all their other ologies. These folks are very thorough,
but it all takes time, so it may be a while before I can get back to you with any results.
Later…Rod info@strawberryisle.org more images to follow”
(The images below are from Strawberry Island Marine Research Society)

THE “CAPE ANN” & THE “NADEN ISLE” COMING INTO HARBOUR AT SUNSET

You can see how the fog snuffed the light in Tofino’s harbour! The important thing to notice however is that gap on the western horizon!
I knew that when the sun got lower that it would peek through in all it’s splendor! The light went from zero to 100% beautiful in a matter of minutes! I always watch out for this meteorological scenario! It’s almost a guarantee for a gorgeous sunset,& each one has the potential of becoming something very unique! One never knows what is going to happen exactly?

THE “ATLIN POST” COMING IN

This sequence & the one below is all I got tonight!! My motor acted up on me when I was at the furthest point away from Tofino! I could only move at a snails pace & it took several hours to just get back in!
As a result I wasn’t able to get anything tonight! I’m choked!

THE “ATLIN POST”

The “Atlin Post” was in town on a tour. I saw them coming into the harbour from the east. I missed getting a shot of them with Strathcona’s mountains in behind because I was too far away,but it turned out to be a mute point. I soon realized clouds were obscuring Strathcona anyways!
The last time I saw the Atlin Post was down at the Coast Guard base they were closing in Vancouver about 2 months ago!

TOFINO AIR & THE COAST GUARD

THE “CAPE ANN” GOING OUT ON PATROL

It was another cold,crisp day today in Tofino!
Got my gear together & headed out on yet another great Tofino adventure!
The first thing that caught my eye was the “Cape Ann” heading out. They were heading out to open ocean,so I couldn’t follow.
Than I found one of the Beck island eagles on that rock in the middle of the harbour again.
I continued through the harbour & found both Ernie & Ethel on that rocky islet on the north side of Strawberry island. Lots of eagles out on rocks today I guess!
Started heading eastward down Browning Pass all the while watching the shore intently on finding my wolf friends? No such luck today.
Went straight down to Cannery Bay to check in on my Lion friends & found them almost all gone!! There were only a handful hanging around! Not sure whats up with that? They can’t be leaving so early? The bait fish in the inlet has to be slim to none if their numbers are down that much. Animals ebb & flow like the tides & the reasons behind will remain a mystery to our eyes.
Took just a few shots of the boys & headed over to Rankin Rocks,or I should say “Tried” to! The last few days has been cold & calm. With no wind & freezing conditions at night,the surface water had frozen into sheet ice! (the fresh water is lighter & lays on top of the saltwater)
You hit that stuff with a fiberglass hull & you’ll be dead soon enough! It’ll rip through your hull,the boat will sink & you’ll die.
I saw it at a distance & gave it a wide berth. All of Tranquil Inlet & Rankin was covered in ice! So there was no way I was going down there! I did glass it with my binocs & saw nothing of interest anyways,so I continued on.
Time was on my side,so I decided to visit Rob & the boys at Gunner Inlet. They live there on float houses.I talked too much & the time flew by! I realized the light was going & I had better leave to get some of that sunset. I only got silhouette’s of my finely feathered friends. I stopped at Tsapee Narrows for a few with the Daredevil & Delilah. Said a quick goodnight & headed as fast as possible to Deadman island to get some afterglow shots with Romeo & Juliette.
Got in under the wire! They both were active tonight.
Said goodnight to them & called it a day!
Another great adventure for me today!

CAPE ANN HEADING OUT

THE CAPE ANN

COAST GUARD HEADING OUT

Before I headed out today,I checked the Satellite for the cloud situation. I saw a large coastal cloud system coming in from the south & knew that there was a very good chance that the light was going to go bye bye!
I went down to Gunner looking for bears & found zero. I continued on to Tranquil Creek to see if any bears were down in there? Lots of Chum salmon & yes I did see that Sow with one cub again. I see her every time I go down there! Did some video shoots with the Go Pro too. I’ve been getting underwater footage of the salmon swimming about! Very tricky to get it too! They’re always on the alert for anything getting close to them!
Headed back & saw that the Fog had moved in & that was all she wrote for the nights shoot folks! No light………no shots!
I took a few token shots of Romeo! Both him & Juliette flew out to greet me! She normally doesn’t bother!
Did one run & that was it!
Had no light or subject to shoot,so I just came back in.
I did get some good footage of the salmon,so It wasn’t a total loss!

SUNSET LANDING

NEW & OLD SCHOOL

The “Atlin Post”

I almost missed this shot! I had to very quickly zip out in front of the “Atlin Post”,stop,compose & shoot. The background was going to be out of frame in a few seconds.
Also,………. I didn’t want to get run over! The wake was large enough for me being in a small boat.
You can see how we were in shadow at this moment,but Strathcona was still in gorgeous light!

I noticed today that the “Atlin Post” was in the same spot,at the same time as yesterday! It seemed as if it was on a routine patrol?

Coast Guard Cutter “Atlin Post”

I’m not sure but I think this Cutter is from Port Alberni? It was heading up the Inlet at sunset. I wonder were there were going at that hour?