A WHALE OF A TIME

A Grey resident whale has taken up just off Chesterman’s beach! Actually it’s a Cow and calf. They seem to be ping ponging back and forth between Frank island and the Wickinnish Inn!

Normally surfers on their boards are pointing landward but as you can see in the last shot they are turned around to watch as the whales go gently past them.

The Grey whale migration is on right now. They are swimming en masse from Mexico to the Bering sea. Think of it like one big aquatic super highway! There are thousands that swim past Tofino but a few see the sign saying “Tofino next right” and ramp off! They eat and rest for maybe 2 weeks or so and continue their journey northward!

Cats Face and Lone Cone

I did another pano but tightened the shot alittle.
The mountain on the left is Cats Face. This is the mountain that is going to be mined! They effectively will be slicing the top third off. There is a low grade copper deposit there.
Many of us are trying to stop this from happening!
The mountain on the right is Lone Cone and is on Meares Island. I’ve climbed that mountain 22 times and spent New Years Eve there once. I even let of fireworks at midnight!
I’ll never forget that adventure! It was nothing short of remarkable!

Chesterman’s Beach Rainbow Panoramic

I shot this from Frank Island .
The rainbow was only showing near the ground and did not complete the arch.
It goes from the Wick to Long Beach Lodge.
It’s probably about 160 degrees or so and is composed of 18 shots!

Wickaninnish Inn at Sunset

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Whenever I go out by the Lighthouse,I always shoot the Wick.
A friend asked me why I shoot the Wick so much! I explained that the Wick is the only subject I can shoot in front of Strathcona. Strathcona faces south and so does the Wick.
I knew that the mountains of Strathcona would turn pink tonight. There were no clouds on the western horizon. Thats when the longest wavelengths can be seen………….the pinks!
Watch as how the light goes from gold to pink to a cooler tone in the transition .
This is the reason why I went out there tonight. Normally I do not go out there at this time of year! It’s just to rough for my little boat. It wasn’t too rough,but I still had to watch every wave that I was going to hit. I can get thrown out of the boat if I hit a wave on a angle! I always am very careful when I go out here and even more so when the waves are up a bit!

Wick Rainbow

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The sky broke in the afternoon. I saw a clearing coming and headed out to the beach.
As soon as I got out on the beach,I noticed this rainbow to the north. I wanted to get something of interest in the foreground and the only thing I could see was the Wickaninnish Inn! But I would have to go much further west to put the rainbow in behind. The only place to do that was Frank Island. I started walking out to it and hiked over the rock to get to the furthest west. I shot a few along the way in case it disappeared before I got out to the point. The rainbow was holding. It was strange to see a rainbow happen for over 1/2 hour !
Rain clouds were drifting in from the west continuously.