Whales--yeah, what a wonderful part of the La Perouse show. As you guys know, they are also real handy for giving up a valuable secret: they show where the pilchards are and by default, lead you to what's eating them.
Which brings up a question: with all the boating activity, people coming and going with high horsepower engines at big speeds to and from Ucluelet and Bamfield and Tofino, do you ever hear about collisions?
I was out at the Southwest corner last month trying to hover over a school of pilchards. They kept moving around and it was lights out every time I got back over them so I kept up the chase trying to stay on them.
So were two wales. I tried to keep my distance and give them plenty of sea room but I did have one electric moment thsat will be with me for a long while:
I'd just put an Airmar M260 transducer in my boat. That's 1 Kw of power: you can see individual barnacles on the cables holding buoys in place. It's quite a piece of electronics
So all of a sudden my screen goes black. And I mean black as night; the entire screen. Wow, I remember thinking. I just went over the largest school of pilchards I've ever seen.
As I was reaching for my camera to get a screen shot, the bow of my Arima gently lifted towards the sky and directly under my anchor nest a spout of water came up and drenched my wheelhouse.
My dog went nuts--- Talk about up close and personal!
So do you ever hear of boats hitting them? Or is that something nobody would want to talk about.
..... ask Rick for the details
