A big day with our bear watching excursion just after lunch, so before a late brunch Jo and I walked to the coast on the lookout for seals. No seals, but we did find a few woodpeckers. Very hard to photograph as they move around a lot, and very quickly.
Just after noon we headed to the bear watching jetty, signed something saying if the boat sank it was our fault, got our float suits, and then got a map briefing. Then onto the boat. We sat at the front together, much to the disappointment of a young boy who’d barged past us to get to the front of the line, despite his mother’s half-hearted protestations. Silly boy. Once on the water it was just a matter of time until we saw anything but a bear. The first of many bald eagles, seals, and yet more bald eagles were our first finds.
Then a very lucky spot – a sea otter, who was cleaning itself floating upside down. Normal apparently.
A jellyfish with long tentacles and a heron followed…but still no bears – and we’d visited all of the guide’s usual spots, and the other boats had reported none seen.
Then, one of the people on our boat spotted something – a bear on a distant shore. We headed quickly to it, but then it was gone. Only a brief view of a male. We waited but it didn’t reappear.
We began to head back to Tofino, but then another bear was spotted, even further away than before. This time it was a female. and the guide thought it had cubs hidden in the forest, so he kept his distance. Other boats eventually arrived, we were there for a while watching it flipping rocks on the beach to find crabs and fish and other goodies.
To finish the trip, another seal and a large boat which looked like a research vessel.
For dinner we chose to continue the nautical theme, going to see Big Daddy who serves fish-related dishes. Fish and chips, battered prawns with apple slaw, and seafood chowder, then an ice cream from elsewhere. Mila and Danny did not want ice cream so they got sent ahead to avoid begging for ours.
