Victoria, British Columbia - 02 Jun 2007

The last stop on our cruise was in Victoria, British Columbia, our only foreign stop (for all that Canada is foreign). On this trip we went on a whale-watching ride, and, well, we saw them! It was about a :45 minute trip out to see the Orcas, J Pod specifically, and, well, it was just cool. It was also a great opportunity to have that 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens, so I could actually get reasonably good shots of them...

For added satisfaction, most of the annoying kids on the trip only had disposable 35mm cameras. None of them probably got a single photo of a whale. Heh.


Images
Victoria
Our first photo of this mysterious foreign land... oooh!
Beth in Canada
Can't you tell how excited she is to be in part of the British Empire?
Native Guides
I'm not sure why they dress up like this.
Native Guides, II
Except that it did definitely get me to take a few pictures of 'em.
Deluxe Whale Watching Tour
Off we go on the bus to the boat!
Did You Purchase A Ticket(s)?
I just liked the grammar.
Marauder IV
This was our whale-watching ship. It wasn't big.
Victoria Again
While on the ship, I figured I could get some photos of the city.
Coast Hotels
It seemed like a rather plush place, from a distance.
Random Sailboat
Playing with the zoom lens, as usual.
Keep 5 Yellow Buoys To Port
Note: they were not to port.
Sun Princess
A butt shot of our ship. At least it's the whole ship...
Welcome to Victoria
...they say, as we sail back out to the ocean.
Eagle on a Light
Have you noticed that I got shots of all of the Eagles? The tour companies practically required it.
Ocean, Mountains, and Reflection
Shiny. Better in person, of course.
Sea Plane
These were the tip-off that we were still fairly near the city.
Background Mountain
It was a bit hazy that day, but you could still see the background terrain.
Bear Necessities
We found this ship floating without fuel. We played Coast Guard with them a bit, before they convinced us that they were okay. It was... odd.
Seagull Island
Or at least that's what I was calling it. So many seagulls! And one eagle in the upper-left, which I hadn't noticed before.
Lost Island
Or at least it looked like a Robinson Crusoe-type place, even if it was cold.
First Whale Watchers
We weren't the only ones out looking for whales that day.
More Whale Watchers
I know, I know, "just get to the whales already!
Jumping Whale
Ask, and you shall receive! This is probably the best picture I got.
Falling Whale
And this wasn't bad either. Of course, I had to take a few hundred pictures to get these.
Rising Orca
These were all Orcas, or killer whales.
Orca Fins
There was a whole pod of these guys, 24 of them in all, if what the tour company told us was true.
Splashing Whale Tail
Getting pictures of them was, of course, tricky.
Whale Tail
The main problems: a) they were only out of the water for a few seconds at a time.
More Whale Tail
b) They were fairly far away, so it required a pretty good lens to get anything resembling good shots.
Whale Fin
c) Most of the shots I did get were like this, just simple fin shots with, if I was lucky, a little bit of whale back.
Fin and Tail
d) The lens was *heavy*, and I don't yet own a monopod.
Fin and Back
There were also a bunch of kids aboard the ship, as I mentioned earlier.
Two Fins and Backs
Mostly they were teenage boys, with the fore-mentioned 35mm disposables.
Fin and Back, II
Mostly they were annoying on the trips to and from the pod...
Big Fin
...but they kept getting in the way trying to get "good shots".
Two Fins, One Back
Luckily, I was able to get a few shots like this one off anyway.
Very Close Fin
This was about as close as we got to an actual whale, which is to say "not too bad!"
Whale-Watching House
This would certainly be a cool place to hang out in.
Orca and Cliff
This offers some idea of how close we were to land.
Orca and Cliff, II
I guess that being near land was safe? I don't know for sure.
Tail and Fin
I liked how close the whales were swimming to each other.
Nice Tail
I got better at taking pictures over time, but the opportunities never got as good as when we started.
Whale and Land
There's all sorts of stuff in this shot!
Six Fins
Six of 'em! Whoo!
Tail Slap
It's like a high-five, I guess.
Whales and Island
Why am I now labelling them with information about the landscape? The whales were the cool part.
Under the Ship
I wish I'd gotten more and better shots of this whale going under the smaller ship.
Under the Ship, II
Man, I was jealous... a smaller boat next time, definitely!
Leaving the Ship
If only it had come that close to us... I had the right camera to play with! Hmmph.
Two Tails
That's pretty far out that time.
Lots of Whale Spots
And that's where the other ship was hanging out.
Last Whale Shot
Bye, whales! You were sure cool!
Beth
Heading back to land.
Tim
Did I mention that it was cold out? I hadn't expected to need a jacket, but, well, it was kindof a necessity.
Rainbow
They never photograph that well, but I love that Beth asks me to take the shots anyway.
Harbour Authority
I just wanted some extra-u proof that we were in Canada. This worked.

[ ,,^.,^,, ] Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org)
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