A Whale of a Tail

We left for Isla Isabella in the late afternoon to be sure of arriving in daylight hours. The rocks at the anchorage there are infamous for grabbing hold of anchors and not letting go, so we wanted to be able to see a sandy patch on the bottom before dropping anchor. The winds were so light all the way there that we were barely able to keep our sails full. After a full night of motor-sailing, we got a delightful surprise to help us stay awake on the final stretch—whales ho! We got a few tail shots.

And some breaching.

Our regular followers may remember that last time we were at Isla Isabella (a bird sanctuary), after an enjoyable week we left hastily after a breezeless night blanketed us in the strong and unbearable stench of bird guano. Sadly, and in spite of being up all of the previous night, we were both awakened in the middle of what was supposed to be our recovery night of sleep by the same gruesome smell. If possible it seemed stronger than we remembered from before. It seemed so thick I was afraid to breathe through my mouth for fear of drinking it in like soup. Somehow we made it through the night. In the beautiful light of the rising sun everything smelled and felt better.

While enjoying the morning with the frigate birds (a major source of said smell)…

…we hear the telltale sounds, Thar she blows!

Whales that close to the anchorage definitely made it worth staying even if it meant enduring the smells of an island bird sanctuary in the still of the night. But this time we were prepared. I went to the first aid kit for a couple of surgical masks that I doused in some essential oils to keep by our bunks. We did have a couple more stinky nights while we were there, but the masks really helped make it bearable.

We were so glad we stayed because it was the most wonderful whale experience we ever had! The humpbacks (all sizes from baby to really big), stayed right there in the anchorage with us for several days. Around 10AM each day they would start getting active. It was amazing how close they stayed. One adolescent breached so close that we felt the wake from its landing. There were so many photo opportunities that we had a standing joke that “you can’t have too many whale pictures”. It became so commonplace that if only one of us were on deck and noticed a whale, we would ask how close it was before deciding whether or not to come up to see. Never thought that would happen. After culling through hundreds of whale pictures, here are some of our best.

Here are some video clips you may enjoy.

One day we decided to take the dinghy out to where the whales usually showed up to get a closer look. We just floated around until they came. One came about 50 feet from us and I can honestly say that I was a bit afraid. Even the smaller ones are so big! I began thinking that it was a pretty dumb idea to floating around in an 8-foot inflatable with whales that can be up to 60-feet long. Not that they are necessarily dangerous, but they did have babies to protect…and what if one didn’t see too well or was clumsy and decided to breach and accidentally landed on us? Well, luckily neither of those things happened. Interestingly enough however, once we got back to the mainland where there was a cell signal, Jim read in the news that a kayaker in Patagonia was accidentally swallowed by a whale—see I knew we shouldn’t get that close in such a small vessel. But he assures me that the whale’s anatomy won’t allow it to swallow anything larger than an orange, so we would only get scooped up into its mouth. I’m not interested in that either!

Since we are at a bird sanctuary we took the dinghy around to get some bird pictures too.

Beautiful Pelican

Blue-footed Boobies (one of my favorites). Notice that many are banded.

And of course the Frigate. This one I have mixed feelings about because they are so mean to the Boobies for no apparent reason.

The birds are always up to greet the sunrise.

We saw several Red-billed Tropicbirds with their twin long tailfeathers, but they were so fast that I wasn’t able to get a picture of them. They are beautiful, and you will just have to take my word for that.

Jim and Lily took the dinghy out fishing a few times while we were there. Once he even decided to do some catching in addition to the fishing! He had to tow it back to the boat to keep Lily off of it—she wanted it so bad.

Jim thinks it may be a Roosterfish?? It was quite tasty with a lot of white meat on it.

Don’t worry, once on the boat Lily got her chance to try it too.

Thanks for following along. Until next time...