C-Dory vs. Friendly Humpback whale video on You tube

Jason, we loved it!! Over the years we've had them close around & under our C-Dory, but never quite like that. Thanks much for sharing.

Jay
 
Yes, scary. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! But scary. I seriously can't imagine what my reaction would be! And btw, we have our fair share amount of whales in the outer Boston Harbor and Buzzards Bay/ Cape Cod Bay during the season. But I don't know what I would do if I encountered one that close......(probably I'd be yelling like a school girl)
 
Oh wow, That is close. Closer than I was hoping for last summer. Great pix opportunity, and glad teh boat is still afloat.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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I forgot to ask, did that whale actually touch your boat?

I have had Orca up close and personal once, close but never touched.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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I have actually had that very same thing happen 2 times in the Gulf of Alaska and both times were on the hook while halibut fishing. I've been out there tons of times over 20 or so years, so twice makes it a pretty rare event. Anyway, if they swim up like that there is little you can do except wait for them to go as any other action puts them in danger. I got completed slobbered with whale sneeze/snot the first time this happened. My wife got a big kick out that, but it was really gross. Now, lesson learned, I go sit in the cabin as they are carriers of TB (so the rangers say) and I don't need that. It's certainly exciting to have happen!
 
AJF":3rd9jmcs said:
I often wondered if you had this situation happen to you in Alaska, would you be charged under the Whale Viewing Regulations. https://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/pr/mm-viewing-guide
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We have had whales come within feet of our boats, and one bump at sea. If you have not encroached on their space, and attempted to stay out of the way (proper distances by law), then no you should not be charged. Would you? Most likely not--but one never knows!
 
AJF":aahmknui said:
I often wondered if you had this situation happen to you in Alaska, would you be charged under the Whale Viewing Regulations. https://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/pr/mm-viewing-guide
Click to expand...

AJF, as shown in the video, I doubt Alaska Fish & Game or NOAA law enforcement would cite, but of the two, I would prefer Alaska Fish & game to be doing the observing. Last year when the Discovery crew & us came out of the early morning fog into the midst of 20 plus humpback whales spread out over a several mile area, we both had some very close encounters & in the midst of it noticed a large Alaska Fish & Game trawler with enforcement capability close enough to well observe us, but didn't even contact us by VHF. Also, as I imagine you well know, law enforcement of any kind is a rather rare sight, while cruising Southeast Alaska waters. In our 9000 miles of cruising there, we have only encountered by sight two of their vessels & were not hailed by either one. The being on our own to do the right thing as we see it & knowing help or others judgment is rarely close about to offer aid or condemnation is a big part of what keeps drawing us back to this, our favorite area to cruise & especially the more remote areas in wonderful Southeast Alaska.

Jay
 
OK, here is the whole the story...

It was Kitimat Coho derby weekend (August 30th). To get away from the masses, and since the weather forecast was good, we decided to head out to "open water" to meet some friends(who also have a C-Dory) and enjoy the weekend fishing and exploring new territory.

The run to open water is about 150kms one way. We were heading through Whale channel (we had seen literally dozens of whales up to this point) when we noticed a breaching whale close to a kilometer off our bow. The current/tide was running out and it was a beautiful day, so I shut the motor down to drift, make lunch and maybe take some photos ( I put the telephoto lens on the camera).

I noticed the whale was swimming towards us, but paid no heed as it was still several hundred yards away (maybe 5-600 yards). My son started yelling, rather frantically, "close my window, close my window!". I looked out the port side window to see a giant whale eyeball looking into the cabin of the boat at us! The whale's entire head was out of the water and her eye was about 12" from the open window!(I have no idea if it was male or female but I'm calling it a she).

I grabbed my slr and tried to grab a few shots but since the telephoto was on, only got blubber. She exhaled a few time directly into the cabin of the boat and stunk the place up, including totally greasing the lense of my camera.

She swam around the boat a few time and then swam under it, upside down. She had a flipper on both side of the boat and was scratching her chin on the skeg of my motor. You could feel the boat raising up and down and she humped the underside of the boat

My crew was pleading with me to get us out of there; but starting the motor was out of the question with a 40 ton animal scratching her chin on my prop.

I ran back into the cabin and grabbed my iphone and continued taking photos and that video.

I will figure out how to post pics on this site as I got a couple decent ones.

The entire encounter lasted 5 or more minutes, the video was of her departure.

I'm not sure I could have done anything differently. And the whale approached us, swimming against the current to meet us. We skipped lunch as I was making smoked salmon sandwiches at the time; no one was interested in lunch, let alone fish for lunch as her breath was still lingering.

I have had numerous whale experiences previously, including being surrounded by 4 or 5 humpbacks while halibut fishing (anchored up). In discussions with other more experienced seaman, we had encountered what is called a "friendly".[/i]

It was an awesome experience, but now when we see whales I ask the crew is they want to stop to check them out all I get is silent headshaking. :roll:

Anyways, now you have the rest of the story....
 
Great Story! Got a laugh out of both of us. Had a friend in Scammon's lagoon (where the Grays winter and calf),, who got between a cow and calf. SHE pumped the boat all of the way across the lagoon--knocking my friends out of the boat...
No serious damage, but they had a heck of a swim!
 
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