Meet the Whales

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You don't have to re-read Moby Dick in order to know that the whales, the Kings of the Sea, have always fascinated man. Whales have roamed most of the earth's oceans for ages, and their fat, meat and bones have been an important source of food and raw material.

In this post I'm focusing on whales I've encountered in my trips, mainly in the Arctic and Antarctic oceans, but also off the coast of northern British Columbia.

As a rule if thumb, let me say you prefer to see a whale from a distance. Well - at least a certain distance! Jonah can tell you more about that. We'll get back to that important recommendation. But let's start mildly - The extent to which the Whale and mankind history are tied together can be apparent in this picture, taken on Ellesmere Island of a structure that served its inhabitants some 1,200 years ago:

 

The natives of Ellesmere hunted whales for personal or communal consumption, and boy did the use every piece of it - for food, weapons, jewelry, and structures. Only a few unusable bones were left. 

The whales of the Arctic Ocean near Svalbard, north of Norway, were not as lucky. Early books describe the ocean as packed with roaming whales. But in the mid 18th century European hunters discovered the value of their fat - used for oil that energized the early stages of the Industrial revolution - and started slaughtering them in masses, leaving large mass graves on the island. Now imagine how spooky it felt to get to the shore of this remote island in your kayak, step on the ground and see this!

Most whales are large, and when you see an Orca, or as they are also called - Killer Whales - coming, you're most likely to be happy you see them from a large boat. Look at these, coming straight your way:

And what's wrong with this following picture? You're right - there are two kinds of whales here! (as can be seen by the different fins and tails) These were three Killer Whales harassing a smaller whale. They ended up letting it escape, but if you spend long enough time on the Arctic ocean you sometimes see blood-red water, too, as the end to that harassment game.

But let's get some more action!

Sometimes, though, you sit in your kayak, paddling happily in the Inner Passage off the coast of British Columbia, when you see a big fish, the size of a bus, looking at you and taking a dive:

"Hmm", you say to yourself, "I hope it's not going to dive right under my kayak and emerge from the water exactly 10 feet away!" "There's no way I'll be able to instinctively take a picture of it because I'll be all shaking with panic!"

Well - I'll do anything to keep my blog's readers happy!

Did you see that? That's the result of years of practicing yoga: sit straight in your kayak, turn your upper back almost 180 degrees to the right, twist it slightly to the left so that the person in the back seat of this double kayak does not block the picture, shoot your camera, and say "Ohm", I mean, say "Oh My God!" All the while making sure the kayak stays stable on top of the huge wave that Killer Whale made when it emerged under you. Then go and tell all your (girl)friends.

So the northern seas seem too crazy? Don't even ask what happens in the Antarctic ocean, maybe 50 feet from your kayak!

And they say you need a strong heart because paddling for 12 hours a day is tough! Oh no, baby - It's the whales!

But sometimes, being close and at water-level pays off, when you see a mama and her two little ones having fun in the water!

Read my post Seal with a Kiss to learn about less scary animals of the Arctic and Antarctic oceans.

Kayaking On (Not To Mention In) Icy Water

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With the dismal amounts of snow the Rockies have been getting, one would think spring is just around the corner! Which means that plenty of people are beginning to plan their summer vacations. At least a few of you became convinced by my blog that Alaska or Arctic Canada should be on the map, and I've been getting emails with questions on how to travel there. Don't be shy! I enjoy it. 

You can also look at the books I recommend on the left: the Alaska Highway and, for the faint of heart, Alaska Cruises.

An important part of any trip to the Arctic, especially one that has the ocean involved, is kayaking. You don't have to be an expert, or even experienced kayaker, to enjoy this wonderful experience of sitting right at water level, watching the sky, the glaciers, the occasional iceberg. 

And of course the Killer Whales circling your kayak. Let's just call them Orcas, shall we?

This post is dedicated to some of the kayaking pictures I took, straight from my kayak. So this is what you might expect to see:

Of course, you won't always be surrounded by so much ice, but you will, more often than you think, especially if you plan to kayak down the southeastern Alaska shore, of up around Ellesmere Island or Svalbard.

Kayaking in the ocean isn't that hard to grasp. Read my post Kayaking in The Arctic and Antarctica: 9 tips

to get a sense of the fun.

Here's another photo that I like, taken in the ocean surrounding Svalbard, an island far up the Arctic ocean north of Norway.

 

Of course, once in a while you may get stuck on an iceberg, especially if you try to act like this expert kayaker:

And if you do, Just be aware that you may end up kayaking IN the water. Watch the following video clip:

 

Yes - They tried to do what their experienced guide did. And yes - They did experience the Antarctic ocean from within. But you know what? Five minutes later they were back in their kayak paddling happilly. (not that they had a choice)

But then again, it's worth it just to experience views like this:

Enjoy!

Kayaking the Arctic and Antarctica: 9 Tips

 Today, I am sharing my little secrets about how to survive a kayaking expedition even if you have hardly kayaked before. For my first, I had to "misrepresent" the truth on my application form about my experience in order to qualify. Read these tips, and you can pretend to be very experienced!


1. Remember first grade. Remember that teacher, I think her name was Mrs. Jones, and how she would tell you "sit down, NOW!" Just do this and you'll be fine. In shallow water, place each hand on either side of the kayak opening (facing forward in case you wondered!), more or less above the back of your seat. Put one leg into the kayak, stretch it, and while balancing the kayak with both your hands, sit down. Then get your other leg into the kayak, too. Oh, and try not to forget your paddle on the shore before you do that or you'll have to repeat the whole thing or paddle with your hands (or ask the guide to hand you the paddle.)

2. Live your fantasies. At least if you're a guy - ever wanted to wear a skirt in a kayak? That's your chance. Here, the skirt attaches to the kayak and stops the icy, 32F water from getting inside. That's really helpful. Your guide will show you how to do that and after a little practicing you will have acquired another very practical skill.

3. You just need to figure out how to paddle. Hold the paddle horizontal, shoulder high, with your hands slightly wider than your shoulders. Your goal is to sit straight, and do kind of an 8 movement with you arms. Enter the wide part of the paddle into the water as forward as you comfortably can, sweep the water back, and repeat. Are you moving? That's a good start!

4. The paddle is not your only friend; it's your best friend. Do not hold onto it like you're afraid to lose your only friend, or your arm and shoulder muscles will hurt real bad very soon. Hold the paddle gently, with a soft grip, and it will be your best friend in the water.

5. Missing those Pilates classes? Whether you're a total wimp or a Master Of the Weight Machine, your core muscles are still your strongest. The key to paddling long hours, and then doing it again the next day, and the next one, until that bush airplane comes back to pick the group up and return it to civilization, is to use your back muscles and abs to do much of the work in paddling, not your shoulders and arms. Doing this is a key to happiness in long arctic kayaking expeditions, and will cut your medical bills (Advil) significantly.

6. What happens if your kayak flips over? We've all heard about how to roll a kayak if it flips over. I'm going to borrow here what Jim, my guide on an Elsmere Island Kayaking expedition, said: "what about rolling? Real simple, don't flip over." The water is really, really cold. Can you flip over by mistake? Sure, if a Walrus decides to check the kayak out (kidding). But if this happens your arctic suit or your dry suit (you'll be wearing one of these depending on the outfitter you're traveling with) will hold you for enough time until your guide pulls you out. That's a lot easier to learn than rolling. In all my years of Arctic and Antarctic kayaking expeditions, I have never seen anyone flipping over. 

This, of-course, does not include the time I flipped over, when my partner to the kayak had, well, an un-gentle exit. Why did I smile while pumping the freezing water out of the kayak with my boots flooded with ice water? That's my nature - I see a camera, I smile!

7. Keep a low profile. This way the Killer Whales won't see you (kidding again.) Many people have the tendency to use their paddle as a flag. This is very inefficient use of your paddling energy. The rule of thumb is that you should try to lift the side of the paddle that's not in the water no higher than your corresponding ear. In Antarctica, they have this thing called Katabatic Wind. This is wind that comes roaring down the valleys and because of temperature differences it becomes real strong real fast. When you paddle in front of a valley and this wind comes roaring at you,  lifting you paddle turns it into a nice little sail, and will make you know the inside of the ocean real quick. Just paddle low, into the wind, and you should be fine.

8. Enjoy the view. You are one of very few people ever to visit this region. And everything that you see will likely not be there in twenty years, from many icebergs to glaciers to Polar Bear. I'll write about global warming some other time, but trust me: these are beautiful, breathtaking views that you'll see. Absorb them.

9. Don't forget to get back home. You're paddling in the Arctic Ocean, or the Antarctic Peninsula. The views are amazing. You have a camera. It has 16 gigs of memory and you're going to make use of every single byte. Just remember this: if you keep taking pictures, you don't paddle. If you don't paddle, you'll never get back home. True, at one point your guide might wake you up, but just try to be a good team player and paddle once in a while. Of course, you can take the back seat of a double kayak, make paddling sounds, and keep taking pictures while your partners does the work. Unless that's your spouse, it might even work! I'll write more about photography in a future posting of this blog. 

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Diving Into The Arctic Ocean: Should You?

Let me put it this way: if your friends did not get the message, and did not in fact think you're crazy by going to the Arctic Ocean aboard an old Russian icebreaker on a kayaking trip; and if you desperately want to rectify this and make sure they think you are indeed out of your mind - Then the answer is YES. Same answer if you like seeing raised eyebrows.

Look at this photo below. We were returning from a long paddle to our home ship during a kayaking trip around Svalbard (Spitsbergen) and decided that it would be really cool (what a choice of word!) to dive into the water from the deck. Obviously, the Arctic Fever bug had us by then! This is my friend Steve practicing his Yoga on the way to the water. Although I suspect his Om turned into Oye, my very talented finger captured him at just the right moment:

By the way, this was a moment that showed me how much digital photography had changed the world: just a few years back, people would look at a nice Photoshop work and comment "it looks like a real picture!"; when people see this photo above, they usually comment "it looks like a real Photoshop work!". Oh well. For the record: no Photoshop work on this one.

Was it cold? The Arctic ocean (as well as the Antarctic one) is at roughly 31F (0C). It only freezes at 28F because the water is salty. Thank God it wasn't too cold that day - Can you imagine diving like that into a sheet of ice? Was it painful? Let's look at how happy and groggy I looked when jumping off the deck:

(again, no Photoshop on this pic) and how I looked when my feet, hands and head realized that scientific fact of 31F:

For sure, with the little blood in my brain that was still liquid, I could ponder "am I stupid?" The truth is, the water  IS cold. But look at it this way: no sharks; killer whales really like plankton better; and polar bears would shy away from a thin person like me. Besides - I got my chance to convince some people I must be crazy!

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