Wonders of the Deep

We see Killer Whales around the Vancouver and Victoria Island area.
They travel in pods and it is quite possible to view them from the ferry boat crossing the Channel
We also saw them in waters  between White Rock and Point Roberts along with seals in the marina
by the US border.
I remember when my son was 2 years old we were on the boat and the ocean looked silky soft, so inviting, calm before the storm.
I couldn't help but think,  I have to take a dip. So I jumped over board.
As soon as I did, my 2 year old, wanted to save me and jumped in right after me.
Thank fully he had his life jacket on because he didn't know how to swim and although he was just a foot away from my grasp, I couldn't reach him fast enough, as he lay face under water. Sudden panic seized me as I tried to turn him over but he wasn't the least bit afraid. It spoiled my swim because all I could think of was to get him back into the boat which he didn't want to do without me. lol Dread filled me to the tip of my toes which felt leaden now thinking about what would have happened if he slipped out of the life jacket.
All I could think was that the water must be 400 feet deep there.

We started the motor to head for home, thankful nothing bad happened, when we came upon a boat in distress who told us they stopped to watch the whales and now their gears were torn.

So now we learned, we were also swimming with the whales and could have been fish bait. lol

As we threw them a line to pull them to the marina, a storm hit us and the waves grew to be 5 feet over the side of our boat.
The boat we had to pull was an older model and  twice the size of ours, so we had to go very slow, all the while afraid of the repercussions if the rope broke or if what it was tied to, tore off. It could go bad all around.
That alone could have killed any one of us.
My oldest sons' eyes grew huge watching the waves around us.
We had an 18 foot Maxum boat and I have to say I was quite impressed with it.
It is not recommended to cross the ocean channel with any boat under 21 feet though, so we always stayed close to the shoreline by White Rock.
It took us a long time to struggle through the waves.
 Other boats came to ask us if we needed help and stayed with us to help break the waves.
As we neared the marina, we also ran out of gas. Two and a half hours of pulling, for what otherwise would have been maybe a 5 minute ride, ate maybe 100 dollars worth of gas. So now two boats were stranded and heading for a rocky shore.
The little fishing boats surrounded us and asked how they could help. We said we needed gas.
They were surprised but one fellow poured in a gallon to get us to the marina.

Needless to say, we were never so happy as to reach it that day. The other boat also had an older couple with older children in it. They were equally frightened to lose their boat and maybe face drowning in the high waves. One can't imagine how high waves could suddenly become, even in an inlet.

It was quite an exciting and very memorable day. Just thinking about these whales beside us
when my son jumped over, gave me the willies. lol The whole thing still gives me the willies because no matter how prepared you are, you are never prepared when bad things happen.

In videos
one has only to watch these Killer Whales hunt in pods, to understand how powerful and smart they really are.
To see them so gentle with their trainers in this video, makes them exceptional creatures although
like any wild, powerful creature, you always have risks entertaining and being entertained by them.

This is a great show, I believe taking place in San Diego.
Quite enjoyable to watch.

xoxoxoxoxo