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| Bear in Bag Harbour |
As we returned to Bag Harbour yesterday after our trip to
Burnaby Narrows in the dinghy, Nancy spotted a black bear ashore … we were able
to get close enough to get a few photos of Himself and the smaller Herself (or
baby) which followed shortly after.
We were delighted as we had been scanning the shoreline
whenever the tide was low to see if a bear happened to be nosing along looking
for available shellfish and other edibles.
After the bears had both disappeared into the woods (perhaps
to set off over the mountain) and I still had the camera ‘at the ready’ the
clever twosome (Larry and Nancy) spotted some sea lions nearby, rearing up and
playing with each other and clearly interested in us. It was not a surprise
since on our entry Thursday night into the Bag anchorage, we spotted at least
eight sea lions gambolling in the waves in a huge and happy group. We managed
to ‘bag’ a lovely photo of a sea lion (our boat appropriately anchored in the
background).
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| Sea lions in Bag Harbour |
I had taken my small waterproof camera for our dinghy trip
to Burnaby Narrows. This is a narrow tidal passage that winds it’s way between
Burnaby Island and Moresby Island. When we were here 24 years ago, we were able
to take Traversay II through it. But we are much larger (especially Trav III)
and older (especially Larry and myself) now so we decided yesterday not to risk
our boat between the dangerous rocks. Nonetheless, the Captain thoroughly
prepared for our little jaunt – printing out a map and instructions from the
book: ‘The North Coast of BC’ (Douglass & Hemmingway Douglass) as the
Transport Canada directions for sailors are not accurate. A method probably
introduced thousands of years ago for navigating such a passage is used here by
the fishermen (and now boaters) who ply these waters. A series of markers and
the helmsman’s good eye-brain-hand co-ordination are used for each of the
turning points in the route. Only when the boat is moved so that the markers are
juxtaposed directly over and under each other will you be in the correct place
to avoid a collision with the rocks. Of course, one can only use this channel
at high tide when the rocks are completely hidden. Of course, by using the
dinghy we could choose to go during a falling tide so that we could see some of
the underwater life and get a few photos of the blue and orange bat seastars
and crabs.
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| Bat stars in Burnaby Narrows |
We had heard that Bag H was a great place for salmon fishing
(and that’s why there were bears and sea lions). Even though we don’t fish we
did eat salmon (smoked salmon sandwiches for lunch and a cooked salmon with
pasta and spicy salsa for dinner). Another vegetable was about to fail, so I
used it to make a Cauliflower and Almond creamed soup for lunch. There’s enough
of the soup to feed us at noon today, and I cooked enough salmon last night to
make sandwiches.
On our way into our current anchorage of Rose Harbour we
passed several rocks which had an immense Sea Lion Rookery. Larry’s photos have
not yet been edited, but I’m certain we’ll have some good ones. So we hit the Jackpot
as far as having contact with a lot of the animals we had hoped to see during
this trip.
We also got a chance to see and talk to a few other humans …
we were questioned by a Parks Canada patrol boat while we were at Jedway. The old
iron ore mine here was used to ship tons of ore to Japan in the mid-20th
Century. When we were here in the 1990s we went ashore just to look at the old
townsite – seeing rusted bedsprings and abandoned bicycles. Fortunately, we had
mentioned our desire to re-visit the site when we were getting our passports at
the Heritage Centre in Skidegate. Larry relayed this information to the polite
young Parks agents - they called their
Boss – and we went on our way again.
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| Rusty relics in Jedway |
In a short time, we’ll all have eaten breakfast and we’ll be
on our way once again. Today we will visit the most well-preserved village and
a World Heritage Site of Nanstints (formerly Ninstints on Anthony Island).
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