I
was wide-awake at 5:15, so showered and went to the breakfast buffet, then came
down to collect Anders & returned with him & drank coffee while he had
his breakfast. We checked at the Guest
Services desk about bags and checking out, as we’d been given at 10 a.m.
disembarkation time for tomorrow morning.
They said that there was no problem with leaving at an earlier time; we
just needed to go to one of the gathering points, ensure that we had all of our
Customs paperwork completed, and wait until they released that group.
We
resumed our places at the bow as the ship was off the mouth of the Nestucca
River. The birds were few and far
between, and we saw no marine mammals until nearly noon, when we saw a few
blows from Humpback whales. Later in the
afternoon, we did see more Humpbacks, several pods of Pacific White-sided
Dolphins.
A pod of Fin Whales were seen off the starboard bow.
There was a Canadian research plane apparently surveying the Fin whales, and
it passed behind the ship.
 |
| Canadian? Maybe we need to build a wall? |
At
noon, the ship was 48 nm off Astoria at 46º 23’ N and 125º 15’ W, making 20
knots. The skies were mostly cloudy, it
was 52º F, and there was a light ENE wind at about 10 knots - meaning we had 30
knots in our face while standing on the bow.
Many
other ‘cruisers’ would walk the promenade deck for exercise, as 2 ½ times
around the decks was a one-mile walk.
Some folks would stop to chat, or at least ask what we had been
seeing. Most were just interested in
whether we’d “seen any whales”? One of
those interested in the whales stood out for me: A Grade 7 young lady, Alexandra, who was very
excited when we pointed out a Humpback whale along the starboard beam. She came by several times with her father,
Jean, and we found that she was a Straight-A student at a Francophone school in
Vancouver. A very accomplished and
charming lady!
 |
| More albatrosses . . . |
Although
there weren’t all that many deep sea birds through the afternoon, we were
picking up more gulls, alcids, and lots more Humpbacks all the way north to
Cape Flattery.
 |
| California Gull |
 |
| Lots of Black-legged Kittiwakes; this one sitting on a log |
At the northwestern-most point of the Lower 48, the ship was off the Olympic Range, and we began seeing local fishing boats.
 |
| A Small Dragger off the Olympic Peninsula |
Lighthouse watchers noticed the Tatoosh Island light.
We turned into the Strait of Juan de Fuca just at
sunset.
We waited on deck until the sun
set, anticipating a chance to see the “Green Flash”
 |
| Going . . . |
 |
| Going . . . |
 |
| Going . . . |
 |
| Still Going . . . |
But Sol gave just a little green hue to the
orange color as he dipped below the horizon.
 |
| Gone - But not in a flash! |
The last view of land before dark was seeing the town of Neah Bay, on the Makah Reservation just east of Cape Flattery.
We
took our gear back to our stateroom, did some preliminary packing, and went
down to the Da Vinci Dining Room for supper, where I had the mussels. Then, it was back to the room to finish
packing and we were asleep by about 10:30 p.m.
 |
| Anders - Reflecting on a Great Trip |
We
resumed our places at the bow as the ship was off the mouth of the Nestucca
River. The birds were few and far
between, and we saw no marine mammals until nearly noon, when we saw a few
blows from Humpback whales. Later in the
afternoon, we did see more Humpbacks, several pods of Pacific White-sided
Dolphins.
A pod of Fin Whales were seen off the starboard bow.
There was a Canadian research plane apparently surveying the Fin whales, and
it passed behind the ship.
Many
other ‘cruisers’ would walk the promenade deck for exercise, as 2 ½ times
around the decks was a one-mile walk.
Some folks would stop to chat, or at least ask what we had been
seeing. Most were just interested in
whether we’d “seen any whales”? One of
those interested in the whales stood out for me: A Grade 7 young lady, Alexandra, who was very
excited when we pointed out a Humpback whale along the starboard beam. She came by several times with her father,
Jean, and we found that she was a Straight-A student at a Francophone school in
Vancouver. A very accomplished and
charming lady!
We turned into the Strait of Juan de Fuca just at
sunset.
We waited on deck until the sun
set, anticipating a chance to see the “Green Flash”
We
took our gear back to our stateroom, did some preliminary packing, and went
down to the Da Vinci Dining Room for supper, where I had the mussels. Then, it was back to the room to finish
packing and we were asleep by about 10:30 p.m.
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