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Sea Kayak Trips Bulletin Board
Re: Save the Whale
Posted By: Shawn Baker In Response To: Save the Whale (Nick Schade)
Date: Monday, 1 November 1999, at 1:30 p.m.
Thank you Nick for an awesome trip report! I just now read it--what a great way to start a Monday!
I'm looking forward to the pics.
Shawn
> We were going to do the trip the day before, but this day turned out to be
> a better choice. Actually I hadn’t been planning on paddling either day. A
> few days earlier I had been eating lunch in the Maine Maritime Academy
> cafeteria when Amy asked whether I was going up to Cobscook. I knew that
> Clark Bowlen scheduled a week of paddling up around Cobscook Bay in Maine
> for members of the Connecticut based CONNYAK and the Appalachian Mountain
> Club, but I had not thought of joining even though I was going to be in
> the area. It sounded like they were planning on doing some fun trips, and
> I hadn’t paddled in the area since my parents brought the family up on
> vacation when I was a teenager. I decided to join the group. That is how I
> happened to be along when we saved the whale.> Like I said, we were originally planning on doing this excursion the day
> before. From the state campground on Cobscook Bay, it is almost an hour
> drive to East Quoddy Head on Campobello Island in Canada. The woman at the
> Canadian customs probably pretty much knew what we were going to say by
> the time the last of seven cars with sea kayaks on the roof went by, but
> she still had to go through the whole script. None of us admitted to
> having alcohol or firearms or anything unwholesome along so she quickly
> waved us through.> On the bridge onto the island it was obvious there was some fog in the
> area and it was generally overcast and not too pleasant looking, but we
> drove on.> However, by the time we got to East Quoddy Head, Clark had made up his
> mind. He did not want to be responsible for seventeen kayakers when fog
> might roll in at any time. There was moaning, but nobody else wanted to
> lead seventeen paddlers in the fog either, so mutiny was forestalled. If
> one paddler had decided to go, everyone would have joined in. Nobody was
> happy about it, but we all climbed back into the cars and had nice chats
> with the US border guard on the way back to the campground. That’s how we
> didn’t end up doing the trip when we expected.> Jon was particularly frustrated because he had to drive back to
> Connecticut the next day, almost a 10-hour drive, and he had someone he
> wanted to visit on the way back. We had a nice paddle in Denny Bay over to
> the reversing falls in to Cobscook Bay and Jon and I played a while in the
> current, but what we really wanted to do was get out into the open water
> around Campobello Island. There were whales out there.> After a decent dinner at a restaurant in Lubek, Jon, Amy and I discussed
> our options. Jon was for an early morning start so he could do some
> paddling before heading home. Amy and I were up for it and we let Clark
> know our plans. That is how we ended up paddling off Campobello on the day
> we saved a whale.> The next day we were up around 6:30 but Jon and Amy had a little trouble
> finding my campsite, so it was probably 7:30 before we got going. We
> exchanged pleasantries with the Canadian Customs guard as the sun shone
> down on a beautifully calm day in Canada.> I could go into some of the history of Campobello. For example it is where
> the Roosevelt family used to spend their summers and it is where Franklin
> D. came down with polio. But this is a story about kayaking with whales,
> and the summer homes of rich folks don’t really seem to be all that
> important when you compare it to being out on the water on a beautiful day
> and you’re hunting whales. I can pull out a dime and see Franklin D. any
> day of the week. I don’t have that many opportunities see whales. Thank
> you brother, I can spare a dime.> We weren’t exactly sure where we would take out, but we planned on putting
> in at Head Harbour (must be a foreign country, they spell harbor wrong.)
> We spotted a car at Friars Bay so we could take out there if we chose, and
> then drove on out to Head Harbour.> It was close to low tide and the tidal extremes of the Bay of Fundy were
> evident in the long carry we had down to water edge.> The rip-rap leading down to the water was a little slimy. Amy only dropped
> her brand new Surge kayak once but, the well-built kayak that it is, it
> was not damaged. A quick scramble up and down the seaweed to the car to
> retrieve the stuff we forgot when we thought we had everything, and we
> were ready to go.> Amy was paddling her Surge. The Surge is made by Surge Marine of Westport,
> ME and is built with what I think is the best workmanship of any
> production kayak on the market today. It is a light weight layup of Kevlar
> and other cloths in a vinylester resin which can take a serious beating.
> Paddles nice too. Jon was paddling a long, lean rocket of a kayak, the
> ????. He is planning on using this kayak for a circumnavigation of the
> Northeast US and Maritime Provinces, by going from Lake Champlain, down
> the Hudson, around the outside to the St. Lawrence and back to Champlain.
> The Vyneck is well suited for such a trip with plenty of volume for gear
> and an efficient shape to cover some water. I was paddling my Guillemot
> Kayaks Night Heron, a strip-built kayak of my own design. Imagine all the
> things a highly biased designer and builder would say about their favorite
> kayak. My Night Heron is all of that only better!> Head Harbour is a narrow slot cut into the north end of Campobello with
> room for a good number of lobster and fishing boats. We started with a
> brief swing down into the southwest end of the harbor before turning out
> towards the sea.> Aquaculture is going strong in Canada. The harbor had several salmon pens
> with silvery flashes erupting from the surface in frenzied splashes. What
> makes a fish jump from the water? Is it the simple joy of being a fish
> capable of escaping its water world if only for a moment? Or, is it
> frustration with being penned up with thousands of its brothers and
> sisters awaiting the day it is sucked into the processing plant to be
> turned into lox and laid across the open face of a bagel? Going from one
> little round world to another. The jumping looks like fun, but it swimming
> around in circles must get old.> The mouth of Head Harbour is protected by Head Harbour Island. The chart
> makers must have stayed up all night to come up with that name. We turned
> to the right to circumnavigate Head Harbour Island. Tucked in along the
> southern shore were several weirs. The weirs are constructed of de-limbed
> spruce trees pushed into the bottom with nets draped between. The nets are
> strung across the path of bait fish or sardines. The net directs the fish
> into a narrow opening in the weir. Once within the confines of the
> netting, the fish just swim in circles without finding their way out.
> Cormorants bobbed up within the weir, obviously appreciative of the
> engineering of the system. They just flew out over the top of the netting.> Rounding the southern point of the island we were confronted by the open
> waters of the Bay of Fundy, a body which is rarely so benign. The water
> was flat and smooth as far as we could see. But there was a current. The
> tides in this area are typically around 20’ to 25’. With many large bays
> connected by a few small openings, the water has to move fast to get from
> the open water of the Bay of Fundy into Passamaquoddy Bay and its
> tributaries and then back out. The area is known for its boat swallowing
> whirlpools, but if we paid attention we wouldn’t come anywhere near them.
> Even so the water off Head Harbour Island was accelerating towards the
> opening of Head Harbour Passage. Those chart makers were really at the top
> of their naming game out here.> Jon offered the advice "Don’t try to fight a current you can
> hear." If we listen closely, we could start to hear the current, but
> it was going our way. We stuck in close to the island, exploring among the
> rocks along shore. As we rounded northeast point of the island we got a
> look at East Quoddy Head Light, white with a red cross, and the sound of
> the current grew louder. East Quoddy Head Light should not be confused
> with West Quoddy Head Light, the lighthouse marking the eastern most point
> in the United States.> At low tide the Canadian lighthouse is attached to Campobello island with
> low gravel barrier beaches. People crossing from the island to the light
> risk becoming trapped at the light by incoming tides that can rise at 5
> feet per hour.> At the point of land beyond the lighthouse, there was the rushing, roaring
> sound of current. The power of the tide was quite audible as the water
> swept around the point of land creating a distinct eddy line which
> sloshed, bubbled and boiled. Crossing the eddy line we would have to
> paddle against a distinctly audible current. Luckily, the current has a
> lot of spaces to fill and there did not seem to be complete consensus as
> to which direction would be the most effective for the job. Every few
> boat-lengths the water seemed to have chosen a different direction. Oily
> smooth boils were surrounded by rough, peaked waves. By keeping a weather
> eye open, we could pick our way across without having to fight any
> particular current too hard for too long.> This confused confluence where the cold waters of the Bay of Fundy and the
> Gulf of Maine mixed with the rich waters of Passamaquoddy Bay and the St
> Croix River is prime fish habitat. Where there are fish, there are
> creatures that eat fish. The air was speckled with gulls and cormorants.
> Close by seals periscoped up to see the new competition as we paddled by
> and in the distance we could hear the soft "puff" as harbor
> porpoises worked the eddy lines. By turning quickly you could catch the
> quick rise and fall of the small mammal’s dorsal fin as they took a break
> from fishing to breath. But we were looking for whales.> We paddled across the 350 foot deep water towards Spruce Island keeping
> our eyes open for the large dorsal fin of a whale. One time I thought I
> saw a large gray back appear, but it was moving away from me and I didn’t
> see it again. We continued across to Spruce Island, a small island covered
> in spruce, and went around the point where we saw Sandy Island, a small
> sandy island. Again we were impressed with the thought and care the chart
> makers put into naming the local landmarks.> We explored up the northwestern side of Spruce, but we still hadn’t seen a
> whale for certain and Jon was starting to look at his watch and worry
> about the drive home. We figured we would go back out into the current and
> try to ride the tide down towards Friars Bay where we left the car. I was
> thinking about lunch.> Back out in Head Harbour Passage Jon saw what he thought might have been a
> whale but, you know, it was far away, it might have been something else.
> Jon suggested we cross over and follow the northwest shore of Campobello
> for a while. I was thinking about lunch.> I pointed out that Casco Bay Island looked interesting. It was covered
> with spruce plus it had some nice sandy beaches. The combination evidently
> confused the chart makers so much they named the island after a bay that
> was several hundred miles away in another country. I also noted to Jon
> that it was almost time for lunch. I think the mention of lunch made the
> virtues of this small island clear to Jon. Amy knew better than to get in
> the middle of such a weighty decision.> The choice for Jon was between getting back to the car to drive home or
> eating lunch on a pretty island in Canada. He made the logical choice.
> With the current pushing us along, it didn’t take long to get down to
> Casco Bay Island. The beaches at the eastern end looked nice, but we
> decided to do a quick circumnavigation to make sure we didn’t miss
> anything.> There was a car parked on the west end of the island. At least it looked
> like a car. It turned out to be a hovercraft. A couple had come over from
> Eastport and the craft let them drive right up onto the beach.> Around the north side of the island a small island protected a small cove.
> There was not much in it, just a log splashing up against the rocks. I
> paddled inside of the island and was headed out of the cove when there was
> a sound.> "PUFFT"
> Jon asked, "What was that?"
> Again "PUFFT".
> It was the log. Again the log went "PUFFT".
> It is not my experience that logs make much noise. The occasional
> "bump" or "thud", but rarely do they go
> "PUFFT"> Jon announced, "It’s a whale!"
> "What’s wrong with it?" Asked Amy.
> "Its stranded."
> "What should we do?"
> "Let’s check it out."
> The small (12 to 15’) Minke whale was in amongst the rockweed with its
> lower jaw up on a ledge.> Jon pulled ashore and went over to get a closer look. Its lower jaw was
> scraped up with small pieces of skin floating around and blood showing.> Amy and I got out to get a closer look. The whale was breathing heavily
> and erratically, in evident distress. Jon walked out on the rock and put
> his hand on the back of the whale. It’s breath slowed down and became more
> consistent.> Amy asked again, "What should we do."
> Everybody has heard of whales stranding themselves and resisting all
> efforts to assist them.> I suggested we could call the Coast Guard on my VHF.
> Amy went to pet the whale while I went to fetch Jon’s camera.
> The whale was breathing evenly, but it looked in bad shape. Its lower jaw
> was really a mess. It just floated there with its pectoral fins pulled
> tightly against its body. It didn’t seem to be making any attempt to
> extricate itself from the situation.> The body was smooth and sleek. Light gray on top fading to almost white on
> the bottom. Its skin was the gently curved and fair surface of an object
> engineered to move through the water with minimum resistance. As a kayak
> designer it was a shape that would put my best designs to shame.> Amy asked, "Can you push it off the rock?"
> Jon said, "Yea, right. The thing probably weights a ton."
> But he pushed a little and the whale rolled over slightly and slid off the
> rock. It drifted away from the seaweed and then slowly settled to the
> bottom. It was too deep to see what was going on, but we could see a
> little current where it must have been moving its tail.> Amy ran to get her waterproof throw-away camera and pull on her wetsuit
> with the intention of swimming in to get a picture.> After about five minutes, just as Amy finished putting on her wetsuit, the
> whale started to move. At first all you could see was a flicker of light
> under the surface, then a wave on the otherwise glassy water. The wave did
> a couple laps off the point where we were standing. When it was close to
> us we could see the whale stroking with its tail. After two or three laps
> the whale surfaced in front of us, went "PUFFT" one more time
> and the last we saw was a wave moving out of the cove to the sea.> "Cooool!" said someone.
> We just stood there and looked out towards where we last saw the whale.
> What do you do after you have petted a whale and to all appearances, saved
> its life?> Eat lunch.
> The rest of the paddle was exceptionally nice. We paddled around rocks
> around the end of Casco Bay Island. Then we crossed Head Harbor Passage
> and explored sea caves. We met up with Clark and the rest of the group. We
> did some serious gloating and made it clear we were having more fun than
> they were. Then we played in the surf and surge at the end of East Quoddy
> Head. Everything we did after the whale was really a lot of fun. But I
> expect the afterglow of the whale experience cast a light on the trip back
> to the cars which made it seem much more fun than it would otherwise have
> been taken all by itself.
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