Whales
The Pacific Rim National Park is amongst the world's best areas for whale-watching , thanks to its location on the main migration routes, food-rich waters and numerous sheltered bays. People come from all over the world for the spectacle, and it's easy to find a boat going out from Tofino, Ucluelet or Bamfield, most charging around $60-80 a head for the trip depending on duration (usually 2-3hr). Regulations prohibit approaching within 100m of an animal but, though few locals will admit it, there's no doubt that the recent huge upsurge in boat tours has begun to disrupt the migrations . The whales' 8000-kilometre journey - the longest known migration of any mammal - takes them from their breeding and calving lagoons in Baja, Mexico, to summer feeding grounds in the Bering and Chukchi seas off Siberia. The northbound migration takes from February to May, with the peak period of passage between March and April. A few dozen animals occasionally abort their trip and stop off the Canadian coast for summer feeding (notably at Maquinna Marine Park, 20min by boat from Tofino). The return journey starts in August, hitting Tofino and Ucluelet in late September and early October. Mating takes place in Mexico during December, after which the males turn immediately northwards, to be followed by females and their young in February. Although killer whales (orcas) are occasionally seen, the most commonly spotted type are grey whales , of which some 19,000 are thought to make the journey annually. Averaging 14m in length and weighing 35 to 50 tonnes, they're distinguished by the absence of a dorsal fin, a ridge of lumps on the back, and a mottled blue-grey colour. Females have only one offspring, following a gestation period of thirteen months, and, like the males, cruise at only two to four knots - perfect for viewing and, sadly, for capture. Even if you don't take a boat trip, you stand a faint chance of seeing whales from the coast as they dive, when you can locate their tails, or during fluking, when the animals surface and "blow" three or four times before making another five-minute dive. There are telescopes at various points along Long Beach, the best known viewpoints being Schooner Cove, Radar Hill, Quistis Point and Combers Beach near Sea Lion Rocks
Your Tip for Pacific Rim National Park
Help other backpackers! Write your own guides and backpacking tips to Pacific Rim National Park - they will appear instantly on this page - Please only write a tip/guide to Pacific Rim National Park - visit the main Pacific Rim National Park forum to ask a question!
Please do not post links to your site here (they won't work) - please use the Pacific Rim National Park webguide section below! Thanks.
|
