Filming at the Cape

Theresa and I found ourselves with a few days off, and looked around for a paddle. Although I’ve been to Cape Flattery multiple times already this year, Theresa had yet to experience the grandeur of the Cape, and I needed an opportunity to do some filming, so off to the Cape we headed.

Once we arrived in Neah Bay, it didn’t take long to get our boats packed and headed around Wadaah Island towards Warmhouse Beach. I was surprised to see that the sea lions where missing from the reef off of Wadaah as they’ve always been hauled out in the past. However we were treated to seeing several bald eagles fishing for dinner as we made our way westward. Showers greeted us as we setup camp, but we didn’t mind as it gave the evening an enchanted feel.
The next morning we decided to walk the high tide line and see if anything of interest had washed up. The first thing to catch my eye was the scapula of what appeared to be a sea lion. Once the first bone was found, we quickly started to notice the rest of the skeleton, culminating with the discovery of the skull. The pronounced sagittal crest, the bony ridge on the top of the skull which supports muscle connected to the jaw, told us this was a male California Sea Lion. I had my back to the water examining the skull, when looking up, I notice Theresa’s eyes go wide. I turned to look off our beach just as two humpback whales sounded. For the next 20 minutes we were entertained as they explored our bay.

As we wrapped up breakfast and packed our boats, pockets of blue sky started to appear and it promised to be a gorgeous day. We made our way west along the shore of the Cape with me filming Theresa as she explored the coves and waterfalls that dot the shore. It wasn’t long before the Tatoosh Island Lighthouse came into view, and as this was some of the calmest conditions I’ve ever experienced at the Cape, we decided to head over and check out the island. We soon found our missing sea lions basking on the rocks near the old loading station and I couldn’t help but marvel at their size. Huge! They must have been the full 8’ and 1000 lbs that males can grow.

That night back at camp we had a bit of humor. Around 1 AM I awoke to find an orange light illuminating the side of the tent. Not wanting to alarm Theresa I eased out of the tent and looked to the water to find the source. There was a slight layer of mist on the water and in the distance two horizontal banks of lights suspended one on top of the other; orange over white. It seemed a strange combination for a working vessel and I couldn’t make out the sound of any engines. The mist made it difficult to determine whether the lights where traveling right to left or at me, but after a few minutes, it became obvious that they were getting bigger. Suddenly and without warning I thought of Richard Dreyfussin and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”! That got me digging out my binoculars and as I trained them on the lights, I was relieved to see that it was a commercial boat after all. My commotion had awakened Theresa who asked me what the fuss was about. “Just my over active imagination. Go back to sleep.”

I never tire of the rugged beauty of Cape Flattery. We were able to capture some footage of the paddle which I hope to have edited and placed in the gallery soon.