Wilderness, self-support sea kayaking trips, along both coasts of North Vancouver Island, brought my husband and me into very close contact with Orca Whales, Grey Whales and even a Humpback Whale. Having the whales come up to our double sea kayak - numerous times - has seared a wealth of experiences and memories into my whole being.

These pictures show just a few results of those trips that I have enjoyed painting. I was invited to show several at the Emerald City Fine Art Gallery in Seattle. They are oils on canvas with my carved and painted frames.

These paintings show beaches on which we camped during our 7-10 day trips. 

The one on the Pacific side of Vancouver Island, actually on a small out-lying island called Flores Island, is where we spent time with Grey Whales.

While sitting in our double sea kayaking 1/2 mile out in a remote unpopulated bay all alone except for 5 Grey Whales, one of them decided to ‘check us out’. The whale came directly under our kayak perhaps 2 inches below the bottom of our boat and then turned down for its ‘deep dive’ directly on the side of our boat. We watched stunned and open-mouthed as first the head and body and finally the tail disappeared straight down just inches from us. 

Surprisingly, a flat back-eddy was created – with a 20 foot diameter circle surrounding the center of our boat. We never felt a thing – although the turbulent water currents following the tail as it went down looked like the action of a turbine!

At the beach camp on the Inland Passage side of Vancouver Island we saw Orca Whales most mornings when they came to feed on Salmon in Kelp beds near shore. One day a Humpback came into the 2 mile wide passage flowing past us. There are 16 family pods of Orcas that live in this area and we got to see them as we paddled out for day trips from this wilderness camp.

I have a lot more stories and photos from these trips with whales to share, see them in the section A Life In Art. – G.P.L.