It was a pleasant (and hilly) 25 km ride to northern end of the Island where we were fortunate to find a campsite without a reservation on a summer long weekend. Since cars can't access the camp, it's only cyclist and boats (and possibly some hikers). Now we're coming to the National Geographic moment of the trip. After, setting up our tent, we wandered down to ocean and watched a group of seals lounging on small rock outcropping just off the shore. A quick swim washed off the days sweat, then back from dinner. It was still relatively early, so we returned to the ocean to enjoy our tea and watched as the seal's island was rapidly disappearing with the rising tide. Someone else was apparently aware of the seals being displaced. About 20 feet away, an Orca fin popped into view and started circling the seals. The whale made a few dives, then its dorsal fin starting started rocking back and forth, which I suspect was the last moment for an unfortunate seal.
My brother later told me that the resident killer whales only eat fish, but the transient whale are less discriminating and will eat seals. As transient visitors we stuck with our Chana Masala and oatmeal, but also supplemented that with the abundant blackberries on the ride back. After a bakery stop, we caught the 10:20 ferry and spent 2 hours shuttling between Gulf Islands (Mayne and Pender) before returning to Swartz Bay. About another 90 minutes riding and home before two. A very enjoyable weekend!
