It's Sunday evening on Quijote; we're anchored next to a babbling brook - several of them in fact. Water is coursing down the Roderick Island hillsides around us and while we can't see the streaming through the dense thicket of cedars, the gurgling has been a constant companion since our arrival this afternoon.
We have other companions keeping us company tonight as well: while paddling the dinghy around the cove before dinner, we spied a sea otter swimming full speed astern on his back. We thought we might be able to sneak in ahead of him by scooting the dinghy silently into his path and letting him pass us unaware of our existence. Unfortunately that took us closer to the mouth of the cove were the waves were a little more energetic and the dinghy started slapping a warning - enough to rouse the otter's awareness. He stretched his neck to elevate his eyes as far as he could get them, then stared at us for a long moment. You could just see him thinking: "what the…" If life was a cartoon this is where his eyes would bug out as he suddenly realized we did not belong in his cove. As it was, he rolled into the depths with a flourish, and was gone.
An hour later, back on board the boat, Kay noticed something moving on shore fairly close. Training our binoculars on the creature, we couldn't decide what it was, even with a good, long look. I was convinced at first that it was a harbor seal, but while it's head, snout and body looked like a seal, it crawled around on the rocks on all fours, then swam in the water with the ease of a seal. We took to calling it a sea weasel, but without books or internet we still don't know what it was.
It was a good day for wildlife viewing on the way over here as well. We had a nice, long look at a pod of humpback whales rolling about, lifting their tails, spouting and frolicking. Then on a couple of occasions we were escorted by a pair of Dall's porpoise racing along side the boat as though daring us to ramp it up a notch. They raced in front and peeled away again and again. It's common behavior for them, but always a thrill to see.
We have a late departure planned for tomorrow, so maybe we'll see our new friends again in the morning. We want to make sure the depth in Meyer's Passage isn't too low when we go through. Then we're on to Larado Channel and a few more nights into Prince Rupert.
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