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On Monday, April 26, 1999, two whales were spotted in the bay, across from the Arbutus Beach Lodge. It was high tide, and they were quite a ways out, so rather difficult to see from the beach. But there they were, swimming around and about, blowing their little plumes of spray and sticking their heads up to look around. Later that day, when the tide was low, they moved up to the Cove Bridge end of the bay, where they could easily be seen, swimming back and forth in the shallow water between the bridge and the sand bar. They would sometimes surface and blow just a few meters from the sea wall.
They were gray whales, between 30 and 40 feet long, and covered with barnacles. Migrating grays pass by here every spring and fall, and there are a few loners who seem to stick around in these waters all summer. Many whale watchers were there, on the sea wall, on the beach, and even on the bridge, appreciating this unusual encounter with these wild denizens of the deep. The charter boats that take people out for whale watching here have not started yet, but we all got a free, sneak preview.
They were still in the bay on Tuesday morning, but farther out, and they left sometime during the day
We wish them well, and we invite them to come back anytime, and bring their friends.
Editor's note: The whales seemed to have taken advantage of the invitation , because they and/or their friends were seen in the bay every day for the next week.
(From the May 1999 issue of Port Renfrew OBSERVER)
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