Hernando Reef trip

Hernando Reef trip
by Cindy Dalcourt, 18 May 2018.

Arriving early in Lund, most of us treated ourselves at Nancy’s Bakery before boarding the Misty Isles.

Enjoying the bright sunshine and calm water we were off to a good start, made even better when an Orca passed us by shortly after leaving the harbour.  On the way to the reef captain Mike and Rick Harbo (the previous night’s speaker) gave us information and answered our questions.

It was a short crossing and we anchored just offshore while we waited for the tide to get to it’s lowest point so we could go ashore.  Waiting on the boat we were surrounded by Harbour Porpoises, a few coming so close we could see and hear them breathe.  It was also the perfect place to watch the many Eagles in the sky and on the rocks.

In time we took the zodiac to shore where we spend the next few hours turning over rocks and bringing what we found to Rick who was a wealth of knowledge.  He had a plastic viewing box that we could drop in whatever we found and then we could see it close up from different angles.  We saw many different kinds of starfish, sea snails, jellyfish, crabs, midshipmen and so much more.

Across the reef from us on the Vancouver Island side we were just able to make out a pod of Orcas that the whale watching boats were surrounding.  They were there for at least an hour, but unfortunately just a little to far away to see clearly.  There was a little excitement when suddenly rows of seals started to swim towards us from further down the beach. Rick mentioned that the Orca’s were transient and therefore meat eaters so maybe the seals were being cautious.

When it was time to leave we passed a sleeping sea lion floating in the water.  His bark let us know he was not too happy to have been woken up.  As we still had some time left Mike took us on a tour of the Copeland Islands, heading back into Lund just as the long weekend boat traffic starting to pick up.