The village of Tahsis is located literally at the end of the road in Nootka Sound, and is about a 12-hour drive from Seattle.
The village of Tahsis - population 300-ish - is where we stayed, and the home base of Tahtsa Dive Charters.
One of the residents of Nootka Sound. A sea otter - about as cute and cuddly looking as it gets! However, they pack impressive little teeth and claws. Our divemaster, Scott, was telling us that someone who had to capture one of these little fellows (for research I think) described it as "a chain saw in a gunney sack!"
Of course, what we came for was underwater. This is a seapen, with kelp rising in the background.
"Fried Egg" Jellyfish. The green of cold waters in British Columbia (and Puget Sound as well) can be startling to those only used to seeing blue tropical underwater photos. Truth be told, the camera isolates green a bit more dramatically than it appears to the diver's eye (it looks more "faded" to the eye). But there's no mistaking you're not in the Caymans anymore!
Another "fried egg" jellyfish.
Sunflower Seastar.
Crinoids. I'm not sure whether the transition from green to blue is so dramatic because the green plankton and algaes are so much thicker near the surface or simply because green light from sunlight is absorbed by water faster, leaving only blues. Both are probably partially responsible.
John, Bob and Valerie after another great dive in Nootka Sound as the boat makes its way back toward Tahsis.
John dons his rebreather gear. Hey, nobody said this sport was simple!
Curt uses a different arrangement - two steel 119's "side mount" style.
Translucent tunicates, crinoids, and a small cloud sponge.
Cloud sponge (one of the key reasons for visiting Nootka Sound!) among strawberry anemones.
Strawberry anemones are plentiful on many dive sites in Nootka Sound.
Strawberry anemone close-up.
Small, but ravenous. These strawberry anemones make a meal of tentacles of a jellyfish that drifted into them.
Sea star and rockfish.
Nudibranch.
Snail on kelp with tunicates and other critters growing on his shell.
Hermit crab.
Anemone close-up.
One afternoon, we took our drysuits into a river to play with spawning salmon! Curt removed his hood, apparently in hopes the fish would be attracted to his "shiny side".
This group of more than a hundred salmon pause in a slightly deeper section of the river.
Bob floats down river through the salmon to snap some photos.
John is trying to shoot underwater photos, but finds himself aground with a distinct lack of...water.
What you can't tell is how HUGE these salmon are - many were over 3 feet long, and we estimated their weight at 30-50 pounds!
Whole lotta logs.
The Uchuck, which - until a road to Tahsis was completed - delivered automobiles and other large goods.
We came across these three sea lions, who couldn't decide whether to be curious or afraid of us.
Three sea lions near a small lighthouse.
A colony of seals. Some appear to be fur seals, and others harbor seals.
Seals.
We saw several humpback whales.
Humpback whale.
Humpback whale diving.
We saw several black bears munching on vegetation. Here a sow and her cub are grazing on grass.
This bear was hunting mussels at low tide.
Mouthfull of mussels!
Sea otter casually cruising the sound. He isn't missing a leg - he kept this leg in the air, and used the other leg to "row" himself along!
Here's the other foot on the up-stroke of his paddling process.
A slightly different/closer angle.
The whole gang! L to R: John, Valorie, Scott, Jude, Bob, Bruce (with baseball hat on backwards from setting up camera) and Curt.
L to R: Bruce, Scott, Jude, Curt, Bob and John.
Two of the nicest people (and best dive operators) you'll ever meet - Scott and Jude of Tahtsa Dive Charters.
Two tuna boats were anchored at Tahsis while we were there, and we had huge albacore tuna steakcs for dinner one night - they were fabulous!
Parting shot: Nootka Sound with Tahsis in the distance. It was a great trip to a beautiful part of British Columbia.
