Bahamas Is Still There and Nicer than Ever

[delmarrey]

If you have some good experiance under yer cap, the Pacific NW from Seattle up to Alaska and beyond has great secluded uninhabited islands by the hundreds along the coast especially off of BC, Canada. We get some good size swells once in a while and the tides can be up to 26' and the winters are wet. But the inside passage is AWSOME with Orcas and other sea creatures. But experiance is the word. Rip tides or getting standed on a shole can get ya in trouble.

It's a different neighborhood here, no slackers.

And then there is the South Pacific........................._/)

[CSY Man]

with Orcas and other sea creatures.

Do they ever bump into yer boat or get too close for comfort...?

Here in the South-East of Florida and South-West Bahamas we have sharks and other hungry creatures, but never had a problem with one, or ever seen one underwater, or at anchor.

After hundreds of snorkels/dives/swims/and anchor places.

Same while living on the previous boat in the Virgins, never ever saw a shark under or over water in 3 years, hundreds of free-dives, etc.

Not sure I would be too cocky snorkeling among Orcas however, them guys don't take no prisoners when they are hungry.

Don't do yer chubby-seal imitation when scrapping barnacles of the prop up there in the North-West......

[BC Mike]

There is currently an Orca in the area that is too friendly and is swimming up to boats and can be smooched and scratched. The DOF ( Dept. of Fisheries ) is trying to move him as he has separtated from his family. Meanwhile a local Indian Chief had a dream that the Orca is a deceased relative returning to see them. So the battle is on, does he ( the Orca ) stay or does he go. Another Orca in an aquarium drowned one of the staff by holding her underwater. Many years ago in Northern NZ a dolphin would swim close to shore and play with the kids. BC Mike C

[delmarrey]

Yeah! Orcas are unpredictable. They eat baby seals and salmon but not humans. They are playful and usually will drownd a brave swimmer on occasion, not intentionally they say. They've been known to rub up against boats but not attack. They'll respond to whistles or horns sometimes. But caution is the word. The water is their domain! We are the visitor.............._/)

[exposure]

I was born and raised up in Port Angeles, Washington. One of the scariest and most exciting memories I have is being stuck in the middle of a pod of Orcas as we fished in a 15 foot open boat off of Sekiu. It's one of those things that was great to have experienced, but not great to actually experience. I remember they were numerous, and most were larger than our little boat.

Woody

[Amphibian]

When actor-orca Keiko was returned to freedom, he promptly set course towards the most densely populated area around the latitude of Iceland. The poor creature endured weeks without food to get here, as adult orca obviously can't learn to catch fish.

He enjoyed a few blissful days in a Norwegian fjord playing with people who were happy to feed him, until the experts arrived to "protect" him. Then he died of pneumonia or something, and the world grieved the loss of a movie star.

Hope someone learned a lesson from this hopeless "repatriation".