It rained every day.  And, some days , it rained 24/7.  But, with my rain gear on I managed to get out paddling every day.  My camera, though not waterproof, is apparently water resistant, because it took a real dousing and is still working just fine.

I headed out to Finlayson Channel most days.

First, I wanted to explore this rock wall, where I hoped to find lots of interesting creatures exposed by the spring tide.

These green anemones caught my eye.

 

   

        

 

 

 

 

I’d never seen these creatures before.  They were only about 1.5 inches in diameter, but they looked like anemones.  There were thousands of them.

 

And then there was the unusual hanging curtain of anemones.

 

This has been a great year for sea stars also.  I’ve never seen so many.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, there were lots of sea urchins this year.  I had to be really careful around these guys, for fear they might puncture my kayak.  Not good.

 

 

This large rock had lots of sea urchins growing on it.

 

       

One day I came across a first for me.  I was trying to figure out what this thing was, when all of a sudden it made a quick 45 degree turn.  Now, that got my attention.  When I looked closer, I discovered that it was an abalone!  I had no idea abalones had moves like that. 

 

 

When I looked along the wall a little further, I discovered another abalone, a very colorful one.

 

I also spotted this abalone surrounded by a green anemone and a sea star.  The sea star might have been sizing up the abalone for his next meal.

 

      

There were also colorful sea snails.

 

 

I found lots of mussels — millions of mussels — like the ones on this rocky point.

Many of these mussels were tiny, like the size of pencil eraser.

And among the tiny mussels, I found this tiny scallop-looking shell, which was only about 1/2 inch across….so cute.

 

 

On a day when the tide was a little higher, I spotted this colorful anemone just below the surface of the water.

 

There were also lots of these fat sea cucumbers.

 

Each day I paddled out the inlet I looked for critters.  This year, I was lucky enough to find several minks.

 

 

 

 

 

While I was taking shots of one of the minks, I spotted something swimming toward shore….. a river otter!

Unfortunately, as soon as he hauled out of the water he made a mad dash for the trees, climbing up a rock wall that looked impossible to climb.

 

The only duck I was able to find in Wallace Bight this year was the loon, so I took lots of shots of loons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While scouring the shores for critters, I some times found nothing more that a few berry bushes to photograph, like this devil’s club, which hadn’t quite started to ripen….

And these salmon berries, which had started ripening.

I also spotted this wild red columbine way up on a moss-covered granite outcropping.

 

 

At the opposite end of the lagoon, there is a large creek, with lots of logs piled up on a sandbar, one of which sports this beautiful fern.

 

 

 

Apparently, the water has warmed up, because I also spotted this large, colorful jellyfish…

…and this very small jellyfish, which was only about 4 inches in diameter, but very striking.

One morning I was paddling around inside the lagoon, waiting for the fog to lift so that I could head outside, when I spotted what I thought was a sailboat aground in the entrance to the lagoon.  When I zoomed it in with my camera to get a better look, it definitely looked like it was stuck in the entrance.  I called Al to tell him about the boat, but he had his radio off.  So, I paddled out to take a look and see if I could be of any help.  The wind had come up, and I was having to paddle against the current, but it seemed like the boat was getting farther away.  Finally, I got close enough that I could see that the boat was not in the entrance, but just outside.  When I had zoomed the boat in with my camera it had created an optical illusion, making the background seem closer than it was.  Well, that was a relief.  To my surprise, the sailboat was 147 feet long!  It was the gorgeous Ron Rolland design,“Clan VIII”, built in Valletta, Italy, by Perini Navi.   Very impressive.  I discovered online that this boat charters for $150,00 per week, plus expenses!

 

 

 

 

 

 

They had launched their inflatable so that the owners could explore the shore a bit.  When the owners were returning, they spotted me in my kayak and came over.  “Where have you come from?”, they asked.  I said, “I’m from Seattle”.  “And you’re out here all by yourself?” , they asked, incredulously.  Then I understood that they thought I had paddled from Seattle.  I assured them that I had come from Seattle on my bigger boat, which was anchored in Wallace Bight, and thanked them for their concern.  They were quite relieved.