Back from British Columbia, Canada

Had a great trip to British Columbia again! We started the trip with some Grizzlies and finished it off with a pod of 200 White sided Dolphins that were playful.

Great group of folks on board but interesting was the 2 Subal D2X housings had water issues. No cameras lost but plenty annoying for Rand for sure.

Richard Horn and I had Drysuit failures. Mine was a zipper that had decided that 10 years and hundreds of dives later it was time to develop small leaks. We fixed the one on the rights side only to have the left side start.

That said I never missed a dive but, after 60 minutes in 48 degree water I was a little chilled to say the least.(I skipped the night dive but that was to visit with friends on the boat)

The trip was so popular all involved want to return next year. Most all were new to the area. Nice and will only leave 2 spots to fill.

The topside life is abundant in BC. Lots of Bald Eagles, a family of River Otters, HarboUr Seal on the Themis, Sea Lions, Dolphins, Deer and the Grizzlies (They were a specific trip to see)

Thanks to all that came for a great week and I look forward to next year.

Working on the gallery...

Nice Todd! Sounds like you had a lot of fun. Let us know when the gallery is ready.

I swear to God that looks like my old crab next door neighbor...no kidding

Joe

Prior to meeting the group in Port Hardy my wife and I went to photograph Grizzlies for 2 days. I was happy with the results and the experience. We were able to be very close and enjoy some different encounters.

This photo was Richorn's favoUrite

photos can be seen at

http://www.pbase.com/yahsemtough/port_hard...lies_and_diving

but I have just begun. I took close to 500 frames of the bears. ;D

Sounds like a great trip back in the home country

I like that first self portrait you have there.....

Todd,

That is a fantastic photo of the Grizzlies. Can you list the website for that trip, or was it a custom organized one?

Joe

I have added a few more underwater shots to the gallery

I forgot how much I loved the new Aquatica 20D housing and how much the Red and white paint job was admired. Transition from the Rebel was pretty non existent too. Thanks to Aquatica for rushing the housing out to me in time for the trip while getting ready for DEMA!

http://www.pbase.com/yahsemtough/port_hard...lies_and_diving

Todd, those are some great photos. Where in BC do you recommend diving? I've heard its great up there, I used to live in Victoria and still split some of my time between Seattle and Vancouver. I've only been diving once up there though, I really need to get out more!

Todd, really great take from this trip! I especially like the grizzly photos of course - not something you see every day. Did you shoot a 100-400 IS?

The underwater colors are very rich and "luscious" - good stuff.

Bummer about the equipment problems - par for the coUrse, but still a pita I"m sure.

Cheers

James

I 100% recommend Port Hardy.

James, I was shooting the 100-400 mostly at the 400 end. I put the teleconverter on at the start but found I did not like the settings it was dictating due to the overcast conditions that day.

I have never seen the coloUr you see on the walls anywhere. It is truly something to behold. Certainly some walls are very white with Plumose but when you hit sites with the coloUr it is amazing.

Living in Victoria I have dived Port Hardy 4 times and it is in my mind the best location on Vancouver Island. Victoria has Race Rocks which is good for 2 great dives including a sea lion encounter. I heard last week that we had about 1500 sea lions at Race.

Their used to be a lodge called Seymour Inlet which was across the strait from Hardy which was different but equally amazing. The lodge burned down and now only live aboards which there are very few go their. Government regulations caused most older live aboards to close.

Campbell River has some excellent drift diving as well as a military destroyer. The life is not quite as dense but certaining a step above the norm.

There are a few other locations such as Hornby island which has an excellent dive lodge but the main attraction is 6 gill sharks in the summer. I have gone searching 3 times and have not seen any 6 gills personally but they are there. The diving there is good but not awesome. The overall experince is sufficent that I will return next year to try again.

Barkley sound is reported as having good diving but I have never made it to this location.

For maximum enjoyment Port Hardy would be my number one choice.