Salt Spring Island, The Gulf Islands, British Columbia
The San Juan Islands of Washington and the Gulf Islands of British Columbia are a pleasant surprise to many. Moisture-laden westerly winds coming from the Pacific Ocean are intercepted by the mountains of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. They dump much of their moisture there, making the western slope of the Olympic Mountains one of North America’s rainiest spots. Behind the Olympic Mountains, in a rain shadow, lie the San Juan and Gulf Islands. We awoke this morning cruising in the San Juans under blue skies, but with gray clouds all around the horizon. Late in the morning we took our first shore excursion of the trip on Saturna Island, one of the Gulf Islands for a close-up look at the vegetation – tall Douglas firs, majestic redcedars, and the gnarled, red trunks of the madrone.
Salt Spring Island, the largest of the Gulf Islands, is the home of wildlife artist and conservationist Robert Bateman. Bateman and his family are past Lindblad Expeditions travelers. This afternoon they came aboard the Sea Bird for a reunion and a presentation on their home and the art treasures that it contains, some by Bob and his artist wife Birgit, others acquired during their travels around the world. Later we were privileged to visit the house, which incorporates the beauty of the surroundings into the house itself; sthere seems to be no clear separation of house and nature. In the picture above Bob is showing us one of his recent works for a new book on birds. It shows an Atlantic puffin returning to its nest with a fish, being harassed by a herring gull. As in much of Bob’s work, there is a message within for us to consider. Human activities in Newfoundland have led to increased gull populations, making it increasingly unlikely that the puffins will successfully run the gauntlet of marauding gulls to deliver the fish to the single young waiting in the nest burrow.
The San Juan Islands of Washington and the Gulf Islands of British Columbia are a pleasant surprise to many. Moisture-laden westerly winds coming from the Pacific Ocean are intercepted by the mountains of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. They dump much of their moisture there, making the western slope of the Olympic Mountains one of North America’s rainiest spots. Behind the Olympic Mountains, in a rain shadow, lie the San Juan and Gulf Islands. We awoke this morning cruising in the San Juans under blue skies, but with gray clouds all around the horizon. Late in the morning we took our first shore excursion of the trip on Saturna Island, one of the Gulf Islands for a close-up look at the vegetation – tall Douglas firs, majestic redcedars, and the gnarled, red trunks of the madrone.
Salt Spring Island, the largest of the Gulf Islands, is the home of wildlife artist and conservationist Robert Bateman. Bateman and his family are past Lindblad Expeditions travelers. This afternoon they came aboard the Sea Bird for a reunion and a presentation on their home and the art treasures that it contains, some by Bob and his artist wife Birgit, others acquired during their travels around the world. Later we were privileged to visit the house, which incorporates the beauty of the surroundings into the house itself; sthere seems to be no clear separation of house and nature. In the picture above Bob is showing us one of his recent works for a new book on birds. It shows an Atlantic puffin returning to its nest with a fish, being harassed by a herring gull. As in much of Bob’s work, there is a message within for us to consider. Human activities in Newfoundland have led to increased gull populations, making it increasingly unlikely that the puffins will successfully run the gauntlet of marauding gulls to deliver the fish to the single young waiting in the nest burrow.
