The Morally Superior Vacation Choice

Whale Watchers? Wasn't that the site where Zerb was crying over how hard it is to be her?

Many, many years ago when microcomputers were still new, I wrote a fundraising program for the Vancouver Aquarium to keep track of a donor list for a new expanded killer whale pool. The environmentalists were quite upset as the pool would eat up valuable park land and whales should not be held captive. They arqued we should go see the whales in the wild. The pool got built but the killer whales have all since been moved.

There are now well over 100 whale watching companies around southern Vancouver Island many with multiple high-powered boats. A few summers ago while vacationing in a cabin on Maine Island near the north entrance of active pass we saw a literal armada of whale watching boats follow a pod of whales through the pass towards Vancouver. We counted over 90 boats of all sizes including 20 whale watching craft (as pictured above) and 3 airplanes and one helicopter hounding these poor whales. Apparently this is now the norm. The whale watching companies have spotters who keep track of the pods at all times so they know where to send their boats.

I think that boat needs another motor.

Could be worse Kate. Could be three 454 inboards. ~:D

I love the name on the motor.

Suzuki....ROFL

Three. Yup, three 250 hp outboards. 750 hp for the eco-tourist crowd.

C'mon...as long as you watching the whales, you are not polluting,adding to global warming,etc.
F*&)ing hypocrites

Fritz, didn't those Vancouver Aquarium whales eventually get sold to the San Diego zoo, or Sea World?

I remember, many moons ago, before eco-activists ran the show, the excellent program put on by the Vancouver aquarium, in which the whales performed, the full house loved it.

Then they decided that putting on a show was unnatural, so you had to pay to watch the whales just swim around the tank.

Then, their power now consolidated, the eco-freaks lobbied for, and got the whales out of Vancouver. The entertainment and educational value of whale watching went somewhere else.

Isn't that ridiculous?! 750 horsepower to haul people/environmentalists out in order to thoroughly harass the creatures that they pretend to "protect". Thank goodness that the boat is equipped with four stroke engines as opposed to older two stroke, high-polluting units. Either way, that is too much power and the purpose is very questionable indeed.

How ironic that the brand name happens to be Suzuki! Hahahaha

Ban IC engines, use electrics (if they could provide the power required) or let the paying customers row: Exercise, evironmentally friendly, would reduce the number of boats (granny can't row any more, over the side with her), and movie appreciation ("thunk,thunk,thunk, Ramming speed!" a-la Bun-Hur).

Every time someone gets an idea about some "new" environmental idea, it soon becomes mainstream, until the damage to the environment destroys the very subject of interest. Besides, "whale watching" is nothing new; read "Moby Dick" for a description of non-IC ("Suzuki" killed me too)engine powered whale watching.

Take heart folks, I have noticed that lot of people do their whale watching at Walmart. It's free and the isles (no pun) are usually full of them.

mmmmmm bet those 3 big "fruit fly" outboards chew up a good number of carbon credits a day as they pump their expelled CO2 directly into the ocean...but tirning the ocean into a gigantic clun soda is for a good cause ( the whales are our cousins doncha know) so a few bucks in the collection plate at the local church of carbon credit will absolve any well heeled yuppies caught lovin'-up the earth with a pricey fuel-intensive whale chase.

Some may call this a frivilous waste of resources but for centerless yuppies seeing a whale is like achieving "godshead" in their urban-centric green mythos...let 'em have their fun...they're payin' for it...just that this time around the Kyoto carbon cartel takes a skim off the percentage....to them the "eco" in eco-systems means economics...the economics of green guilt.

Hey Yanni:

Wal-Mart also has good prices on ammo:

100 rds, S&W 165 grain .40 Calibre full metal jacket ball rounds w/ brass casings, suitable for reloading.

22 Bucks, tax included. Just right for the Glock.

Walmart is my one stop shop for vermin ammo...cheap Federal 12 guage field loads number 2s and 4s for magpie, crow and starling control are as cheap as you can get and the hulls are reloadable.

Federal high speed .22 rimfire long rifle hollow points are 8 bucks for 500...keep the gopher population down with these...I buy them by the case.

For coyotes and badgers I have to switch shops to a local who sells bulk bras and bullets cause there is no real deal on factory loaded .222..I roll my own cheaper ;-)

I'm for it. It's impossible to have too much horsepower.

"Orcas are popular with whale watchers, which may change Orca behaviour and stress Orcas, particularly if boats approach Orcas too closely or block their line of travel."

Maybe we should just leave the animals alone.

"Orcas are popular with whale watchers, which may change Orca behaviour and stress Orcas, particularly if boats approach Orcas too closely or block their line of travel."

Maybe we should just leave the animals alone.

Larry,

You must live in a free country where one is allowed to own something like a Glock and buy ammo at such a place as Walmart.

We cannot do such things here in Canada. Canada is a nanny state where the government had the guns and we are little more than unarmed tax-slaves.

When you are done in Iraq please come and free us too.

Suzuki, eh? I guess that must mean that trio of 250 HP motors are hybrids, solar powered, or run on fair-trade herbal tea, right? Uh, right??? Hello? Is this thing on?

Theres a reason why Suzuki invented the outboard engine, lol.
Hate to tell you this, but as outboards go, these motors are fuel efficient, and long lasting.
Of course so are Hondas and Yamahas, lol.

Seems a bit over horsepowered though.

Seems a bit over horsepowered though.

Just like old David himself.

Yanni:

I think the lesson we're learning in Iraq is that freedom is won or lost internally, and it's extremely difficult to impose from without.

I think after Iraq our role as World's Policeman will be done for a while.

I was up early one morning in Hawaii (Maui),
went up to the whale watching platform on the roof of the condo complex.
I watched someone in a 16 foot rowboat out in the bay, he was surrounded by humbacks. It seemed like such a peaceful scene, the whales were sort of just rolling all around the little boat.
Then i realized these whales were 50 ft long, and i thought how easily they could smash that skiff to pieces if they chose. Seems like they are quite gentle animals.

Yanni .. You are wrong about owning a Glock or other such hand guns in Canada.You jump through the Government hoops and you can own them (even as a civilian)

"You must live in a free country where one is allowed to own something like a Glock and buy ammo at such a place as Walmart."

"When you are done in Iraq please come and free us too."
Posted by: Yanni at June 3, 2007 1:43 PM

Ah, Larry is right. Glock's are nice, but nothing like some good .40 S&W out the spout of a 3" Kimber 1911 clone. Sweet! Carrys nice, too. But remember: Freedom ain't free; somebody has to do the heavy lifting. WTSHTF we will protect the libs, but they got to pay for the expended ammo. ;-)

As to freeing somebody else up next, me thinks that is going to become some other country's job for while. We will move on to freeing whales, like in Mikey Moores and Rosie O'Donnells. Might have to add a bit more power to that boat though.

Whale watching is what the eco-freaks say they want to replace minning,farming and logging with i say FEED THE ECO-FREAKS TO THE WHALES

Its the same old bullshit. Having a handful of whales in an aquarium where people can get a good look is bad, so we go out where they live and harass the hell out of them, changing their behaviour and habitat.

Seeing peguins in a zoo is bad, so now we have eco-tourists, now there's an oxymoron, going to the antarctic to watch them in the wild, more harassment, more habitat degredation.

But, by god, people are making money on it and a few carbon indulgences will make up for our sins.

Rob C

I know you can prostrate yourself and beg for the list of conditions and parameters, then you must join a gun club if you can find one. Then be on a list of suspects for potential search and seizure when the inappropriate government gets enough power to appease the Toronto Zone.

I used to do that sort of thing, but sold off that hobby when the idiotic registry was formed.

I simply moved to a safer local and hope that a cricket bat is all I will ever need for the duration.

Good on you for keeping on keeping on.

I suppose if push comes to suicide bombings, one can alway go to the local pub or pool room and pick up whatever ordinance one may have the money to pay for. We got that going for us eh?

Go to freecarbonoffsets.com and you too can feel morally superior. I did, and my smugness level went up way up. It's free, no kidding.

While I prefer the feel of the wind in my sails, there is nothing like a few sea horses to get you to the place and back.
BTW, I don't think they fly right up to the whales full throttle but rather just get out there quickly. Customers would be far and few between if you said it was an hour trip out and an hour trip back for 10 minutes of watching.

I go fishing in the gulf about 40 miles out and to spend half a day getting there would kind of ruin a day fishing trip.

Yanni.. You gave up....exactly what the socialist commies wanted you to do. Sorry I am a little more pig headed than that.

Sorry for going off topic Kate

What's so wrong with a quiet wind powered sailboat to watch whales. Hypocrits. Power boats are so annoying.

You need that many horses to get the whale up on the skiis.

I think economics would dictate that you could get rid of one of those outboards and add two paying customers for the same weight. You would still have 500HP to push that (looks like 24 ft) boat.

I love it , maybe this is so they can write a 3 stripe eco-signature across some poor whales back.

and "suzuki's" what a killer laugh. his beard hairs must twist when he sees this.

They need the HP so they than can the whales fast ... before they drown because of Global Warming.

Err ... make that "can get to the whales"

I just had the stupidist image in my head, based on the monty python " John the Baptist impersonating Sterling Moss"

except it was a giant David Suzuki's head speeding around with a three engined speedboat.

I Think the climate change has got to me.

Wusses. Should be powere by thus:

http://www.hustlerpowerboats.com/50/images/50eng3.jpg

Those engines are not 250 apiece. 4 stroke outboards are much larger than 2 strokes, and those things look about the same size as 125-150 2-stroke outboards.

If you're going to bash environmentalists for going whale-watching (which I agree is pretty stupid), then at least get your facts straight.

250 hp each. Phone them.