Compass Rose
All of the old mariner's tales that you have heard about the watery deep are true. She is unpredictable, untameable and undeniable. She giveth and she taketh away, and usually when you least expect it. Here in the Salish Sea, nestled amongst the San Juan Islands, it is no different. Each day and every trip is different. The weather changes just like a woman changes her mind and everyone knows that there is no arguing with that. The water will be glass one minute and sloppy chop the next. The orcas and other wildlife are there and then they are gone. The only problem is, that once you have met her, the bounding main is nothing that you can turn your back on and you will do all you can to spend your life with her.
Such is the plight of sea captains and marine naturalists. Even if we find another place to live or another career to follow, we always land near the briny. Whether it is choosing a college that happens to be next to the beach or moving to a town that rests along a waterway, the inexorable draw is always there. It always brings us back for more. It is the same magnetism that brings people to these islands in the first place; the orcas are a perk. It is the closeness to Poseidon's realm that the masses long for and is easily attainable in this unique land. Once here few people can deny the hold that it exerts on them or their desire to stay. Even the orcas and the birds return, season after season, fulfilling the ancient quest to know the sea and her minions.
So, from all of us at San Juan Safaris, to all of you who chase sea nymphs and mermaids, thank you and we will...
See You In The Islands!
~Tristen, Naturalist