SERENITY'S ISLES; Spectacular Pacific Northwest sights on water route to Queen Charlottes.(TRAVEL)

Washington Times, The, March, 2008

Byline: Taylor Kennedy, SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES

SOOKE, British Columbia - Our ship is massive, the channel narrow, but the humpback whales frolicking to our left do not seem to care or even notice. Oblivious even to the roar of engines drowning out their explosive bursts of air, they flap their tails and flukes at each other and perform breaching acrobatics that remind me of small children jumping in a pile of leaves.

Plumes of white water that soar each time they surface for air can be seen from far away, but to be sure no passengers miss the small pod's antics, our ...