The Plover Ferry

Well, I thought with all those Yellowstone posts now out of the way, I better write about something local. How much more local can you get than something that has been a part of Blaine, WA since 1944? It is called the Plover Ferry and it runs in the summer months from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day. Now this ferry is more than just a ferry. It's a scenic tour that gives you just a little taste of the area. It is the oldest passenger ferry in Washington state and was originally used to shuttle workers to the Alaskan Packers salmon cannery. The cannery was located on Semiahmoo spit, just across the water from Blaine. There is now a Maritime museum located in the area, and some of the original cannery buildings are still there.

Semiahmoo spit is now home to the fancy Semiahmoo resort and spa, which is where we sit and drink Starbucks coffee as we wait for our returning ferry.

The ferry runs between Blaine and Semiahmoo, leaving on the hour from Blaine and 1/2 hour from Semiahmoo. The ride would only need to be a few minutes, but they stretch it out to 1/2 an hour in order to show you some of the scenery and share with you the joy of being on the water.

Cormorants

On the return trip to Blaine, they take you past the Semiahmoo marina water break (floating docks that calm the water around the marina) and you can see harbor seals. There have been anywhere between 50-100 harbor seals each time I have visited and it is always an amazing sight. The last two times I visited, there have been around 15 tiny young seals. The baby seals are not large enough to get up onto the docks, so they sit in between the docks on bumpers that are low in the water, or as I have seen this year twice now, they balance on a rope between two docks and swing back and forth. The area with the rope is usually the most popular spot to view baby harbor seals, so it is called the nursery. I have even seen a mother seal nursing her baby- what a neat thing to see in the wild. I have been on the ferry twice recently. These photos are from the last Saturday in July when Keren invited me to go with her. It was so much fun!

Four baby harbor seals balance on a rope.